Episode Six Of The Last Of Us Has A Major Plot Hole
Jakub Porzycki. Shutterstock Images.(This blog post contains SPOILERS for Episode Six of The Last Of Us)
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Bret Saberhagen was a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals in the mid-late 1980's. He'd be excellent and follow that up with a decent but not great year. He even won the AL Cy Young Award in 1985 and 1989. The even years, not so much. The Last of Us is the Bret Saberhagen of television. Rarely has a show swung back and forth from greatness to decent from week to week. The Sopranos certainly had some episodes that weren't great (A Hit Is A Hit, Christopher) but you could usually predict where the bad ones would fall (early/mid season) and where the classics would land (the last three episodes of every season).
Paul Sakuma. Shutterstock Images.Episode six has been the best of the "off" episodes. It still came with a mountain of issues including one major one that is so simplistic, it ruins the narrative of the entire second half of the episode. Why didn't Joel and his brother Tommy both go bring Ellie to the Fireflies? If Tommy is willing to go, wouldn't be safer for everyone if they both make the trip? I understand Tommy's hesitancy with being a new dad but he was already committed to going. Doesn't he want to help protect his brother as well as find a potential cure? It left the conclusion where Joel is potentially dying at the train tracks seem weird and rushed.
My other major issue is Joel's age. He's supposed to be 56 years old. Pedro Pascal is only 47 and looks great for that age. It hasn't made that much of a deal on the show so far but this week focused on aging. I love how it was written and acted with Joel explaining how getting older does make you more scared. I see it myself. Getting older is very freeing in that you care so much less about little shit but you do become more fearful. I'm much more cautious than I was 20 years ago. I know I'm slower now. Things can be more nerve-wracking (especially anything new). I'm a happier person at 43 than I was at 25 because things feel more solidified but I am less adventurous than I was. I liked that we saw Joel be scared but I didn't like how forced it felt.
That's this entire episode in a nutshell. From the immediate three months later title card we got at the beginning to Joel having heart problems (either that or panic attacks?), this felt like an episode intent on forcing narrative down our throats. Considering how the last two episodes took place in one city with a single storyline, this was a bit jarring. I like the slower boil more. I could have taken a couple (at least) shows where Ellie and Joel are just trekking to Wyoming. Just being in the Westworld meets Tombstone town could have been it's own episode.
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A few other takeaways:
Another episode without any infected people. I don't want to sound like one of the Sopranos fans who hated any episode without someone getting wacked but the episodes without infected have been the weaker ones…I don't love the Joel "dying" at the train tracks shit. He's obviously not going to die and cliffhangers like that always annoy. You can't call it that if the cliff is just a couple feet high…It's great seeing Graham Greene in the opening scene but I could have spent some more time with those characters. What is their life like? How do they survive?
The longer this show goes on, I feel it is more in line with the Breaking Bad style of storytelling than The Sopranos. There are exceptions (like episode three) but this show has a story to tell and you're going to get a direct line there. I don't think that's horrible (Breaking Bad is one of the best shows ever) but in a world as vast and exciting as The Last Of Us has, I wish everyone would just stop more often and catch their breath.
Episode 6: B
Episode 5: A
Episode 4: B-
Episode 3: A+
Episode 2: B
Episode 1: A-