The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 “The Path” sees the aftermath of the destruction of Jackson and the tragic death of Joel in “Through the Valley.” And not just immediately afterwards either. It has been three months since Joel’s passing and they’re still working on rebuilding the town. So is Ellie when it comes to her healing from the kick to the chest she received from Manny. By the time we see her, it’s clear that she’s gotten through the initial grieving phase of losing Joel, something I wish we would have gotten to see but that’s a whole lot of episodes worth of grief, and she’s moved into justice. Joining her in that justice is Dina. And everything from there goes in a really unexpected direction that we kind of love even if we’re still sad to say goodbye to Pedro Pascal.
Ellie Getting Justice Versus Revenge
Firstly, Bella Ramsey. The actor that you are. That scream and crying in the bed. 10 out of 10. I was crying alongside you. I felt every single moment of that cry of pain and no matter how much of a good face Ellie puts on after she’s released from the hospital, she’s angry. Time has helped dull that anger to allow her to enter Joel’s room and cry over his clothes and the way that they might still smell like him. But that anger is still there. What I’m most surprised about though is that her anger is fueling her but not in a self-destructive way that I expected.
The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 1 saw Ellie being a little reckless with a twist of teenage angst. In episode 2 we saw her clarify that no matter how angry she is with Joel, he is still her family. And now in episode 3, she took that anger and let it propel her forward in a practical way. She came to Tommy, wrote a speech thanks to Jessie’s advice, and then had Dina help her plan how to get out. She’s still probably going to be reckless down the line. But kudos to the writing for giving us a different kind of start to a revenge story. Ellie is planning, sometimes begrudgingly. But it goes to show what kind of person she is that she trusts the people around her and takes their advice.
As for the revenge versus justice of it all, at the moment it’s giving justice. Someone came into their home, beat Joel, and then killed him in front of Ellie. And if this simply was revenge she wouldn’t have pleaded with the town council to back her. She would’ve packed her stuff up and left, the mere thought of Abby being free out there fueling her. Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe this is a revenge story with a coat of paint to hide the rage inside. Whatever it is, Ramsey is acting the house down and already feels like they can carry the show all the way home.
Then There’s the Dina and Ellie of It All
Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced have the kind of chemistry that we’ve been missing when it comes to queer relationships. And it makes every single interaction that they have as Ellie and Dina feel so grounded. They feel like they’re real friends on the cusp of something romantic. And I know that Dina said that she wasn’t gay, but she could still be on the queer spectrum. Because I don’t look at my best friend like that and our chemistry doesn’t make the room feel like it disappeared and it’s just us. And that’s what I feel when I see Ellie and Dina on my screen.
Dina knew that Ellie was going to rip out her tubes and go after Abby if she told her the information. And it was obviously a hard decision to keep what she knew from Ellie. A secret that I’m pretty sure a lot of people will be angry with when it comes to Dina. But personally, I agree with her. I would have kept that information from my loved one and given them the time to heal. But I do think a part of why Dina went with Ellie was to make up for the time that she didn’t tell Ellie. That kind of guilt stays. But I also think that she went with her because she knows Ellie and cares about her. She knows that Ellie is reckless and hot-headed. And Dina as a character balances out Ellie in a way that I know Joel was proud of.
There was that moment when Dina came into Ellie’s garage room that solidified to me that Dina is that girl in The Last of Us. I’m so used to watching people on TV being incompetent but still going forward into a crazy situation. Dina isn’t like that. Dina sat down and made a meticulous list of what they could need to travel light and she outsourced help to get them to the next step. That is a capable woman, a ride or die, that you want with you no matter what. And whatever these two are going to face next, it’s going to be scary. But the writers have it set up that both of them are highly capable and trust each other. That’s going to give them an edge above everything else. And I can’t wait to see how it goes.
And Then There’s Tommy
The opening scene of Tommy in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 cleaning his brother’s body made me cry as much as Ramsey’s scream. Kudos to Gabriel Luna for the tender way that he looked upon Joel’s body. You could feel the depth of his loss and how he was shattered. And if there was anyone who was going to take care of his brother’s body, it was going to be him. I will also add that when he told Joel’s body to say hi to Sarah for him, I also lost it. Must be some kind of new record that I cried twice in the span of 5 minutes at the beginning of The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3.
When it comes to Tommy, he feels the loss of Joel just as deeply as Ellie. But his loss is one of a brother losing a brother. Ellie’s loss is that of a child losing their father. Both are just as powerful but different. And I really like that the show allowed us to see Ellie and Tommy communicating, expressing their sorrow, but still not stepping over each other. Shows too often use someone’s anger to destroy bonds around them, especially in the aftermath of loss. That’s not what happened here. Ellie came to Tommy with a possible plan, they had a disagreement, and they hugged it out. Then Ellie came and presented it to the council. It didn’t go how either of them expected, but they tried. Because let’s not forget, they’re also family.
When Tommy finds out that Ellie is gone, I think he’s going to come after her. He’s right that they’re still rebuilding. They need as many people as they can and he has a wife and a son to look out for. But I think he’s going to go after her because she’s his niece. And in the absence of Joel being there, he’ll step up. That’s just the kind of man that he is. I also think that Jessie is going to step up. He’s meticulous and does some things that frustrate me, but isn’t that what The Last of Us is about? Challenging our perception of what right and wrong means and what makes someone a good person or someone worth saving.
Random things I think about:
- I really thought that those whistling people we met in the forest we’re going to be some forest religious cannibal hippies
- I mean… they were a little odd with the religion and the symbolic cuts on their faces. Let’s not take that away from them
- And with the way that the episode was structured I thought Ellie and Dina were going to be the “wolves”
- They’re not the wolves. So Western Liberation Front? Their patch had a wolf right?
- But if not the WLF then…
- Whatever killed these people on the road, they did it for pleasure. They didn’t do it for food, which I could understand at the end of the world. They killed those people and just left them there
- That’s terrifying
- And I think that Dina knew or had an inkling of the true monsters out in the woods and that’s even scarier than I could imagine
- Also if we’re already getting to Seattle and it’s only episode 3, what else is in the store? I’m scared guys
- And also not the homophobe being the one to help out
- Ellie visiting Joel’s grave
- I’m going to need a moment
- The coffee grounds *crying*
- We’re also without a doubt going to see some sort of flashback dream sequence or something of what Ellie would have told Joel if she stopped the last time she saw him on that porc
- And we’re going to cry
- A lot.
The Last of Us airs new episodes every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
