The Last of Us Episode 6 is a powerful reunion and a point of no return

The sixth episode of The Last of Us is here. When will this show stop wreaking utter havoc with my emotions?

Toning back the action from last week’s showstopping episode, “Kin” gives us a quieter, more introspective story that really plumbs the depths of Ellie and Joel’s relationship. It also moves along pretty quickly, making some interesting choices in order to fit a whole lot of events into one episode.

As always, there will be SPOILERS for this week’s episode of The Last of Us (and the game) in this review.

The Last of Us Episode 6 review: “Kin”

After how tense last week’s episode of The Last of Us was, it was nice to get a breather for much of Episode 6. “Kin” is all about the interpersonal development between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) as they head out into the wilds of Wyoming in search of Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna).

It should go pretty much without saying that any time Ramsey and Pascal are onscreen together, their chemistry is fantastic. We pick things up in a slightly different stage in Ellie and Joel’s relationship; they’re much more at ease with each other, trading inside jokes and generally trusting one another far more. While this is a joy to watch, it also sets up one of the episode’s central conflicts: Joel’s reluctance to open himself up fully to the relationship out of fear of reliving the pain of losing a daughter should anything happen to Ellie.

We get the bulk of their banter in the episode’s first act, when Joel and Ellie are still roaming the wilderness. Pascal and Ramsey seem to have grown increasingly comfortable in their roles (The Last of Us filmed chronologically). Ramsey in particular is often outright hilarious. The opening scene where she and Joel try to get information out of married couple Marlon (Graham Greene) and Florence (Elaine Miles) might be the funniest scene of the series so far.

These scenes are also drop dead gorgeous. The Last of Us got some flack early on for trying to pass off footage of the Canadian wilderness — where the show was filmed — as post-apocalyptic Massachusetts, but at this point in Joel and Ellie’s journey they’re close enough to the Canadian border that the landscape lines up much more neatly. The episode shows off stunning mountain ranges and natural vistas.

There are tons of nods to Naughty Dog’s video game in the dialogue, from Ellie talking about wanting to be an astronaut to her trying to learn how to whistle to a great burn involving Will Livingston (the author of Ellie’s pun book) from Joel. But the best game references comes once Joel and Ellie arrive in Jackson.

Welcome to Jackson, Wyoming

After a tense standoff with a group of survivors, Joel and Ellie are escorted back to Jackson. It’s here that we get to the real meat of the episode, and just like a Fast & the Furious movie, it’s all about family. Joel’s reunion with Tommy was a tear-jerker that called to mind Jon and Sansa’s season 6 reunion at Castle Black on Game of Thrones.

The episode explores how the years have (or haven’t) changed their dynamic. That includes the introduction of Tommy’s wife Maria (Rutina Wesley), with whom he’s expecting a baby. Joel doesn’t exactly take this news gracefully, since parenthood is a difficult topic for him. He and Tommy later reconcile, but the back-and-forth between heartwarming moments and tense interactions make “Kin” compelling.

“Kin” also does a good job of establishing the Jackson settlement. We won’t go into details, but suffice it to say that Jackson is a major location in The Last of Us franchise, and there were a ton of little easter eggs thrown in there that lay groundwork for future episodes. Expect to see Jackson again at some point.

While our gang is recuperating in Jackson, we get an iconic scene from the game where Joel and Ellie finally let out their pent-up frustrations. Joel wants his brother Tommy to take Ellie the rest of the way to the Fireflies because he’s afraid of growing too attached to her and then failing her; Ellie doesn’t want to be abandoned by her new surrogate father. I got chills when Joel told her “You’re not my daughter. And I sure as hell ain’t your dad,” which is a standout bit of script directly from the game.

Of course, it’s all a big fakeout. Joel eventually comes around at the last minute and decides to continue onward to the Firefly base himself. Let the good times resume, right? …Right?

Things take a turn for the worst at the University of Eastern Colorado

At this point, The Last of Us Episode 6 did something I didn’t expect and launched straight into the next chapter from the game, with Joel and Ellie arriving at the abandoned University of Eastern Colorado where they believe the Fireflies are holed up. The university setting is gorgeous and filled with even more game references, from the set design to the monkey scenes to Joel confessing that he once dreamed of being a singer. I loved it.

It quickly becomes clear that something is amiss, however. After finding the spot where the Fireflies supposedly had their lab, Joel and Ellie discover that the group moved on to Salt Lake City. The road trip’s not over quite yet!

Or at least, they hope it’s not. As they scour the ruins for clues, a group of raiders arrives to look around for supplies. Joel and Ellie try to escape unnoticed, but are ambushed by one of them. Despite Joel brutally snapping the man’s neck, things go sideways pretty badly when it’s revealed that Joel was stabbed in the side with a rusty railroad during the scuffle.

Ellie then takes over, getting him on their horse and shooting at their pursuers to make good their escape. But after they get away, Joel falls off the horse unconscious. “Kin” ends with a slow zoom out as Ellie begs for him to get up, leaving it ambiguous whether Joel survived. It’s another shocker ending that sets up the season’s endgame. Things are only gonna get more intense from here.

The Last of Bullet Points

• It was a great touch that Ellie confessed to Joel in this episode that she knew Sam was bitten and tried to heal him. Glad that was addressed and we saw Joel’s (very understanding) reaaction.
• There’s a moment in the mess hall at Jackson where Ellie shouts at a girl for staring at her. It’s a quick moment, but I’m pretty sure that was supposed to be Dina, who will be a major part of Ellie’s story in season 2.
• Ellie also met a little horse named Shimmer at Jackson, which is the name of her horse from The Last of Us Part II.
• Jackson is much more developed in the television show than in the first The Last of Us game, where it’s only just getting up and running. In the game, Joel is there when the dam first starts generating electricity for the town, while in the show it’s already been working for some time. My guess is this was to bring Jackson more in line with how it looks in The Last of Us Part II.
• Joel’s panic attacks are a very interesting addition which I liked a lot. After everything that guy’s been through, who wouldn’t have panic attacks?
• The little rubber cup that Maria gives Ellie is a moon cup, aka a reusable item to use instead of tampons when she has her period. If you didn’t know what it was, now you know.
• Ellie found out in this episode that Joel had a daughter who died; Maria accidentally spills the beans without realizing Ellie didn’t know.
• The scene where Joel spilled his feelings to Tommy was so powerful. This episode had some of Pedro Pascal’s best emotional acting of the season so far.
• I wasn’t ready to see Sarah (Nico Parker) again, even if it was only in a very brief flash.
• The scene where Joel teaches Ellie to shoot the rifle is a combination of two scenes from the games: one between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us in Pittsburgh, and a flashback in The Last of Us Part II where Tommy teaches Ellie some of the more advanced tricks of sighting in a rifle.

Verdict

“Kin” was another strong episode of The Last of Us. It’s wasn’t quite as stunning as “Endure and Survive” and it did rush the ending just a little, but the show is never anything less than extremely enjoyable to watch. The amount of groundwork it laid for future seasons was also a huge plus, and the banter between Joel and Ellie was a highlight.

Episode Grade: B+

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