Followers of "The Last of Us" detect an error in a scene 1:45
Editor's Note: The following contains
spoilers
for the eighth episode of "The Last of Us," which premiered on March 5.
(CNN) -- As "The Walking Dead" and its progeny have demonstrated time and time again, people, left to fend for themselves in a lawless society, become the real monsters during a zombie apocalypse, a highlight in the latest. episode of "The Last of Us," proving just how tough, steely, and resourceful teen Ellie can be.
With Joel (Pedro Pascal) still ill, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) meets David (Scott Shepherd), the leader of a starving community over which he presides as spiritual guide.
"It's hard to trust strangers, I know," David said when he first met Ellie, assuring her, "I'm a decent man."
However, despite a pleasant voice and sounding entirely reasonable at first, David was revealed to be a different kind of monster, resorting to cannibalism to feed his struggling flock and eventually trying to sexually assault the teenage Ellie, who, thanks to his courage, was seen by David as a soul mate.
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Bella Ramsey in episode 8 of "The Last of Us" (Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO)
In one of the most gruesome images the series has produced, first Ellie and then Joel witness the remains of what David relied on for food;
Joel even discovered a hideous locker where the bodies were stored.
For her part, Ellie fought back after trading a deer for antibiotics to help Joel, who recovered enough to torture and kill several of David's men to find her.
She also brilliantly exploited her immunity to her virus as a means to buy time when David was about to kill her, before saving himself from her in what was an outburst of visceral violence.
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Almost certainly by chance, the odd-numbered episodes of the series have generally been more memorable than the even-numbered ones, a pattern that persisted here.
These last few chapters have been notable for the gradual evolution of the Joel-Ellie relationship, highlighted when he finally found her at the end of the episode, telling the emotionally drained young woman, "It's okay, little one," with a tenderness that contrasted with the brutality shown. before.
The series – which is already a huge success for HBO (which, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery) in terms of viewership and resonance on social media and media – has one more episode to cement its credentials on. in terms of the other priority associated with prestige television: being remembered when Emmy season gets underway this spring.
Aside from a rich roster of guest stars, Pascal and Ramsey may not have sealed that deal entirely due to the historical hurdles this genre faces on that front;
still, with each of these last few hours, they continue to build on what already seemed to be a pretty compelling case.
TV series The Last of Us