Name: The Last of Us season 1 episode 8
Director: Ali Abbasi
Released: 2023-03-06T08:30:00

The Last of Us season 1 episode 8 sees Ellie defending Joel from David, a religious leader of a small community, who intends to recruit Ellie. The episode is now streaming on HBO Max.

Recap

David, a preacher and the leader of a town called Silver Lake, reads the Bible to his community in an attempt to give them some hope. A girl has lost her father, and David comforts her by reading a verse that suggests the pain will go away soon.

The girl asks when they can bury her father, and David, after looking at everyone, says that they will wait for spring as the ground is too cold.

Outside the cabin, David asks James, a hunter in the community, about the amount of ration they have left. James says they have about a week’s ration, but some of their people have spotted a deer that can help.

The two agree to go out hunting. Before James can walk away, David tells him that he sensed some doubt during the meeting. When James claims that the people are just scared, David says that he sensed doubt in James, not the people.

James assures him that they have just been through a rough time and that he still believes in him. The two then leave to hunt together.

Meanwhile, Ellie has stopped Joel’s bleeding, but his condition hasn’t improved that much. Ellie goes out, hoping to hunt a rabbit. That’s when she spots a deer.

Ellie only injures the deer that runs away. David and James end up finding that deer. A smart Ellie sneaks up on them and holds them at gunpoint.

David tries to calm Ellie down. He tells her about his hungry community and even offers a trade. Ellie lies about being from a larger group too, but she immediately grabs the chance to retrieve some medicines from David.

Ellie directs James to go and bring the medicines, while David will stay here with her, and in exchange, they can have half of the deer she has hunted. David talks to Ellie as they wait for James. He shares his belief in God and his past. Somewhere, he wants her to join their community.

David says everything happens for a reason. He tells her how the winter has been rough, which has led them to scavenge the other towns. During the last hunt for supplies, out of the four people that he sent, only three came back.

The person who died was the father of a little girl like Ellie, and it turns out that this group was attacked by a man who was with a little girl. Ellie realizes that they had run into David’s people back at the University of Eastern Colorado.

James sneaks up on them, but David instructs him to just give away the medicines and let Ellie go. James fails to understand David’s sense of mercy.

Ellie heads back to the warehouse, where Joel is. Though she doesn’t know how to use syringes, she injects Joel near his wound.

Back at Silver Lake, David’s community gives him the cold shoulder. David assures them that they will go look for the people who killed their man, Alec.

The daughter of Alec demands Joel and Ellie be killed. David hits her and reminds her that she will always have a father and that she shouldn’t speak when he is talking.

The next day, David and his group pick up Ellie’s trail and arrive at her hideout. Ellie struggles to wake Joel up. She hands him a knife and tells him that she will lead them away, but if anyone comes down near him, he should kill them.

Ellie distracts David’s group. James takes Ellie’s horse out, and the group intends to kill her right away. David interrupts them and carries Ellie.

David then orders the two of them to come with him and the other two to look for Joel. David clarifies that if they are hungry for vengeance, they should deliver it now.

The men look for Joel, who easily takes them out. He ties two of them up and interrogates them. Once he learns about Ellie’s location, he brutally kills both of them, though they have told him everything.

At Silver Lake, David shows up to have a conversation with Ellie, who is now locked inside a cage. During her time there, she notices a man’s ear in one corner and realizes that David and his men have been eating people to survive.

When David comes back to have another conversation, she confronts him about this. David admits that this is a secret that only a few people know. David explains how they are alike. Ellie is smart, and she has that survivor attitude a person needs in the world of the infected.

David turned to God after Cordyceps came, as his people relied on God to protect them. He wants someone like Ellie to be his friend. He proposes that he will order his men to let Joel go.

David comes closer to Ellie and describes the kind of life they both will lead. Ellie sees a chance and bites David, leaving him no option but to get rid of Ellie.

When James and David attempt to kill Ellie, she reveals that she is infected, and now that she has bitten David, he is too. David and James debate, leaving Ellie room to stab James and run away.

Ellie hides in the steakhouse. David comes out with a knife, and Ellie throws a burning log at him that lights up the place. David lets Ellie know that he is aware that she is not infected because anyone who is infected doesn’t fight this hard.

David says Ellie needs a father, and he is offering her a good life. Ellie stabs David, but she doesn’t get the job done. David takes Ellie down and comes on top of her.

Ellie starts crying, and before David could make another move, she grabs a butcher knife. She takes him out and continues to stab him, though he has already died. Ellie escapes the steakhouse, and she soon reunites with Joel, who holds her in his arms and calls her baby girl.

Review

The eighth episode of The Last of Us once again reminds the viewers that humans out there are more terrifying than the infected. The look on Ellie’s face after killing David tells a lot about how she felt while David was trying to kill her.
David, unlike Kathleen, sounded like a convincing leader. At times, he surprised the viewers after making questionable decisions, and till the end, the show kept his real motives a secret.
Ellie, on the other hand, has grown and learned a lot from Joel. She certainly can survive on her own now. Furthermore, Ellie’s wit and smart remarks continue to give the viewers much-needed laughter.
The show gives us a glimpse of how Joel was years ago when he kills the two Silver Lake members brutally. Joel often looks calm and collected around Ellie, but this side of him is terrifying. David is actually lucky as he didn’t face Joel because Joel would’ve ripped him apart.
Lastly, the reunion of Ellie and Joel is the most satisfying end one can ask for in this episode, especially after everything Ellie has been through. She had to be the adult when Joel was sick. The viewers get to see some comfort in her eyes when she finally meets Joel, who is awake and walking again.