The Last Of Us Ep 8 - Tumblr Posts

Something ‘When We Are in Need…’ does SO well is that throughout the whole episode you have the same reactions, and feel the same things as Ellie.

It starts and she’s hungry and Joel’s really sick and it makes you, the viewer, scared for Joel and scared for Ellie, too.

Then she goes hunting and finds the deer and then she meets David, and it’s suspicious and you don’t trust him, then they start to talk and it’s a good time and you almost start to have fun and then…

“James put the gun down.”

Right along with Ellie you think: Oh fuck. Shit just got real.

I watched a video essay on how they were able to accomplish this setup and turn, and it’s really just an incredible feat of writing, directing, and acting.

Then you and her are desperate to heal up Joel, and feel that sad sort of warmth as she cuddles up to him.

Then the Silver Lakers come back and Joel’s helpless and still you feel the same thing as Ellie through the whole sequence, you feel the same worry for Joel and the same intensity. Then she gets taken down and right along with her you think ‘uh-oh’.

The next scene with Ellie is when she wakes up in the cage, and once again it all applies. You, along with Ellie, are super wary of David and are desperate to escape. To get out of there.

Then you see the ear at the same time as Ellie. Even if you already suspected the cannibalism from the earlier scene with the stew, you still have that same disgusted reaction of ‘oh god are they gonna eat her?!’.

Then he takes her hand, and you have that same awful, shuddering realization. Even if you were like me and immediately were like “this guy is definitely bad”, you still get that confirmation, and the you still absolutely have that ‘oh fuck’ moment.

Then she breaks his finger, and just like her you have that moment of victory, before once again it all comes crashing down.

Then through the ‘I’m infected’ and restaurant fire fight your heart is pounding and you’re barely breathing. It’s intense and scary and then he’s on top of Ellie and I don’t think any piece of media has ever gotten me more scared.

Then she starts hacking at his face with the cleaver, and that scene is… indescribable, honestly.

Ellie stumbles out of the burning building and you just feel shocked.

Joel comes up behind her and her pulse jumps momentarily, and then you see it’s Joel and just like Ellie you’re so so glad he’s here. And his ‘I gotchu baby girl’ is in my opinion the most comforting, sad, cathartic moment on television.

The way that we’ve been in Ellie’s shoes the whole episode, with her rather than watching from the outside, makes that final moment so much more impactful. We’ve been through hell with Ellie, and now we get that comfort too. It’s absolutely brilliant filmmaking, and was such a good way to play it for maximum emotional ‘oomf’.

It’s also why I sorta disagree with many of pacing complaints about that episode, because if it was too extended or had unnecessary action scenes it would’ve lost those “shared feelings”.

Also, I know not everyone felt this way watching the episode, especially people who played the games because they already knew what was going to happen, meaning that they couldn’t have those heel turns and realizations that put you so well in Ellie’s head. (I have a different post about this general effect).

But I think it was very intentional, and for people who it worked for it was some of the most impactful, incredible tv, period.