The Last of Us “Infected” Review

And we're back to The Last of Us. This was a solid episode, giving us more world building, and a few more tears as well. There is lots of cursing and a dead body being investigated (nudity warning technically).

This immediately started with something unique to the show. They actually look into ground zero of the infection. They bring in a mycologist, who recognizes what the fungus is. She questions the soldiers about the infected woman she was brought in to examine. When she was asked about a cure or treatment, she tells him there is none. When asked about containing this infection, after telling her that there are 14 unaccounted for workers, she recommends just bombing the city. This is a “Midnight on the Doomsday Clock” situation instantly. She just asks to be taken home after that to be with her family. She knows what those 14 people mean and it's nothing good. All that before we get to the present day. I will say this was a great scene to have. It's looking at the origins of the Infection and how it started spreading. It's a lot more clear and concise than what we got in the games.

The first game had the infection coming from contaminated shipments from South America. This gives a lot of credence to just the sheer spread of the infecting in-game. Something that's food based could easily affect the whole world in just a little time. It's something insidious, but also something very containable. It likely was dealt with, if the world had survived longer. Something that spreads this easily takes a lot to contain and sometimes all you can do is weather the storm. The world of “the Last of Us” is definitely one where all you can do is hold on to survive.

All the events of the modern day worked out very well. Tess and Joel working together to deal with the Clickers and evade the Infected. Going through the hotel, having Tess and Joel appropriately complain about being old and climbing lots of stairs (and the unfazed Ellie). Plus just getting to see them share at least some of their knowledge of the world with Ellie. They know plenty about it and Ellie doesn't. What schooling she's had only goes so far. That book learning is only going to be so good in the outside world. It does show the difference between those who've grown up in this world to those who saw this world change into its present state.

I should talk briefly about the changes to the Cordyceps and the Infection itself. Having it spread more directly through bodily harm, like a scratch or bite, and dropping the potential for spreading through spores makes a lot of sense. Spores move very easily with the wind, and abandoned buildings would just become massive sources of Spores that would contaminate vast amounts of land and push through almost any quarantine attempt. Only a solid dome with heavy and carefully monitored filtration could actually stand a chance at fighting it off eventually. The addition of the “Wood Wide Web” is something very interesting. Opposed to have spores to spread the infection, the Cordyceps are linked together. It creates a vast web which means its very possible for a slight disturbance in one area to cause an onrush of the various Infected from somewhere nearby. All this from tendrils and chemical signals that the Cordyceps can manage. It's a brilliant little change that goes a long way to keep everyone alive (and far less need for gas masks) a bit more realistically.

We are also introduced to the first “advanced” form of the Infected, the Clicker. So named for the sound it makes, it uses sound to hunt prey. Get a fear response, they run and make loud noises, and the Clicker can then easily chase after it. The Clickers can make for great jump scares, but it's not something we're getting there just yet. Likely in the near future though. We need introductions and just crossed the narrative threshold where they could be used like that. There are more forms of the infected that we've yet to see. If they're taking this level of care with this, I'm looking forward to the rarer forms like the Bloater, Stalker or the Rat King. These are massive infected and it takes at least a decade for them to mature. These will be a sight to behold once we're there. I really look forward to it.

That does point out one other change from the games. Most Infected and Clicker could eventually evolve into one of those forms. In the show, from what Joel was telling, it is the exception for an Infected to progress pass Clicker. I do like this, since it gives the Cordyceps a more fertile ground to work from to spread its infection. It could also be that the more advanced forms are just more developed agents that aren't turned into the general biomass of any Cordyceps growth. That's just my theory for now. Time will tell.

I was hoping to see the content of “Left Behind” here, or have it in a framed narrative. Instead, looks like that's going to be later on in the season. Once Joel and Ellie are on better terms with each other we will be more likely to get that story. Ellie has very little reason to share with Joel right now. But that is how you would get him to open up, possibly. Or it's just a matter of waiting and making the needed overtures to him. This is the core relationship we're all curious to see develop. It is an anticipated scene since Ellie's allude to the Infected that bit her.

There is one moment that got under my skin a bit. After Tess has been revealed to be Infected (and on the neck, so very little time), the trio manages to alert the nearby horde of Infected. Joel and Ellie leave in a hurry after Tess spills gasoline and grenades all over the floor. Tess struggles to get a lighter lit. One of the Infected just walks over to her, extending fungal tendrils from its mouth as it puts it over Tess's. She keeps struggling to get the Lighter working and does just after this. It can be a scene that gets under peoples skin, given them a gross-out recreation. Those tendrils are a source of infection, to accelerate the process. Still, it felt very much an overriding Tess's desires. Maybe she went along to just buy a few more seconds and a few more tries. She did get the lighter ignited and then let it go into the gasoline.

Seeing the floor of the state house ignite into such a conflagration was a sight. It really is worth ending the episode on a bang. There were gorgeous shots throughout the episode. Seeing downtown Boston, especially going into the museum, I couldn't help but think about the starting quests of Fallout 4 and needing to go there to meet the Minutemen. Still, seeing the place destroyed in a different way was funny to me. We get that as Joel and Ellie truly embark on their journey together.

I didn't say much on the music from the last episode, but it has been amazing. Bringing in the composer from the game helps keep the tone consistent. On top of that, it gets to be expanded on. The world within the show can be much broader than what we've gotten in both games. It's very grounded and the string focus has been something beautiful.