I don’t need to repeat the litany of many who consider that The Last of Us is not as powerful as in the first season, or that Pedro Pascal‘s departure “killed” the series. But here I am talking about it again. I think it’s unfair, but paradoxically, I understand. For those who know the story and that MAX is ultra-faithful to the game, there is nothing out of place. And if you were just a fan of Pascal, well, watch other content with him. Because we will have him in a flashback next week, but it will be his final farewell in this universe. Get ready.

The elephant in the room will always be Bella Ramsey as the protagonist. Ellie is neither nice nor empathetic in the game; the physical difference between the two is another detail, but I am on the team that defends Bella as an actress and in the role. And the conclusion of this week’s episode shows that yes, she is great. But there are more charismatic characters around.

Until we see the mysterious and missing Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) again, the one who has dominated every scene is the excellent Isabella Merced as Dina. There isn’t much chemistry between the couple Ellie and Dina, but Isabella lights up the screen every time she’s on screen. So let’s recap where we are in the story.

After a brief introduction to Isaac Dixon (Jeffrey Wright), he leaves our sight, and his mere existence makes us tense. We do the usual back and forth in time to reflect the setting in Seattle, which is the heart of the conflict between the Wolves and the Seraphites, both sides violent and radical in their principles.

A few years ago, after Isaac had taken over the W.L.F., the survivors were terrified because the cordyceps virus can also be transmitted through airborne spores. For someone who had just come out of a COVID-19 pandemic, we should be terrified, but I suspect that 5 years has already become an eternity, and the information caused less panic than it should have.

Finally, we are at the Seattle hospital, and Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach) talks to Elise (Hettienne Park) to understand how “Leon” and other team members were killed. Elise explains that the mission was to protect and clear the hospital of infected people, knowing that the basement would be complex because that was where the first patients with Cordyceps were brought in 2003. But when they got to the basement, they discovered that the infection is no longer just through bites: it is airborne. Leon, one of the infected, ordered the doors to basements B2 and B1 to be locked, and whoever went in never left, so no one got sick. Leon, by chance, was Elise’s son.

With this greater risk still not widely publicized, we return to Ellie and Dina, who are already aware that the city is more dangerous than they anticipated, but the thirst for revenge still drives them both. We have the classic scene from the game where Ellie strums Future Days on the guitar, but only those who know, know what this scene is about. Dina, explaining to the uninitiated, summarizes the external conflict between the “Scars” and the Wolves, drawing a parallel between the religious group as a group that decided to abolish mechanical weapons or technology to defend itself, but that is still dangerous and violent.

The challenge for both is to go unnoticed by both groups as well as the infected, locate and kill Abby, and return home. Obviously impossible, but they are in love and want justice for Joel; nothing that screams danger stops them. Ellie, in this case, because she is immune, feels more powerful than the rest, which makes her more unpredictable, but Dina is the heart that is missing in the story. She shares her trauma of having seen her family killed by an intruder in their hideout, and that is why Dina killed him. As she explains, to have revenge, it does not matter who started the conflict. Dina understands Ellie wanting to avenge Joel, who obviously did something to Abby. For Dina, it is the same thing: she wants Abby dead.

From then on, we have tense sequences of the duo bumping into infected people, and, at a moment when they were cornered, it was Jesse (Young Mazino), who came after them with Tommy (Gabriel Luna), who rescued them. The problem is that when they tried to escape, they bumped into the Seraphites executing a W.L.F. soldier, and, as it was impossible not to react in fear to what they witnessed, the trio had to flee through the woods, but Dina was injured.

To distract the Seraphites and help her friends, Ellie separated from them and went to the hospital, where she found Nora (Tati Gabrielle) alone. Immediately recognizing her as part of the group that attacked Joel and with a gun pointed at her, she demanded Abby’s location. Nora stalled Ellie, pretending to be scared until she counterattacked and angered the young woman by saying that “Joel deserved” what he got. In the rush to escape, Nora had no choice but to enter basement B2, and she was immediately infected.

Before she dies, she realizes that Ellie is the legendary immune girl that Abby’s father would have to operate on. “Don’t you know what he did?” she asks Ellie before telling her that “He killed everyone in that hospital. Including the only person alive who could find the cure, Abby’s father.” Ellie doesn’t blink or show surprise: “I know,” she simply answers. Since Nora still won’t give up Abby’s location, Ellie beats her until we leave the scene. If I were Ellie, I would let Nora die infected; killing her is helping her. But that’s my violent shadow, apparently.

Then, in an important flashback, we see Ellie waking up at home with Joel, radiant and happy. That’s right, we’ll have another episode with Pedro Pascal (and him singing!), and so we’ll better understand why Joel and Ellie were broken up and why it’s so strong for her to avenge him. It will be important!

Many will say that the series will get back on track because we’ll have Pascal back and him singing Future Days, but that’s nonsense. The game also suffered Joel’s death, and the “fault” in the script is Ellie, not even Bella Ramsey. She should be what Arya Stark was in Game of Thrones, a character whose Revenge was the main arc, but it involved us and shared the desire for retribution. With Ellie, everyone wants revenge for Joel, but she doesn’t include us as she should. It’s a shame, but maybe the perspective will change from episode 6 onwards. Will it?