After a brief reprieve with last week’s episode, tissues will once again be very much needed tonight. While HBO’s The Last of Us did change a bunch about the Kansas City (Pittsburgh, in the game) storyline from the video game, sadly, the ending remains the same. For those of us who have played the game, prepare to relive it.
One lovely thing the series has done is really dig deeper into these characters, their motives, and their lives. But that is precisely what makes the ending to this particular story even more devastating in the show. It’s a real Catch-22.
Let’s dive into episode 5.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us.)
Last week’s episode ended on a cliffhanger. Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) were being held at gunpoint by two people we have yet to officially meet. Don’t worry; we will be acquainted with them soon. But, first the show travels a bit back in time (about 11 days) to the night that Kathleen’s (Melanie Lynskey) rebellion overtakes Kansas City from FEDRA.
The high spirits and celebration amongst the rebels is hauntingly juxtaposed with the image of several FEDRA members being tortured and slaughtered. Yes, they won back the city, but are they really any better than their oppressors? Right, wrong, and the gray area that lies between is something The Last of Us explores very well in both the games and show. This is just one example.
As tanks roll through the city, with people barking orders for any collaborators with FEDRA to surrender themselves, we finally meet our two mystery men—Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard). We quickly learn that Sam, Henry’s younger brother, is deaf and communicates through either American Sign Language (ASL) or a vintage paper saver drawing board. These two are on the run from Kathleen’s army, and by how ruthlessly Kathleen was hunting Henry in the last episode, it’s clear it wouldn’t be good if they were caught.
We get a sense of how bad the consequences would be when Kathleen terrifyingly coaxes Henry’s whereabouts out from other FEDRA collaborators, whom she has caught and imprisoned. Quick pause to explain what a FEDRA collaborator is: They are your standard-issue traitors. They basically work for FEDRA but look like regular ol’ citizens, and they spill their neighbors’ crimes (or what FEDRA considers to be crimes) to get more ration cards, medicine, supplies, etc.
Knowing this, it’s not a big shock that the collaborators quickly turn on one of their own (Henry) to save their own hides. One of the collaborators tells Kathleen that Henry is hiding out with Eldelstein (John Getz), the man we saw Kathleen mercilessly kill in last week’s episode. Kathleen thanks them for the information (while calling them rats) and tells them they won’t die but will be put on trial for their crimes. Then, in the next room, she turns around and instructs Perry (Jeffrey Pierce) to slaughter them and burn their bodies—because “it’s faster.” As for why Kathleen is so hellbent on finding Henry specifically, that will be explained later.
I want to take a brief moment here to acknowledge just how excellent Melanie Lynskey is in this show. Much like her current work on Yellowjackets, she really leans into subverting audience expectations of her. Her naturally sweet disposition lures not only the audience but the people around her on screen into thinking she might not be as ruthless as she seems; then she turns around and does something completely cold-blooded. It’s thrilling and terrifying to watch. Lynskey managed to take on an original character in The Last of Us universe, define it completely, and make it look effortless.
Okay, now back to Henry and Sam. The two have finally reached their safe house, or at least a semi-safe house—an attic where they will hide as long as they have food, which will be about 11 days. Then, the plan is to sneak out of Kansas City via the underground tunnels.
It’s during this sequence that we really get a beautiful glimpse into the relationship between Henry and Sam and just how protective and loving Henry is toward his little brother. It’s very moving, especially the scene where Henry whips out a bag of crayons and helps Sam spruce up their hiding place by drawing superheroes on the walls together.
Ten days later, as expected, the food runs out, and Eldelstein, who went out looking for food, gets captured (and killed) by Kathleen. On day 11, Henry announces it is time to leave. As he and Sam plot their escape, Henry stumbles upon Joel and Ellie in the middle of their shootout—and concocts a whole new plan.
This brings us back to where we left Joel and Ellie—at gunpoint. Ellie eventually convinces Henry and Sam that Joel will not hurt them if they lower their guns, and thankfully, Joel doesn’t break that promise. Joel, who is weary of the two brothers (I mean, he did wake up with their guns at his head, so I get it), reluctantly shares his food with them and waits until morning to hear Henry’s plan to escape the city.
When the sun rises, Henry tells Joel everything, including the fact that he was a FEDRA collaborator. Joel, shocked by the admission, says he doesn’t “work with rats,” to which Henry replies, “Today you do.” Henry knows Kansas City like the back of his hand, and he knows exactly how to escape, so, rat or not, Joel needs his expertise. And Henry needs Joel’s strength and aim. It’s a perfect team up.
Henry explains to Joel and Ellie how they have to use maintenance tunnels to escape the city—Kathleen’s soldiers occupy all other ways out. It all seems easy enough, until Henry reveals that all the infected in Kansas City are underground. And guess where the tunnels are? But, as it is their only option to get out of the city, off they go.
The four of them make their way into the tunnels, where they stumble upon an abandoned classroom of a once-flourishing underground community. (This is another nod to the game; read more about this in our Easter egg log.) It is in the classroom where Sam and Ellie stumble upon an issue of Savage Starlight, Ellie’s favorite comic book series, from which the iconic catchphrase for The Last of Us—“endure and survive”—comes from. As Sam and Ellie bond and get to be kids for once, Joel and Henry relish the opportunity to catch their breath, while they wait for darkness to fall so they can sneak out undetected.
While the kids play some soccer, Henry tells Joel exactly why Kathleen is so hellbent on finding and killing him: He got her brother killed. He didn’t do it to be malicious; he did it to save Sam. Sam got sick with leukemia, and the only way Henry could get the medicine he needed to treat it was to tip off FEDRA on something big. So, he gave them the whereabouts of Kathleen’s brother Michael, the leader of the resistance movement in Kansas City.
After finding out this vital information, the story checks back in on Kathleen, who is in her childhood bedroom. In this heartbreaking scene, Kathleen reveals her side of Henry’s story. She talks about her brother and her memories with him, both grown and as children. He wouldn’t want her on this revenge path and how he told her to forgive Henry, but she has to get justice. It is a powerful scene anchored by Lynskey’s astonishing performance and heartbreaking delivery. This scene also introduces two very important themes of The Last of Us: the cycle of revenge and how everyone is a hero or a villain depending on your perspective.
Now, Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam have made their way out of the tunnel and are headed toward the suburbs—when a sniper in a far-away building starts shooting at them. Joel leaves the group to flank the sniper. Once he gets up there and kills the sniper, he realizes in horror that the sniper was one of Kathleen’s men, and she is hot on their heels. Joel desperately starts sniping at the incoming vehicles and eventually sends one careening into a house that immediately catches on fire. However, Kathleen’s army is too big, and Ellie, Henry, and Sam find themselves surrounded.
Just as Henry gives himself up, the truck that drove into the house falls into a sinkhole and a huge horde of Infected come pouring out. Remember how Henry said they were all driven underground 15 years ago by FEDRA? Well, they hath risen, and the Infected start attacking everyone in sight, including Ellie, Henry, and Sam. As the three scramble to defend themselves or get to a safe location, Joel starts sniping the Infected to keep Ellie safe.
Then something even more horrifying happens—a bloater rises from the sinkhole, and he is just as disgusting and terrifying as I wanted him to be. Kathleen’s right-hand man, Perry (Jeffrey Pierce), sadly, sacrifices himself to the bloater so she can find cover. Ellie also gets to show off her badass side as she stabs two clickers to death, saving Henry and Sam.
Just when you think the group is going to be able to get away, a hellbent-on-revenge Kathleen stops them. However, her revenge is never fully realized, as a particularly fast-moving Infected strikes and kills her. With Kathleen’s army having fallen to the Infected horde, Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam escape to an abandoned motel for some much-needed R&R before continuing on to Wyoming. And this is when things take a turn for the sadder. It’s not over yet folks.
Sam and Ellie have a particularly heartbreaking conversation about what they are afraid of. Ellie says her fear is ending up alone, while Sam asks, “If you turn into a monster, is it still you inside?” Then, he shows her the bite. During the chaos with the horde, Sam was bitten. Ellie, knowing that she is immune, cuts open her hand and smears her blood on his wound to heal him. Girl, that is not how medicine or science works, but I love the effort. Still, Keivonn Woodard and Bella Ramsey are truly excellent in this heartbreaking scene.
Ellie tells Sam that she will stay awake with him, but she soon falls asleep. When she wakes, he has unfortunately turned. Sam attacks Ellie, and they both go barreling into Joel and Henry’s room, where Henry is forced to shoot his younger brother to save Ellie. And then Henry, devastated by the loss of his brother and his actions, turns the gun on himself. Lamar Johnson’s performance here is devastating; you can see the anguish and disbelief on his face, and it just breaks your heart.
Ellie and Joel bury Sam and Henry and give them a proper send-off. Ellie, overwhelmed with guilt for not being able to save Sam, starts heading West, but not before she leaves Sam’s drawing board on his grave with “I’m sorry” on it. Here come all the tears.
Henry and Sam’s death in the game took me by complete surprise. I remember staring at the screen with my hand over my wide-open mouth as tears formed in my eyes. It was absolutely devastating then and is even more so in the show. Henry and Sam really got to have more of a shining moment in the show, and for that I am grateful, but their deaths will forever hit very hard.
Until next Sunday. Endure and survive, y’all.
