The Last of Us Season 1 Ep 9 is the ninth and final chapter of the first season of an American post-apocalyptic zombie horror TV series, based on the best-selling video game of the same name. The series stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, as the duo make a dangerous trek across the dystopian American landscape seeking a cure against the fungal infection that runs through the veins of Ellie.
S P O I L E R S
Plot
Entitled “Look for the Light”, The Last of Us Season 1 Ep 9 turns the central quest of the series on its head and utterly subverts the audience’s expectations regarding the fate of Joel and Ellie, upon the accomplishment of their goal. So here we are, Joel has effectively delivered Ellie to the Fireflies but the twist is that in order for a cure to be produced from Ellie’s immunity, she must die!
Now, of course, this scenario is unacceptable to Joel as he now loves Ellie like his own daughter, and as far as he is concerned, he will do everything in his power to ensure that Ellis is not killed. Thus, there is fight sequence where Joel takes down the Fireflies one by one, envisioning what happens in the video games but with the victims being ‘real’ people instead! Joel rescues Ellie and lies to her as to what happened and the season ends.
Characters
The Last of Us Season 1 Ep 9 is all about Joel’s character arc. At the beginning of the season, Joel was like a walking zombie, unable to feel anything in the twenty years after his daughter’s death. He even tells Ellie that she is “cargo”. But in this finale, Joel is not willing to sacrifice Ellie for the greater good. His selfish need for her to be alive trumps anything as existential as “saving humanity” and his basic instinct takes over to deadly effect.
Observations
The Last of Us Season 1 Ep 9 is yet another brilliantly dark tale about how trauma impacts a person’s choices. Pundits may quibble about the lack of zombie action this first season but frankly that’s something we prefer. The human stories are more engaging than constantly shooting zombies dead! Looking forward to Season 2!
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