The Last of Us Episode 1 follows Joel and Tess as they embark on a dangerous mission to transport a mysterious girl named Ellie. The Last of Us is an adaptation of the 2013 video game of the same name by Naughty Dog.
The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 1 Recap: When You’re Lost in the Darkness
Two epidemiologists discuss the possibility of microorganisms posing a serious threat to humanity in the future on a television talk show in 1968. Dr. Newman argues that fungi, such as Cordyceps, have the ability to take over the host’s body to keep the host alive while controlling its every maneuver. Moreover, there’s no remedy for fungal infection as opposed to that caused by bacteria.
On the other hand, Dr. Schoenheiss corrects Dr. Newman by stating that fungi are incapable of surviving in the human body because of their requirement for a low temperature. However, Dr. Newman quickly points out that it’s possible if the temperature of the earth rises, the fungi will have the need to evolve, and they will thus become capable of surviving within the human body as well.
In 2003, Sarah (Nico Parker) is excited about the birthday of her father, Joel (Pedro Pascal), who works in construction. At the breakfast table, they both hear about some disturbance happening in Jakarta from the radio. Before leaving for school, Sarah steals some money from her father to fix his watch as a birthday gift for him. On the way back home from school, Sarah notices unusual commotion on the road with police and firefighters scrambling all over the town. Before returning home, she pays a visit to her old neighbor, Connie. There she notices that Connie’s dog is behaving a bit abnormally, but she doesn’t think much of it.
When Joel returns home late at night, Sarah presents the watch to him along with the DVD for a film that they start watching together. In the middle of the night, Joel receives a call from his brother Tommy, who got into a scuffle and was arrested. As Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch, Joel transports her to her bed before leaving to get Tommy bailed. Sarah wakes up later to find that her father is gone and there’s a commotion with police sirens being heard in the distance. On turning on the television, Sarah gets an emergency warning requesting all viewers to stay indoors.
Against the warning, Sarah leaves the house to find there’s something wrong at her neighbor’s house. When she pays her neighbors a visit, she finds out that her neighbors have been attacked by Connie, who has turned cannibalistic. Before Connie can attack Sarah, Joel and Tommy come to the rescue, and Joel is forced to kill Connie in front of Sarah. Before any more harm comes their way, Joel, Sarah, and Tommy try to escape the countryside. On the way, their truck is overturned when the debris from a crashed airplane collides with their vehicle.
On gaining consciousness, Joel and Sarah get separated from Tommy who directs the two to get away. On the way, the father and daughter are stopped by an armed soldier who is ordered to shoot the civilians. Tommy comes to Joel’s rescue and kills the soldier. But by now, the soldiers’ bullets had already fatally injured Sarah, and she breathes her last in Joel’s arms.
In 2023, Joel lives in a Boston Quarantine Zone, managed by the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA), with his partner Tess (Anna Torv). He survives by doing menial jobs to earn a living. On the side, he also sells contraband pills to FEDRA soldiers. Joel is looking to establish some contact with his brother Tommy who’s gone incommunicado for a few weeks.
Joel and Tess are working towards getting their truck ready to go and find Tommy. But they find that Robert, who was supposed to sell them the battery for the truck, sold the battery to Fireflies, a resistance group working to overthrow FEDRA. The leader of the Fireflies in Boston, Marlene (Merle Dandridge), is planning to leave the Quarantine Zone and move West. She also has a girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in her captivity.
The Last of Us Episode 1 Ending Explained
Joel and Tess try to track down Robert to get their hands on the car battery they are looking for. On arriving at the building, they find Robert dead. On looking further, they come across an injured Marlene and Ellie. Joel accuses Marlene of turning Tommy against him. Marlene, on the other hand, asks Joel to transport Ellie to the Massachusetts State House in return for supplies and a vehicle. After some deliberation, Joel and Tess agree to take up the job.
The trio waits for the night to set in before embarking on their mission. Soon after they leave the safety of their apartment, they are intercepted by a FEDRA soldier they know. Joel offers him more contraband in return for letting them pass. But he starts testing the trio for infection. Before the soldier can take any action, Joel beats him to death in a fit of rage as the memories of his daughter’s death take control of him.
Moments later, Tess picks up the soldier’s device and discovers that Ellie has been infected. To Joel and Tess’ surprise, Ellie shows her partially healed wound to them and reveals that it is 3 weeks old. Before Joel can make up his mind about the entire situation, the group is forced to leave the premises and enter a biologically contaminated area to flee the FEDRA soldiers.
Is Ellie really infected?
When Marlene asks Joel and Tess to transport Ellie to the Fireflies and promises ample supplies in return, it becomes clear that Ellie holds something of value for Marlene – something the others are not aware of. Joel, who doesn’t care much about Ellie, assumes that she’s the daughter of some big shot when Marlene insists on Ellie’s safety. However, quite early in their journey outside the Quarantine Zone, Joel and Tess find out that Ellie has been bitten by an infected, but her wound has healed when usually it only takes nearly a day for a person to turn into an infected. This revelation makes it clear why Marlene handed Joel the responsibility of transporting Ellie to safety. It seems that somehow Ellie is immune to the deadly fungus, and she could be the key to humanity’s survival. In the end, it is Joel and Tess’ responsibility to ensure that humanity stands a chance against the deadly pandemic. But it will only happen if Ellie survives the dangerous journey ahead.
The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max and Disney+.
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