Ryan Kirksey
The following recap contains spoilers for The Last of Us, S2E3, “The Path” (written by Craig Mazin and directed by Peter Hoar)
Fresh off last week’s monumental episode of Season 2 of The Last of Us, much of the conversation centered not only on Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) death at the hands of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), but also that such an important moment in the game and for these characters was portrayed opposite a massive battle between man and infected at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Much of the criticism came in the form of wondering why such a powerful moment, like the confrontation between Joel and Abby, and her brutal murder of the man who killed her father, needed such a spectacle like the one Craig Mazin and Mark Mylod gave audiences alongside the death of a central character.
Yes, this all-out war between the citizens of Jackson Hole and a horde of infected was like something straight out of Game of Thrones and was a creation unique to the television show. It does not happen in the game. But what it also now clearly does is serve to pull our remaining main characters between two impossible choices. Do the needs of the many outweigh the desire for revenge by the few? Or is justice worth preserving, saving, and protecting in this new society they are trying to build at the end of the world?
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and the citizens of Jackson Hole would face this exact dilemma in “The Path,” the third episode in this second season. As the show returns after the earthquake that was “Through the Valley,” the aftershocks that remain force the show to slow way down and deal not only with the loss suffered by many, but what that loss does at the individual and the community level. It’s not quite as peaceful as, say, sitting in the middle of the outfield of a kids’ Little League game drinking beer in the middle of the day, but compared to Episode 2, it’s quite a reprieve.
As the episode opens, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) visits his brother’s body fresh off the horrific events witnessed last week. In the episode commentary, Luna described this as a “one-man wake” where Tommy cleans the body, mourns him, and passes on one final message to his brother: “Give my love to Sarah.”
I found it interesting how often we saw Joel’s infamous broken watch in this scene and then in the scene where Ellie finds a box of Joel’s things after she is released from the hospital three months later. That watch, fixed by Sarah for Joel’s birthday right before the world fell in 2003, represents a catastrophic moment in time. Even though it has not worked since that night when Joel lost Sarah 25 years before, he wore it every day. The time froze on that watch when Joel’s world was turned upside down, and it represents how a new period of time started for Joel on that night.
As Ellie takes possession of the watch and makes an emotional journey through Joel’s house, a new period of time also starts for her. Checked out not only by doctors, but also by therapist Gail (Catherine O’Hara), Ellie is finally released from the (surprisingly functional and modern) hospital. After mourning Joel in his empty home, Dina (Isabel Merced) arrives to tell Ellie that she has been holding onto a secret for three months, while Ellie recovered.
Not only does Dina know four of the five names of the people who were present when Joel was killed, she knows the name of their group (WLFs, or Wolves), but also that they are from Seattle. Ellie is at first furious that it took this long to find out there are leads on Joel’s killers, but she eventually channels that energy into trying to convince the town council to send a group of 16 people to find the WLF and seek retribution.
Jesse (Young Mazino), who is apparently both Ellie’s physical trainer and also a newly appointed council member, urges Ellie to channel her energy and rage into making a logical, reasonable argument for sending a party to Seattle. Despite the emotion building up inside of her, she does just that, only to lose the vote 8-3, in spite of impassioned speech by not only her but bigot-turned-advocate Seth (Robert John Burke), who thinks a show of strength is what is necessary in a world like this.
We know, and anyone with half a brain in Jackson Hole knows, that Ellie is going to make this trip for justice regardless of what the Council voted. Dina is acutely aware of this and arrives that night to help her pack, make a plan for the route, and inform Ellie that she is going to be her partner in all of this.
And here is where the decision to include last week’s battle is so interesting. Revenge has been on the show’s mind since early in the first season. Joel wants revenge for Sarah’s death. Kathleen hunted Henry, who killed her brother, even though she knew there was a massive infected problem invading her city. Abby opened Season 2 talking about revenge for her father, who was executed by Joel. Should Ellie and Dina stay and help rebuild the town and honor all those who died, or go off on a mission to avenge the one person they were closest to?
Seth ends up being the one who provides Ellie and Dina with the right guns and supplies for the trip. He knows she has always been making this trip. He isn’t about to stop her. He understands that what Gail told Tommy was true from the moment Ellie met Joel.
“So, you think she might have learned that behavior from him? Turns out nurture can only do this much. The rest is nature. If she’s on a path, it’s not one that Joel put her on. No. No, I think they were walking side by side from the very start.”
And so Ellie starts on the same path Joel did all those years ago. On the hunt for revenge. Driven by rage. Hunting for those who wronged her.
After stopping to visit Joel’s grave 10 miles outside of town (where Ellie emotionally says goodbye and sprinkles a few coffee beans over his grave), the two women set out northwest for Seattle. It doesn’t take long for them to uncover a massacre that has taken place by who we assume must be the WLF. A group introduced earlier in the episode, who are very religious and cult-like in nature, have all been brutally murdered. This group in the game is called the Seraphites, but there will be more about them in the weeks ahead, so best to save a deep dive for then.
Suffice it to say, after witnessing Joel’s death, the brutality by which this new group was murdered, and the closing scenes in Seattle where we see the sheer numbers and strength of weapons the WLF possesses, this is not going to be an easy mission for Ellie and Dina. The two arrive in a surprisingly peaceful and strangely beautiful Seattle, but do not realize the horrors that await them inside the city.
“The Path” sets a course for Ellie to begin a journey of revenge and justice, but it won’t be long before they are faced with a decision of how far they are willing to go and what they are willing to sacrifice to try and bring Joel’s killers to justice. Will it cost Ellie more of the people she loves? Will it cost the town of Jackson Hole?
Reminds me more of the words Gail said to Tommy at the baseball game. “You inherited her, and you wanna keep her out of trouble. Take it from a psychotherapist of 40 years. Some people just can’t be saved.” Ellie’s revenge journey has begun. But can she save herself before it’s too late?
