The Final of Us’ fourth and fifth episodes,“Please Maintain to My Hand” and “Endure and Survive,” corresponded fairly carefully with the sport’s “Pittsburgh” and “The Suburbs” chapters. Save for the addition of Kathleen’s (Melanie Lynskey) intertwined arc, they didn’t stray removed from Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) authentic PlayStation path.
Episode 6, nonetheless, not solely squeezes two full sport chapters into its 60-ish minutes, but in addition kicks issues off with a completely new scene to cleanse our emotional palettes after final week’s gut-wrenching conclusion. So how does the episode, dubbed “Kin,” cram a lot into an hour? And the way carefully does it observe the sport’s model of occasions? Let’s saddle-up for Wyoming and discover out.
Spoiler alert: The next accommodates particulars about The Final of Us season 1, episode 6, “Kin.” Cease right here when you’ve got not watched the episode.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
(Photograph by HBO)
Following a short, brutal replay of Henry’s (Lamar Johnson) closing act, the story jumps forward three months – the sport is extra obscure, fast-forwarding to “Fall.” Joel and Ellie have invaded the house of an older couple, entertainingly performed by Graham Greene and Elaine Miles. The pair have clearly “seen some sh-t,” and are utterly unfazed by Joel holding them at gunpoint, demanding instructions west.
When Joel and Ellie ask the couple in the event that they know Tommy or in the event that they’ve heard of the Fireflies, the lady hilariously responds to the latter with, “We get these in the summertime.” When Ellie explains the Fireflies are literally folks, the lady doesn’t miss a beat and deadpans, “There are firefly folks?” She and her husband then get pleasure from a superb chuckle. Joel means the couple no hurt, and in the end holsters his weapon earlier than persevering with to press them on the easiest way west. The previous man’s ominous recommendation: “Go east.”
THE DAM DIFFERENCE
(Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)
The sport doesn’t embrace this scene – which supplies some welcome levity, whereas properly increasing upon the universe – however relatively picks up with Joel and Ellie arriving at a dam in Jackson, Wyoming. This chapter of the sport is titled “Tommy’s Dam,” because it’s the placement the place Joel’s lastly reunited together with his little brother. Gamers spend loads of time on this space, fixing environmental puzzles and defending the dam from unhealthy guys.
Within the episode, nonetheless, Joel and Ellie subsequent arrange camp, the place they do some further bonding and Ellie confesses she tried to treatment Sam (Keivonn Woodard) together with her immune blood. It’s an additional second that properly highlights their evolving relationship, but in addition reminds us Joel’s exhausting exterior is but to be completely cracked. When discussing what they’ll do after their shared journey, Joel bristles a bit when Ellie casually refers to them as “We.”
(Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)
They ultimately make it to the dam, however barely give it a passing look. As a substitute, they’re quickly surrounded by a posse of pistol-packing cowboys, who escort them to their gated group of Jackson. The flourishing city, which is powered by the dam, is the place Joel and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) are reunited. Within the sport’s respective chapter, the settings are primarily flipped. Jackson is closely referenced, however simply glimpsed from a distance, following the prolonged time spent on the dam.
However followers who braved The Final of Us Half II will really feel proper at dwelling within the quaint, snow-covered group. The 2020 sequel, which finds Joel and Ellie settled in Jackson, spends a great deal of time there. The Tipsy Bison tavern, featured closely within the episode, is pulled proper from the sport. Moreover, the woman Ellie scolds for looking at her appears a bit like Dina, her future girlfriend from Half II. That’s simply nerdy hypothesis, after all, nevertheless it’d make for an superior Easter egg if it pans out in season 2.
A KINDER, GENTLER JOEL
(Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)
Whereas the collection swaps the dam for the city, the interactions and story beats in each settings are largely the identical. However the present continues to supply further character-building moments and interactions to flesh issues out. The function of Maria (Rutina Wesley,) particularly, is given much more love. The backstory on her pre-apocalypse life – having been a district legal professional and dropping a son to the pandemic – is all new. As is her being pregnant and personal conversations with Ellie.
A lot of Joel and Tommy’s preliminary argument within the bar can also be authentic to the present, whereas the scene the place the youngsters are watching “The Goodbye Lady” is each model new and a call-out to the supply materials. Within the sport, when Tommy, Joel, and Ellie briefly view Jackson’s townscape from afar, Tommy fondly posits, “The youngsters’ll be watching films tonight.”
Joel and Tommy’s dialog about who’ll escort Ellie to the college is comparable, however the collection considerably tweaks it to lend it extra emotional weight and make Joel’s motivations extra sympathetic. At this level within the sport, whereas he’s unquestionably grown nearer to Ellie, his thoughts hasn’t gotten the memo from his coronary heart about his advanced emotions. She’s nonetheless primarily cargo to him, and he desires to depart her with Tommy and transfer on together with his life. Them going separate methods is the following logical step.
(Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)
He intends to hand-off Ellie within the present as effectively, however for various causes. He’s previous, scared, and experiencing debilitating panic assaults, which can also be a recent, essential wrinkle. Satirically, his motivation for leaving her behind cements simply how a lot he cares for her. He’s terrified he’ll fail her and, worse, get her killed. Within the sport he claims she’ll be safer with Tommy, nevertheless it comes off like a hole, self-serving justification. Within the collection, nonetheless, he really believes it, as evidenced by his tearful pleas to his brother.
His subsequent dialog with Ellie however, is almost similar. In each variations, she’s sitting by a window peeping somebody’s diary when Joel enters. The exchanges about Sarah, in addition to Joel’s harsh remark about Ellie not being his daughter, are just about pulled line-for-line from the supply materials. Ellie saying she’d be extra scared with out him, and Joel in the end storming off, insisting they half methods, will even be acquainted to followers of the sport.
In fact, each variations in the end see Joel having a change of coronary heart, and Ellie fortunately hopping on the again of his horse to proceed their journey to seek out the Fireflies. This second additionally gives a fan-pleasing nod: Tommy sees his brother off with an “Adios, huge brother,” however within the sport, it’s Joel who bids his sibling goodbye with an “Adios, little brother.”
SCHOOL SUCKS
(Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO)
Whereas a lot of the episode takes place in Jackson, it squeezes the sport’s corresponding chapter – aptly dubbed “The College” – into its closing 10 or so minutes. The 2 variations of this stretch share loads of similarities, together with the pair’s humorous dialog about soccer guidelines and their brush with former lab monkeys. Joel and Ellie’s respective singer and astronaut aspirations are additionally from the sport, although the latter is alluded to a lot earlier within the episode.
Joel additionally teaches Ellie to shoot a rifle within the sport, however the scene’s context and placement is far completely different. It unfolds out of necessity, with Ellie having to cowl Joel, however the present leverages it as one more alternative to show their strengthening bond — and rating a simple chuckle when Ellie playfully calls Joel a “d-ck.”
Established followers will admire the episode’s reference to the fictional College of Jap Colorado’s soccer workforce – “Go, Huge Horns” – however they’ll additionally discover the present excises the sport’s clip-emptying motion, considerably scaling again the pair’s time on the school. That’s, aside from the ultimate, pivotal battle, main into this week’s cliffhanger. The melee with the attackers performs out a lot in a different way right here, however the finish result’s precisely the identical: Joel’s stomach meets the ugly finish of a really sharp object.
The remaining moments additionally monitor with the sport’s, as a terrified Ellie desperately makes an attempt to wake an unconscious, bleeding-out Joel. In fact, after a short fade-to-black, gamers can choose up the story to be taught Joel’s destiny. Viewers, however, are on the mercy of weekly episode drops and should wait to seek out out if Ellie is ready to scare-up a field of Band-Aids.
Within the meantime, episode 7’s preview guarantees backstory on Ellie, together with an in depth friendship that was beforehand challenged by the Fireflies.
97%
The Final of Us: Season 1
(2023)
new episodes air on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
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