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Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: the last of us
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5 Review: The Monsters Among Us
Bella Ramsey offers interesting layers to Ellie's psyche in the latest episode of HBO's The Last of Us, especially during the final act.
Just as the cordyceps fungus has evolved creating bigger threats in The Last of Us, humanity has largely regressed to its more primal and feral nature as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) are quickly discovering the world they set out for in their path of revenge is turning out a lot more complicated as imagined. The two make their journey to Seattle, and when we last left the two at the end of Day One, the two had a moment at the movie theater and now plan their next stage of their revenge inside a war between two very different factions. The following contains minor spoilers for "Feel Her Love".
The Last of Us Episode "Feel Her Love" Dives Deeper into the Seraphites-WLF War
At the beginning of "Feel Her Love," we get a bit of foreshadowing when we discover the next evolution of the fungal plague and another layer of the dangers humanity faces that will factor in recreating one of Part II's memorable moments involving Ellie. The episode's main focus is Ellie and Dina, and we learn more about how the two contrast with each other aside from personality. We discover Dina's a bit of a tactician, and we get a snippet of her background, but sadly, it's not something that will factor into the rest of the episode.
As they try to infiltrate the patrols of the WLF, who are actively at war with the Seraphites, they go into a building they suspect is full of infected. As they investigate, it's about as predictable as it gets as Dina plays the role of cool and collected while Ellie embraces her wild-card loose-cannon status. It would have been nice if they had put it into practice, but they only have two more episodes to come to a stopping point for the season. There really isn't any attempt to deviate much from the game's narrative at this point, as it's largely non-stop action. We get a not-so-shocking return, which anyone with a shred of intuition could guess. As the three flee the horde, then the WLF into the woods, we quickly discover how grey that moral code becomes in the remainder of the episode, atypical of the apocalypse genre. Just as there are terrible things antagonists have done, the series is shameless about its righteous indignation up to that climactic finish we get between Ramsey and Tati Gabrielle's Nora.
While "Feel Her Love" operates largely as a transitional episode for the greater threats to come from how the plague is getting worse, we also get a glimpse of how visceral the world's fanaticism can be. It doesn't take the latest and greatest technology to be just as cruel and evil as your enemies. Directed by Stephen Williams and written by creator Craig Mazin, "Feel Her Love" clocks in at 45 minutes, the shortest entry so far of the season, but could have used extra time for exposition, especially expanding on the opening scenes with Alanna Ubach's Hanrahan, Hettienne Park's Elise, Merced's Dina, and Gabrielle's Nora. At the very least, Gabrielle deserved more screen time, but by committing the bare minimum, the weight of her scenes with Ramsey could have been so much more.
Ramsey's organic growth and range as Ellie have definitely shone these past few episodes, and they're on their way up. Just as they can be a loose cannon one moment to being cold, guttural, and methodical stone-cold killer the next, shows us we're definitely set up for an epic finish to wrap the season. Speaking of which, from the looks of the next episode, it would be criminal if Pedro Pascal and Ramsey aren't Emmy nominees. The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO and is available to stream on Max.
The Last of Us - Season 2 Episode 5 "Feel Her Love"
7.5/10
The lastest episode of "The Last of Us" ramps up the intensity from both the militarized WLF and fanatical cultist Seraphites as our protagonists Ellie and Dina are caught in the middle. Non-stop action and a gutteral interrogation at the end marks another memorable episode.
Credits
Director
Stephen Williams
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