The Last of Us, Season 1 Finale Review – Look for the Light
The season finale of The Last Of Us on HBO Max races to the finish line in an erratic and unsettling way that seems to encapsulate the style of the series as a whole. Feeling like a checklist of plot points that the show runners forgot to cover in the previous 8 episodes, this brisk 44 minute episode did manage to stir up some feelings. We finally return to the flashback opening format, in which we see the birth of Ellie, as her pregnant mother (Ashley Johnson) is chased into a home by an infected woman that bites her while the baby is being born. As origin stories go, it’s not an unsatisfying way to explain Ellie’s immunity. We also finally see where Firefly leader Marlene fits into Ellie’s story, though it’s unclear why the girl was allowed to be taken in by FEDRA at some point, if Marlene was the one entrusted to find the baby a home. Perhaps that’s a story saved for a Season 2 flashback. But satisfaction