The sixth episode will air on February 19.
The Last of Us Episode 5, “Endure and Survive,” returned to the well-known action sequences the games are known for and also featured a new form of infected, the Bloaters, after many gloomy moments in the previous episodes. The Bloater makes an appearance in the most recent episode with a bang and a lot of flames. Episode 4 offered viewers a clue of what lies underground, which Kathleen chooses to deal with later. Co-creator Craig Mazin explains that the death of one character was originally meant to be significantly more violent than what was seen on screen in a recent interview with The Last of Us Podcast.
Ellie, Henry, and Sam are encircled by the hunters in the penultimate scene of the fifth episode. A blast releases the infected imprisoned by FEDRA under the tunnels as Henry tries to surrender himself. A terrifying Bloater that even confuses Joel for a brief moment emerges with the pouring infected. In contrast to Joel’s earlier warning to Ellie that the infected grow more powerful over time, the show claims that FEDRA in Kansas City drove the infected underground. Now that we have seen the first of the Bloaters and saw the destruction it caused, we can attest to its might.
There Were Plans for a Deadlier Death in Episode 5
The Bloater featured in the episode kills Perry (Jeffrey Pierce), Kathleen’s (Melanie Lynskey) right-hand man, as he attempts to combat it while the latter has time to flee. The Bloater eventually rips his head off of his body, which was a dramatic image. Mazin admits that his first vision for the scene was “overly grandiose,” nonetheless. He acknowledges that as he tests his concepts,
“I had this thing where I wanted the Bloater to pick Perry up and rip in half at the waist. And Neil [Druckmann] was like, “Well, okay, I mean is that going to be realistic?” And I’m like, ‘I think so.’ And then like the more Wētā [FX] tried to do the more you realize that people don’t rip along the waist. It’s really hard to do.”
He continued, “It got close. It came close. But ultimately Neil prevailed and was correct in suggesting that something that felt more grounded anatomically would be more effective.” Adding, “And then, of course, we were like, ‘Well, the Bloater has this head-rip that is iconic, it’s great, and it’s terrifying.” It’s safe to say that the scene worked as viewers witnessed Kathleen running while simultaneously watching the Bloater kill Perry in the distance and became frightened by the knowledge that the trio may be next.
