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HBO's The Last of Us hits its watershed moment in S02E02: "Through the Valley" and finds a way to make it more horrific than we imagined.
Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: the last of us
The Last of Us S02E02 Review: A Most Visceral Twist of The Knife
HBO's The Last of Us hits its watershed moment in S02E02: "Through the Valley" and finds a way to make it more horrific than we imagined.
Unless you've been living under a rock, episode two is probably the biggest series-defining moment of The Last of Us season two, short of where creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann decide to end this season. As teased in the premiere episode, Abby's (Kaitlyn Dever) crew locates Jackson, Wyoming, where Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are staying. At the start of "Through the Valley," we see Abby's plan set in motion. The following contains spoilers.
Now, The Last of Us Season 2's Journey Really Begins
Unlike the previous episode, there's equal time dedicated to Dever's Abby as she tries to locate a member of the town in hopes of locating her target, who was responsible for the Firefly Massacre in Salt Lake City, saving Ellie from fatal surgery. "Through the Valley" is a dramatically different narrative shift that sees Ellie deals with the aftermath on two fronts, the beef with Seth (Robert John Burke), who drunkenly uttered a homophobic slur during her and Dina's (Isabella Merced) moment in the dance; and Joel who laid Seth out with an NFL-level shove.
The remainder of the episode involves a surge from the infected that risks upending Jackson and Abby's plans as fans would definitely follow closely the events of the 2020 game, Part II. Let's tackle the ensemble fight first. The invasion was perfectly choreographed, demonstrating once again, no matter how prepared you are in an apocalypse, it becomes a battle of attrition with the horde. Gabriel Luna and Rutina Wesley, who play Tommy and Maria, respectively, do a wonderful job in their respective action scenes. Luna, especially with the standoff between Tommy and a bloater, a hulking juggernaut of infected that's near unstoppable.
Setting things in motion for the infected horde in this episode is Abby, who falls into a lower bank of snow and inadvertently triggers the stampede. As someone who played Part II, it was a masterful recreation for TV up to the climactic scene in question. It's basically a make it or break it sequence with Dever leading the way. There's a bit of a delicate balance on how any actor can tackle this because the important theme of the series is the mix of humanity and savagery.
Dever is certainly put in a difficult spot here since there are so many ways to tackle Abby's grief, rage, and humanity into a single sequence. Is it perfect? Certainly not, because it varies depending on the fan and where they are psychologically. I compare Dever's performance here to the infamous interrogation scene from 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day, when Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor kidnaps Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) and his family at his home. There are all sorts of emotions going on here, and you can hardly fault the conclusion that comes. Obviously, The Last of Us comes to a different conclusion, and we're left picking up the pieces. Directed by Mark Mylod and written by Mazin, "Through the Valley" is probably hands-down one of the best of the series and will be the measuring stick of future episodes this season.
Dever does a wonderful job balancing all those emotions at once for Abby as someone hardened by trauma, while at the same time, showing her nuanced humanity of bending, not breaking, presence. Spencer Lord's Owen provides that grounding influence to Abby's group. The tone was certainly set for the rest of the season, and we'll see how it plays out, especially the way we'll see Pascal and Ramsey's scenes get spread in the future. It will also be an interesting challenge for any TV show to see how they present as potentially polarizing as Abby and her story from here on out, and observe reactions accordingly. The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO and streams on Max.
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2: "Through the Valley"
9.5/10
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, this past weekend's second episode of HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 is the biggest game-changing, series-defining moment yet from Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. As teased in the premiere episode, Abby’s (Kaitlyn Dever) crew locates Jackson, Wyoming, where Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are staying. At the start of “Through the Valley,” we see Abby’s plan set in motion - and by the end, Joel's and Ellie's world will be shattered forever.
Credits
Director
Mark Mylod
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