To examine how the perfect artistry creates utter and total dread, we delve deeper into the series’ most damaging scene so far.
What do you do when every step you take brings you closer to the end? Even when you walk cautiously, you can accidentally awaken something that is asleep beneath the ground. “Endure and survive,” which is also the title of this fifth episode, has been a recurring theme in The Last of Us so far, but is this enough when the world itself has the power to engulf you? Existence in this world is not simple, whether it is in the immediate assault of death or the despair that follows. This was played out in a terrifying way in the episode that aired today. Even though the last one had introduced us to Melanie Lynskey’s frightening Kathleen, who made an impression right away and did so again in this one, there was a bigger threat approaching that none of them were quite ready for. It was specifically a horde of infected that sprang from the ground and ate everything in their path. It was a scene that had been teased in the episode’s teaser, but it just gave a hint of the frantic cruelty to follow. It maintained the trend of the best aspects of the show being the ones that transcend beyond its original material as I saw it play out in all its gory magnificence. It is a bleak sequence that takes place in the dead of night and is a real high point in a series that has already surpassed all expectations.
It begins with a closer recreation of the game’s scene in which Joel (Pedro Pascal) kills a sniper who was posing a threat to not only Ellie (Bella Ramsey) but also to their new companions Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), with whom they were fleeing Kansas City. They had become closer as they faced the unknowns of the underground tunnels to escape, not realizing that the real threat would be waiting for them above ground. Joel manages to kill the sniper, but Kathleen shows up shortly after with an armed force that he would be helpless to repel. We hear a faint rumble that gradually gets louder just as all looks gone, with Lynskey giving a great monologue just before her character prepares to kill everyone. It’s the precise thing Kathleen had been warned about but had disregarded in her quest for vengeance, an exploding car that had smashed into an empty neighboring building after Joel shot its driver. Though she was unaware of it, her conceit served as the design for her own demise. The assembled gathering falls silent as they focus on whatever is creating that sinister sound. Even though the majority of them are heavily equipped, the subsequent onslaught cannot be stopped.
Her party is immediately surrounded by an unending swarm of infected. Even the gunfire of the already defeated warriors trying to hold on for one more second is beginning to be drowned out by their screams. The sound itself evokes this fear since each victim is identified by their absence, and the reanimated being’s growing power over everything that is still standing. Along with excellent sound editing, the way everything is pieced together ensures that the massacre never stops. The infected are first seen rushing out of the breach in a continuous view as if they were a torrent that will sweep everyone and everything away. Then it switches to a wide shot to give us Joel’s perspective on the rapidly developing terror. The facts of this pointless struggle are then revealed through quick cuts, never losing sight of Ellie, Henry, and Sam who are trapped in the center of it.
It might have been a little awkward to have a crack shot. Joel, You go along with taking out infected when they are close to the trio because of how expertly scripted and produced everything else is. It doesn’t rely on shaky cameras to produce this effect or fall into being dispersed, despite the fact that it is total pandemonium from which there is no escape. Instead, everything works together even as it is disintegrating. Although you don’t see this craft when you’re watching, that’s the goal because it immerses you in the experience with a precision that heightens the dread. As you walk right into the danger, no shot is wasted and no camera movement is random.
The episode’s production and filming are where the terror originates
Although the infected’s visual effects are stunning, the way the scene is put together is what really makes it all work. This sequence makes sense since it plays up the mayhem while keeping an even emphasis on all the important characters. Ellie simply needs to take a quick glance before cutting to Joel, who can see what she is aiming for, at the same moment that she spots a car that she can hide in. Is it not pretty amazing that he can see things so clearly from so far away? Yes, but you accept that because the episode is skilled at weaving little stories into the main one that is currently being played out. Disarray characterizes the conflict, but there are also dramatic tiny moments thrown in that help us understand the scale of what is going on even more. Ellie is able to hide out in the car just as Kathleen and her right-hand man Perry (Jeffrey Pierce) are frantically trying to escape.
The two are still fighting for their lives, and the way the camera pans over the carnage they are fleeing gives off the impression that everything is being done in a panic. When it finally focuses on a bloater who enters the fray, the scene even begins with a disruptive yet unnerving use of slow motion to give us a little more time as the realization that we are looking at the normally composed Perry seeps in. He shifts from issuing commands to trying to rally his troops to reverse the tide only to swiftly realize he won’t survive this. He is aware that his story’s journey has come to an end.
His ensuing sacrifice is over in a split second as Kathleen runs away without turning around and he has his head severed from his body. Ellie is hiding inside the car as an acrobatic infected youngster makes its way inside and tries to grab hold of her in a darkly amusing sequence that takes place during all of this. After she escapes, she quickly makes another cut and notices Sam and Henry huddled beneath a nearby car. As she runs to save them, the music intensifies and pulses even more, perfectly blending with this. When the three try to flee, Kathleen confronts them again and wastes the chance Perry provided her to live in order to try to settle the score once more. As she once more fails to recognize the threat directly behind her, this will be the last time we see her. The infected who attacked Ellie in the car jumps upon Kathleen and beats her viciously before biting into her writhing body. The remainder of the infected move towards the city, which has been left defenseless and is ignorant of what is approaching, as the protagonists flee.
The Last of Us‘s fifth episode demonstrates that there is no way out of chaos
A sudden cut to the calm of the neighboring motel where Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam have hidden out silences the sounds of the infected wailing that resound through the night. There is no gradual descent; instead, it conveys the sensation of suddenly thinking everything will be okay after feeling as like you are running for your life and adrenaline is pumping through your veins. Even while we perceive life to be predictable and understandable, it is actually characterized by abrupt bursts of unforeseen turmoil that can end as quickly as they begin. Young Sam and Henry later experience the catastrophic effects of what happened, serving as a reminder of the message that this scene is trying to portray. It is only by a great deal of luck that anyone gets to survive a situation like this, regardless of how much you may believe yourself to be capable of doing so. Ellie, who has maintained her sense of humor during most of their earlier interactions, feels the impact of this the next day as she walks without making the usual quips that we have come to expect.
This sequence’s strength lies in that. Yes, it is mostly defined as an exciting show to witness from the perspective of an objective bystander. Although it never falters in the face of the savagery that characterizes this universe, it also continues to be the most horrifying yet. These moments, more than any other thus far, are a testament to the worth of craft because they realistically raise the stakes for what is to come by demonstrating how, even when one feels in control, as Kathleen did, death and destruction are always just one wrong move away.
