The Last of Us – Endure and Survive

By: Kelly Kearney

If the story of Bill and Frank broke your heart, then prepare yourselves for newcomers Sam and Henry. Last week Joel landed in Kathleen and her resistant fighter’s crosshairs when he and Ellie shot two of her men searching the city for a man named Henry. Now Kathleen assumes these two outsiders were contacted by Kansas City’s most wanted to assist in his escape from the FEDRA-free zone before she can make him pay for inadvertently getting her brother killed. When Joe and Ellie cross paths with Henry and his brother, Sam, the four have to work together to get out of town before this resistance group finds them.

Kansas City Kathleen

We begin in a flashback, literally, with flashbang flares taking us back to the day Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) and her freedom militia liberated Kansas City from FEDRA control. The walls around the quarantine zone fell and the resisters who toppled them are celebrating in the streets by executing FEDRA soldiers who wronged them. As her fighters patrol the streets looking for any soldiers, guards, or collaborators running from the complex, we see Kathleen’s most wanted informant, Henry (Lamar Johnson), and his little brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard) hiding in the same attic Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) discovered last week when they were looking for a hideout after the ambush. Outside in the streets Henry watches as a truck drags the body of a FEDRA worker that has been impaled with knives and is now very dead. He knows that’s what awaits him and his younger, deaf, brother if they don’t find a way out of the city. Sam knows it too; his youth hasn’t blinded him to the dangers they face and Henry uses sign language to both explain what’s going on and calm his brother’s nerves. The last thing he needs is Sam accidentally making a sound and alerting Kathleen’s soldiers to their location.

As the brothers settle into the attic for the long haul, we head to the fallen FEDRA camp where Kathleen lays down the new laws for her captive ex-FEDRA and QZ collaborators. She isn’t your typical villain – with her soft-spoken, almost maternal way with which she talks to her victims and her troops, but behind that restrained smile is a brutal warlord with a taste for revenge. We quickly find out this crop of prisoners were civilian informants who traded information about the resistance to FEDRA agents for food and goods. She assumes one of them knows where their fellow snitch, Henry, is but nobody is talking. After she orders all of them killed, one captive speaks up and gives her a name: Edelstein. It’s a familiar name but not one Kathleen ever associated with FEDRA rats. Apparently, Edelstein has a hideout in the city and that’s enough for Kathleen to order Perry (Jeffrey Price) to sweep the city and find it and hopefully Henry, too. Perry tries to object because he isn’t sure this information is worthy of a full-scale deployment, but Kathleen vehemently disagrees. One would think a woman in her position only got there through loyalty to her militia, but she proves that’s not the case when she threatens to kill her second in command if he doesn’t obey her orders. She shoots Perry down and then orders the execution of all her captives as she walks out of the room.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend

We soon find out that not only are Sam and Henry hiding in Edelstein’s attic but that Edelstein (John Getz) is the same doctor who Kathleen interrogated and killed in a previous epsidoe. Sam, Henry and the doctor hide out for ten days in that attic as they watch the food dwindle. Knowing he has a better chance of sneaking by the militia to re-up their supplies, the doctor chooses to leave the hideout on day eleven and never returns. Over the course of their time in that attic the doctor suggested Henry make the best out of the situation for his brother. So, he surprised Sam with a box of crayons that the quiet boy used to both communicate with the doctor and adorn the walls in superhero artwork. Art keeps the young boy calm and occupied until Edelstein, who has grown close to Sam, does not return. Henry knows he is probably dead since the window to the outside of their hideout shows a major ramp-up in militia activity in the streets. Without food they can’t stay at Edelstein’s any longer, so Henry tells Sam they need to make their escape that next afternoon. To keep his mind off the dangers outside the door, Henry makes Sam a superhero face mask to give him a boost of bravery for the trek ahead. Just as the brothers are about to exit the building they hear a crash next door. A car just plowed through a building and gunfire is breaking out. It’s the ambush that forced Joel and Ellie out of their truck and into the mean streets of Kansas City and, sure enough, Henry locks eyes with Joel just as he starts shooting their attackers.

“I Don’t Work With Rats,” is what Joel says when we flashback to where we left off in Episode 4. He wakes to find Henry and young Sam holding guns on him and Ellie. Henry and his brother followed the two into the skyscraper and up to the top floor where they had been hiding out. The DIY glass doorbell Joel made outside the room he and Ellie were sleeping in didn’t work because the brothers tiptoed around it. Henry lets the two confused and panicked people know he and Sam aren’t there to hurt them but instead to make sure they get safely out of the city. Of course, there is a catch; Henry and Sam want to slip out with them. Joel knows that he is the Henry the militia is looking for and until they arrive, Henry says he was Kathleen’s main target. Now she has three in her crosshairs and, lucky for Joel, Henry knows the ins and outs of that city by heart. Joel isn’t so trusting but calms down after Ellie diffuses the tense situation by laughingly telling the armed Henry that Joel doesn’t mean to sound so volatile as he “…has an asshole voice.” She assures them both that they do not wish the brothers any harm. After the tensions die down, Joel shares some of the rations with the brothers but that’s where his help ends. He is determined to get Ellie out of Kansas City without the accompaniment of the brothers, especially when one is an admitted rat working for FEDRA. Henry vaguely admits his role before the walls came down and says it’s why Kathleen is hunting him. As the two men look out over the city from their skyscraper vantage point, Henry fills Joel in on how the Kansas City division of FEDRA fell to the resisters–he likens their tactics to mobsters and savages. He talks of how FEDRA murdered, raped, and tortured people for two decades until they had enough and cracks started to form in their tightly run ship. He alludes to the fact he had his reasons for working with them and is honest about being trapped in that choice. There were no good options, only survival. Joel isn’t interested in his story or helping a rat who sold out his people until he piques his interest about a secret way out of the city. It is one that Kathleen and her people haven’t thought of, and for very good reason too. As Ellie and Sam play soccer– football if you’re fancy, in the background, Henry explains that a series of maintenance tunnels below the city can circumvent the militia’s patrol vehicles at the border. Kathleen would never think to go down there because FEDRA drove all the infected underground fifteen years ago. What they failed to tell everyone inside the QZ was that, according to Henry’s contact, they cleared those tunnels and purposefully kept every one. Of course Henry has no idea that Kathleen and Perry witnessed movement beneath a crack in the floor of a local basement. Maybe it was cleared before, but something is lurking down there now and Henry might be leading Sam, Joel, and Ellie down into the belly of the infected beast! To make matters worse, the two guns Henry and Sam pulled on Joel and Ellie aren’t even loaded! Right about now Joel must regret stashing those rifles at Bill and Frank’s.

The Tunnels Come To Life

Can they trust Henry? They don’t have much choice after Ellie lets it slip that they not only took out two of Kathleen’s men but also survived two cordyceps clickers. They are better survivors than Henry could ever be so he is more convinced than ever that Joel is the guy to get them all to safety. Sam is happy when his brother tells him Joel will help because he has already bonded with Ellie over comic books and games; just knowing these two lived to tell the tale of clickers is enough to calm the kid’s nerves.

The four make their way to the maintenance tunnels by way of a bank. Joel says the words Ellie has been waiting for since she became his cargo when he tells her to pull out her gun and be ready. It’s quiet and the tunnels appear empty of the infected but Joel is still cautious. He has seen enough to know to never let his guard down. As they make their way deeper down into the maze they come across a door covered in child-like drawings of rainbows and fantasies and everything that would light up the eyes of a kid like Sam. The young boy is enamored with them and reaches for the door but Joe stops him before the boy can open it. Joel eases the door open and on the other side is a makeshift classroom with school supplies and more artwork hanging on the walls. Joel notices one of the drawings is of two happy FEDRA guards and underneath in crayon it says “Danny, Ish. Our protectors,” which reminds Joel of stories he heard about hidden underground communities. He assumes this one fell after someone left the tunnels and returned infected.

While the adults are theorizing about what went on below ground, Sam and Ellie are having the time of their lives rummaging through the school room. Sam finds a copy of a book they both love and the two nerd out over the popular fictional sci-fi story. Ellie even learns a few signs for the book’s catchphrase “Endure and Survive.”

The two get to be kids for a change and while the men watch them play Henry finally comes clean and tells Joel why he became a rat for FEDRA. He says Sam had Leukaemia and FEDRA had the last remaining supply of medication to help the boy. They agreed to give Sam the treatment if Henry told them where the leader of the resistance group was hiding. That leader was Kathleen’s brother – who he now regrets turning in because he was a good man and an even better leader. What Henry did was wrong and he knows that but the circumstances were impossible – it was a life for a life and the only death that was a guarantee was Sam’s. Now he knows how wrong he was and hopes taking responsibility for the “bad guy thing” he did will convince Joel to let them tag to wherever they’re going. He even pulls the relatable Dad card when he compares his dedication to his brother to how Joel must feel toward Ellie.

Death Breathes Beneath Them

Somewhere in their city sweep for Henry and the outsiders, Perry finds Kathleen standing in her childhood bedroom and reminiscing about her late brother Michael. She talks about how he was protective of her even when he found her style of leadership a bit off. She admits he wouldn’t approve of how she’s led in his absence and even mentions how he begged her to forgive Henry, but how could she? Forgiveness after the rat landed him in prison? She never saw the logic in that. Henry must die for what he has done and considering she overthrew an entire FEDRA complex, finding one man and his deaf brother should be easy.

At nightfall Joel, Ellie, Sam and Henry make their way out of the tunnels and everyone is thrilled but Joel – who shoots Ellie an evil look when she invites the brothers along for their trip out west. Deadly stares can’t kill this girl’s mood and she teases him relentlessly about his salty attitude. Her trolling is interrupted by a bullet that goes whizzing by her and the group runs for cover. They are under assault by a sniper tucked into a third-story building and they have no way to fire back. Their handguns are no match for this firepower and all they can do is run and duck behind cars and debris. Joel takes matters into his own hands when he orders them all to stay as he bobs and weaves his way through the gunfire to make his way up to the third-floor sniper’s nest. An old man awaits him and Joel trains his pistol on the man and orders him to stop firing. He tries to reason with him, but when the man makes a sudden move toward his gun, Joel has no other choice and pulls the trigger – killing him. That’s when the man’s CB radio clicks on and Kathleen says they are on their way. He must have told her their location! Joel screams down to Ellie and the others to run just as Kathleen and her brigade of trucks and soldiers pull up. Leading the convoy is a renegade bulldozer crushing every car blocking its path to Henry. Joel grabs the old man’s rifle and shoots the driver, forcing the bulldozer off of the road and into a fiery explosion. Kathleen, Perry, and a group of her soldiers descend on the house Joel is hiding in just as Henry yells out from his hiding spot that he will surrender if she lets the kids live. She refuses because she says Sam should’ve died from his Leukaemia, it was his fate – not her brother’s. One child’s life is not more important than the survival of Michael’s entire resistance community. Henry knows he can’t reason with her so he asks Ellie to take Sam and make a run for it. When he reveals himself, Kathleen pulls out her gun but she never gets the chance to fire it because the bulldozer sinks down into the ground and the sounds of what can only be a marching army can be heard from beneath them. That’s when the ground opens up and the infected climb out and attack everyone. It’s complete chaos as bullets fly, flames burn and the infected rip and tear their way through Kathleen’s group. From the sniper’s window, Joel covers Ellie as she makes her way through the crowd until she can climb to safety inside a vehicle. In the battle, Perry attempts to protect Kathleen until the sounds of a massive Bloater–an enormous infected beast roars its fungus-fueled head and takes off into the stunned crowd. The Bloater easily rips Perry’s head off, sending Kathleen running for her life. In the meantime, Ellie is almost attacked inside the car by an infected child who also climbed in through the window. She manages to get away from the pre-pubescent killer in time to save Henry from a Clicker who grabbed a hold of him. Before Ellie, Sam, and Henry can get away, Kathleen stops them again with her gun but her threat doesn’t last. When that same child clicker Ellie managed to dodge, moments before, goes flying through the air, it lands on Kathleen and winds up ripping her to shreds.

With Kathleen and her people either dead or falling, Joel meets up with the other three and leads them away from the infected horde dining on Kathleen’s resistors.

No Escaping Fate

Now safe, they make their way out of Kansas City to a hotel where Ellie and Sam decompress with a little “Endure and Survive.” Joel decides Henry proved himself and invites him along out west. As everyone gets ready for bed, Sam asks Ellie if she ever gets scared. He looks up to the older girl so he is shocked when she admits that she is afraid all the time but especially fears being left alone in the world. When Ellie volleys the question back to Sam via his notepad and pen, the boy responds with a question: “If you turn into a monster is it still you inside?” That’s when Sam lifts his pant leg to reveal his bite wound. Ellie, having no idea how to respond but hoping Sam will be as lucky as she was, shows him her scar from her bite and tells him her blood is the cure. Whether she believes it or just wants to believe, it doesn’t matter because she cuts her hand and mixes her blood into the infected wound. It’s worth the chance if it can save him.  Sam asks her to stay awake with him but, after she promises she will, she nods off. When Ellie wakes Sam is sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her, staring out the window. When Ellie tries to nudge him to get his attention, the infected Sam snaps and attacks her. The transformation happened when she fell asleep! As Ellie tries to wrestle the pint-sized rabid boy off of her, the two brawlers go crashing into the other room where Henry and Joel were sleeping. Sam has Ellie pinned to the ground and, as Joel reaches for his pistol, Henry dives for it first. He can’t let Joel kill Sam but he also can’t watch as Sam tears Ellie apart either. There are no good decisions here, much like the one he was forced to choose between Sam’s life or Michael’s. In the end, Henry makes the only choice he can and shoots his brother to save Ellie. As the blood pools around Sam’s little head, Henry crumbles right before Joel and Ellie’s eyes. “What did I do? ” he cries and then shoots himself in the head. The end happened in a flash; Joel could only yell out a “NO” before Henry’s body fell to the floor in a thud. Ellie tries but fails to hold back a tear for the deaths of their new friends and the last shreds of any childhood she could savor.

Later that day Ellie lays Sam’s notepad on the grave she and Joel made for the two brothers. Written in all capitals it says “I’M SORRY.” The guilt she feels for falling asleep and letting Sam go through the change alone will stick with Ellie. Joel spots the final goodbye as he guides Ellie in the direction west. This is going to be a very long and traumatic trip.