The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Infected
The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 2, “Infected,” gives viewers a slow burn that leads to an explosive finale. (Pun, 100% intended.)
First, let’s talk about the initial cordyceps outbreak. Going back to Jakarta in 2003 seemed like an odd choice to open the episode, but as we get deeper into the QZ, the threads of what was said in those earlier conversations become relevant.
This is an important aspect of the series to think about because so often it feels like making decisions like this are done shortsightedly, but those decisions have an effect ten to twenty years into the future like dominos.
Those opening scenes hit differently after the last several years, but the scenes where Ibu Ratna (Christine Hakim) gives us an amazing performance that allows the audience to empathize with her character as she delivers grave news that will impact all of humanity.
Even though the outbreak is interesting, our connection still lies with Ellie, Joel, and Tess. It’s interesting, after spending the first act with Ibu Ratna, to see how the choices made in Jakarta, affected the rest of the world.
While The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 2, “When You’re Lost in the Darkness,” gave us an overview of how the world changed since the onset of cordyceps, “Infected” is much more present. We are still getting snippets through dialogue as Tess and Joel explain what happened post-outbreak and what worked, but these bits of information are necessary as we continue to move into the world.
Ellie’s fascination with the world outside is a draw in these scenes, providing a jovial perspective to Tess and Joel’s pessimism. Still, as entertaining as it is to see Ellie pretend to be a hotel guest, Tess and Joel’s experiences in the world are the driving force that will move her through it.
As we move through the first leg of Ellie’s journey out of the QZ, it doesn’t really feel like there’s a pressing danger. Sure there are infected out there, but for the most part, Joel and company seem to move around relatively unhindered.
The lack of danger and well-paced action scenes work to this episode’s advantage. Between encounters the series makes us fall in love with Joel, Tess, and Ellie, and we can start to see a family unit forming as Tess starts to lean on the hope of Ellie’s immunity.
It makes it so much more heartbreaking when we realize that Tess is infected and won’t be making the trip with them. Her pleas to take Ellie and get her just a little bit further, because she may be the hope they need is palpable.
We don’t know everything that Tess has done to survive, but at that moment, we know that she sees a chance for redemption in Ellie.
Overall, The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 2, “Infected,” is a solid episode. The production is there and the worldbuilding is solid, however, it does still feel a bit like the show is in exposition mode. As much as I worry about the characters and love their dynamics, at the end of the episode I realize that I don’t really know or understand their actions yet.
In time, I get that I will know more about Joel and Ellie, but it does feel like we’re in survival mode right now and will be for a bit longer.
What did you think of this episode of The Last of Us? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO and HBO Max.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.