The Last of Us Delivers One of Its Best Episodes By Totally Changing the Game’s Plot

The Last of Us Season 2’s third episode is arguably one of its best as it deviates from the game pretty significantly. The Last of Us Season 2 has been a hot topic since it began airing earlier this month for many reasons. Of course, some fans of the game have been picky about what has been included in the show, what has been left on the cutting room floor, and how key events have been depicted. On the flip side, some fans of the show that haven’t played the game have been shocked by some of the big story beats, including the ending of last week’s episode.

Nevertheless, The Last of Us TV show has largely been pretty faithful to the game. While some events are different, the core story remains the same. Of course, last week was a painful reminder of that for a lot of viewers. The Last of Us Season 2 wasted zero time getting to Joel’s death, an event that happens early on in the second game. Some speculated that the show would try to delay this moment given the immense love fans have for Pedro Pascal and that HBO may want to squeeze as much time out of him as possible. The show, however, proved that wasn’t the case at all.

The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 3 Is Completely Different from the Video Game

Given the heartbreaking ending of the last episode, it should come as no surprise that the third episode of The Last of Us is all about the aftermath. However, episode 3 has the ability to do something the game does not: spend more time with these emotions. In the game, there’s not a ton of time to just hang out and talk. The player has to be motivated by gameplay and a lot of that revolves around combat, puzzle solving, and exploration. So, in The Last of Us Part 2, things play out pretty different. Tommy visits Ellie to tell her that he knows who the WLF are and to not pursue Abby’s crew before quietly sneaking out of town without her. Ellie and Dina then get permission from Maria to go help him, something they would’ve done regardless and then… they’re off to Seattle! There’s not much more to it than that.

In the TV show, however, things are quite different. Not only is Joel dead, but the town of Jackson has been completely ravaged. The show flashes forward a few months and we see Jackson is still in the process of rebuilding and recovering. Similarly, Ellie has been recovering in the hospital and is absolutely traumatized by what she saw in the lodge. She’s confronted by Joel’s therapist, Gale, a character who is not in the game, about what happened between Ellie and him. Ellie largely refuses to elaborate much and plays dumb.

Once she’s back on her feet, she visits Joel’s house to fully mourn his passing. Dina reunites with her, bringing cookies as a “peace offering” as she has purposefully withheld information from Ellie. She reveals that she has known who killed Joel and where they’re from, but couldn’t tell her given the state she was in. The two seek Tommy’s help, but he tells them that they must seek the approval of Jackson before organizing a group to strike back.

A townhall is organized where Ellie has to make her plea to the town about going after the WLF. There are a lot of differing takes, with some being concerned about the idea of revenge and others being concerned about leaving the town vulnerable to another attack. However, Seth, the bigot that got into a fight with Joel on New Years, stands up and claims that they should go after the WLF to make a point that they won’t roll over and take it. Ultimately, Jackson’s council takes a vote and decides against sending a group to attack the WLF, much to the dismay of Ellie.

This leads to one of the most interesting scenes of the show between Tommy and Gale, where they both think Ellie is lying about her motives for wanting to go after the WLF. They believe she is purely revenge driven and it will take her down a dark path, one that Gale thinks she is fated for and can’t be saved. Tommy fears she will end up inheriting the worst parts of Joel on this revenge quest, something that drove a wedge in their relationship. Later that night, Ellie sneaks out with Dina on horseback, aided with some supplies from Seth. The two stop at Joel’s grave before leaving Jackson and we get to see some of their journey to Seattle, something not fully seen in the game.

It’s a great episode that allows the relationship to build between Dina and Ellie, but also shows how everyone is individually (and collectively) impacted by the previous episode. Ellie’s revenge quest is somewhat selfish, even if it is understandable. Despite there being no hair-raising action this episode, The Last of Us utilizes the medium of television over gaming to expand its story and dive deeper into its characters.

Ironically, when the show isn’t just recreating scenes from the game, it highlights one of the core strengths of The Last of Us TV series. However, it doesn’t do this at the cost of eliminating key scenes from the game or even changing the story much at all, which is crucial. By not having to be directly compared to moments from the game, the show frees itself up and becomes a new experience for both longtime fans of the franchise and those experiencing this story for the first time in the show.

What did you think of The Last of Us Season 2’s third episode? Let me know in the comments!