The Last of Us 7: Left Behind | HBO

0:00 But we don't quit. Father. It's 2 minutes. Or two days. We don't get that up. I don't want to give that up. Hey, I'm Derek and I'm Noah. And you're listening to another depressing of The Last of Us on a bite of.

0:41 Yep. Where we take our current favorite pop, culture's Obsession and enjoy it one nibble at a time. I'm so over being depressed. Hey okay, okay, okay okay guys, yes, it's sad but it's the episode but it's also beautiful to get to the sad. Listen you can't list is this is no bill and Frank's Excellent Adventure. Okay this is no strawberries. Secret patch kissing in the, you know, dusk, this is sadness. This is just sad. It's fun though, leading up to it anyway. Whatever could you tell what we're talking about today continuing? Because Okay, before we get into it, make sure you're following us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blah, blah, blah, all that great stuff. All the links are down below in the descriptions or just search her name on any of those social media platforms. Probably the easiest way.

1:34 If you like the show want to support the show. If you want to support, you know, we're people like watching the show and stuff. We're queer. So, you know, patreon dollar-a-month, get you like bonus stuff. We just did a Jordan peels. Nope, review, y'all picked it We did it. It's up there. The dollar can get you bonus episodes, last but not least. Subscribe plz some stars and review. My love that. I have to change it up a little bit rate. I like it goin bad. It's I feel. I'm feeling your flow think. So, let's take a look back at the last of us except Assad sick, get it, get it, he's flustered Man. Episode 6 skin, Joel and Ellie travel weeks on Horseback West. Where they meet spin-off worthy Marlin in Florence, who warned them not to cross the river of death. They have no choice but to do.

2:27 So, of course, following a heart to heart Under the Stars sheep Ranch. Anyone they find Tommy in a beautiful settlement in Jackson, the brothers are reunited. And Tommy tells Joel, he's married to Maria and expecting a child. Yay, suffering from panic attacks. Not yay, Joel can finds it confides in his brother that he can't continue with Ellie for fear of failing. On her just as Tommy and Ellie are about to leave. Joel has a change of heart, they finally make it to Boulder to find that the fireflies have fled only Maze and Raiders inhabit. The campus defending Ellie Joel is stabbed and left bleeding in the snow. Okay, not just stabbed impaled with a handle of a baseball bat. Oh my God.

3:10 I mean it was not as graphic as a video game I will just say he like fell from like two stories and landed on a giant like wrought iron Spike. Oh yeah. Not great. She get him over that. We he's like kind of pulled himself off. It's fine. Anyway. Spoilers ahead, spoiler. Spoiler for all of the last of us and episode 7 Left Behind. Let us officially take a bite of The Last of Us episode 7 Left Behind. We're in, we're in Tip-Top moment. Now, know has taken my lines. I'm just like I'm flustered. I'm flustered, I'm flustered. Okay. Yeah, before we were recording what novel was doing was re watching the video No game. Yeah, I guess.

3:52 Okay version of this. So this let me explain. Please do while also laying the groundwork. So if you don't know, this episode takes a step back again. It's almost like the bill and Frank, but it interweaves it to the current time very beautifully. That this is based on the DLC for the first video game Left Behind and it's also, they also did like an offshoot comic. This is kind of where it was born from. Mmm. So you have two different ways to get this. Sorry, so I had played it. When did this come out? 2013. So like I played it years ago and I'm just children and I was like, I think there was something else like at the end because it how this episode ends.

4:35 I was like, there has to be something else and I re-watched it and it just got real sad. Again, it's just as good in the game as it is the show just saying it's so sad. And I did you know after last Night's episode. I think because you played it you're a little more attached to the material. Oh yeah. So and watching it. I kind of felt numb. Like, that's how I felt at the end of last night's episode. I just felt sort of like, oh my gosh, it's just so sad all the time. And so that's, yeah. That's the last of us. They can't be happy for too long because of the world, they live in, which is unfortunate because that's how they wrote it, but that's the property.

5:19 I do wish that. I didn't know major plot points though. Like last night, I knew how last night was going to end. So the entire time I'm going like, who cares is going to be so sad. Anyway, this is why I tell you to stop spoiling things for yourself. I'm sorry. I had ten years to be spoiled. Yeah, yeah, I waited. But so, this episode is really interesting because it does tell Ellie's story. This is as much of her passes. We really get in the game. And interweaves it with Joel dying and her decision. So the opening I thought did it very skillfully and connecting those two.

6:00 He's dying. What does she get? She's a child. They're also like in the middle of nowhere. She's not a doctor. What did you going to do for him? She can't do anything. So he tells her to leave. Just go. What is she gonna do also? Like, I thought it was impressive. I mean, when we last saw them, he Fell off the horse into the snow. And so, I liked that in the beginning of this episode, you can sort of put the clues together of how she got him there, right? They rolled him onto a sleeping bag, which they dragged behind the horse and found this random house and got him all the way into the basement. It was just I liked that. We didn't have to see that part but we could piece it together. Yeah. That's a great visual storytelling to wear. Some people like, Derek like to know like how did you get there? Because you mentioned it in the last one, we talked about it. Like how is she going to To do this. They answered it for you.

6:52 Yeah. And that horse is just an in that garage like, geez, Louise. She starts. She goes to leave because he's physically pushes her away from him, which is very upsetting. And she goes to leave. And in that Split Second, hesitation that she has, she has like a whole life in a minute. She remembers this the story with Riley that led right to the events of the current story that we're at. I really liked seeing Federer school. It was very interesting, but did you think what we saw was what you expect to like? Did you expect it to be like that? I kept trying to piece together how it came to be, did a school like this, like due to Federal really didn't exist before anything spread know. So they just took over some other school and made it a federal training school possibly if that even is a school. Yeah.

7:47 So Abbi Be like a YMCA or yeah. So when you think of I think when you think of like military training you think of like barracks and things like that, but here we see that it was just a regular looked like a high school right? You know. So I think it was like surprising in that sense of the government taking whatever they can to make these training areas. Hmm. Well I will say that it is like the The Faculty or the principle I should say. What's his like director Quang Captain. Yeah. Captain. Okay, sir director Captain. It's the same thing is nicer in this than in the comic that it came from there. Very much more military and like drill sergeant e and also just assholes. But I like that, this show is making a point to not like really say fed Rose bad.

8:39 We've seen it. But also not saying fireflies are good. And so it's like what side is good or bad, but they're not really painting the picture as a distinct. This is good. This is bad. That's, you know. So it's interesting to see it that way. I think it's a story of people, right? And so, in both sides, you're probably going to find good people, and you're going to find bad people and actually, where where Elly was, was with a good person, a person that believed in her, you know, and there's, again, there's little Clues around his office, right? We see that he has the framed photo of his family and we have to wonder, are they still around? Probably? Not probably not. There was an amusement park in the background. And I don't think, right, And and Napoli still develop film now, you know, probably not.

9:22 So this man is dealt with his own losses and might be seeing Ellie as a kid. She tends to walk into people's lives and they want to take care of her because they can see this like spirit and her. So I think we were expecting, right? We were expecting this to be a really bad place but it felt like high school gym with a high school bully and a principle that cares. Fucking Bethany's. The Bethany's suck. Bethany like, leave her alone. She probably has the only Actioning Walkman in existence and you're gonna take your car. Last two batteries, don't do this. My God. I mean, we do have to also say about how they have electricity there as well. Not the best working. I mean, the lights were flickering. It was a bit of a strobe light but, you know, the government has be able to ration, its its resources, the confrontation that Ellie has with Bethenny, I found it. Gave us some hint again of who Riley is like we've heard the name before we kind of got a little pieces of it. It.

10:18 But still, we haven't really been introduced to her yet and I like that this moment really showed that like whoever Ellie like loves or cares for like you don't you don't talk about them. Like it's showing that like a base value before she got bitten before, she really got catapulted into the story. Like that's who she is and it stayed there and she also met Bethany get 15 stitches which is amazing. Yeah she's a she's a fierce spirit and One of the things that happens though, in this talk with Bethany is that Bethany says, oh, your friend is the one who would do something. So it almost feels like, like Riley. I don't know, like embedded something or brought something out in Ellie that wasn't necessarily.

11:02 They're all at all the time. No, I don't know. I just think it's it's interesting. That Ellie is like this person that people look to, but she might not have been as Fierce as she is now, when we meet her in this story, right? Yeah. She had to go through some bullshit to get to where she is. But this this really does it leads into the main story. So when we finally get to see one her bedroom, which was cool because we got to see all of the posters in the things that she has around her room of things that she loves, but she might not ever actually experienced until Riley, has some play into it, but I loved seeing her bedroom and I love that there was not going to spoil anything, but there was some Easter eggs from the and game in there as well.

11:46 It's so it shows a through line that she has always liked dinosaurs, guys. She's always like space, not to mention. She had the first volume of the pun book. Yes. The first one, not the second one, right? So she's, I mean, puns are just part of her. Yeah, yeah, they're amazing storm. Reed comes onto the scene. These two, I mean, if anything, from this show, you should take away. They are so good at acting. They're so young and their forces to be reckoned with, with this, they're acting ability. It's just so to have somebody that is around the same age as Ellie come in there and have to be in the same scene as her this far into the the first season after we've been with Ellie for so long. She really Had to steal it and I feel like storm read really knocked it out of the park.

12:40 Yeah, she did a fantastic job. You know, there's there's something to be said about when you are a character. And I feel like this is sort of the same thing with with the actor that played goals daughter. You have to be this character that only appears for one episode, but has to mean so much, unfortunately, to the other character. Yeah, you're with and so that's a big job for storm. Read to have to come in like this, This is the person that liked was the reason why we know about Ellie, right? Like, she had to be that person. Yeah, I mean, this is this is Ellie, Sarah, yeah, yeah. Oh my God, the the connections between like, there's just so much to so many similarities between Joel and Ellie and this is where we really see. They're so similar and they just need to like just get there they do in this episode.

13:33 Like finally, there's finally like that connection Almost dying. Whoo, sometimes you know like it takes a big kick in the ass. You need to like see something for me. On the other hand I'm a person that all is between, you know, you and my emotions is a trench coat. Oh God. Yes. 100% like guys, just let your guard down, just talk to each other but absolutely not. Yeah, I probably fall more into the Ellie and Joel Camp there. Sure. Except when I'm talking about the show, Joe and I'm just so sad and emotional crying in the office, but so we get the rest of this episode is just so much fun.

14:16 It's full of like, innocence and wonder and first love and, you know, sexual Awakening and stuff. It's just so well done, they told, another queer story, beautifully. Hmm. And the great thing about it is, that's how it was told, originally they added to it in fleshed it out a little Or but the fact that you know, ten years ago, we did get something like this. I'm just so happy that people are like seeing what video games and stuff like that. Other media could possibly be. I mean in seven episodes of the show. The two main love stories we've seen where both queer. Yeah. And I mean we can't speak to Tess and Joel I mean they probably were but we'll never know.

14:59 I mean, we saw them. We saw him. Be the little spoon to her big spoon. I mean, that was all we got, he was strong run. Was he not? Yeah. You see with dark times dark times but seeing them jump on the roof getting to the mall. It's so good. I love the extra detail of there's an in game mechanic whenever you have your flashlight and it's one of the ones we have to like shake or bat to like charge up or get it to work. I just love that little deep. Like hate, keep throwing like some game mechanics in here that is just it, just pleases me like when Joel Chokehold did that guy that ended up stabbing him? Just like the game. Yeah, the way he held them and like, I felt like my son was pressing, 0 are the whole time just so good, so many details.

15:44 But before they get to the mall, we have this scene and one of the apartment buildings where they find. All my God, I forgot the dead guy. Yeah. You know who I mean? He the clues put it together. Is that he took his own life but like lose a fresh giant bottle of like whiskey or something like that moonshine. What do you fell to the floor? Floor. That was so scary. Yeah, do it actually begs. The question of. So he had pills there were in a bag de Joel, sell them to him like his. Is that a connection there? I mean who else is selling pills like that. Maybe I'll be somebody else but we know. Joel did do that. He's a Smuggler.

16:26 So interesting interesting, but that scene is actually I want to talk about that saying a little bit because I feel like aside from like it's a very like I do. Stand By Me thing where it's like, kids seeing a dead body for the first time. We do find out that Riley. I actually saw her parents died so she has a different relationship with death and violence. Then Ellie has so to see, Ellie like approach the body, without any like this, like because if I mean, if I would have seen that, I probably wouldn't go near it. Be like it's affected, all right, the, I don't want to, or before I will fall, apparently gets it right? Do it right down, right? Right there. So it was an interesting. Resting, same because I do you remember the same where she cut the infected you know head open a little bit and you know I called her a little, you know psychopath it's like I don't want to say like she still is but like she's she has these moments of like just not.

17:26 It hasn't connected for her yet because she's born in this world. She's erased. Apocalyptic child, she hasn't experienced loss. She has nobody connected It to her like that she's fearless right? In a sense, she's had nothing. I guess that's a better word than psychotic. It was like, okay, yeah, psychopath. I think she's fearless, because, like, you're saying, because she grew up in this world, she doesn't almost, she's had noted, no attachments to anyone or anything. So, she's never had to grieve. She's never had real loss until this episode, but we, she doesn't have to fear these things because she's never experienced them before. Yeah, seeing a body is just seeing a body.

18:06 And there's also probably knowing that taught her like, oh, when someone dies, you know, you mourn them and I don't know, they just throw on the fire. Yeah. So her world is completely shaped her and and I also think you know with with Riley having loss in her life and seeing her parents died. I think that this is also what's driving them in these two different directions, right? Riley's looking more for Community. Well, he's sort of just looking for a clearer path for herself to like leadership or something or something. Yeah, anything. I mean she's really She's Clinging On to the things that are hers. She doesn't, I mean, what is somebody in this Last of Us? World have you? Most of them don't have family, if they do that's great. Have a Walkman with his that's right. And so like the visceral reaction, she had to Bethany taking it from her like that's hers. That's her possession.

18:56 That's her whole world. So it makes sense. Yeah, out of like the four things that she owns but anyway most of the things you owns are just posters. It's a yeah, posters and all comic book a knife and The Walkman same comic book over and over same 10. Yeah as a comic book reader that would drive me crazy. Never knowing what happens. Next my God or just like smack dab in the middle of a story. No no thank you. So it takes the mask off but you'll never know who is under the man, the mall the mall that has five but originally for writers, revise 25. This ksenia Sarita.

19:36 That Director of Photography that did this is this episode. It's so they built this whole Mall. Hmm, But the way that this was shot, it was it was just good. Like it was just so like nostalgic it felt normal but also like didn't feel normal because of the setting of everything it was just beautiful. I loved the the eyes of wonder that she had whenever Riley turned on all the lights to the mall and just how it Just a flood of colour came into a very dark, and beige and gray World. There were kind of used to so good so so good. Yeah. And the set like you're saying is just so fantastic. So spot-on.

20:18 Anytime they walked past a story you knew exactly what store was a secret. I guess there's is this considered product placement. I don't know Victoria's Secrets. The Gap Bath and Body Works. Is it if half of the letters of fallen off of the logo and works. Yeah, so probably not Or just app. They don't have to. They have to pay nothing. I guess. I don't know. Or maybe they're just like, thanks for putting it in this really great. Oh, the the number one show in the world. Thank you. Yeah, we'll take it the gaps like well we're you want more Cargoes? We got them. Yeah, the world but I you know, I was it made me feel nostalgic from all life. Did you have a mall life? No, you weren't a mall guy? Still not, ah, I never care for Miles, that's so sad. I just, I mean, I'll go into him but I know exactly where I need to go.

21:06 So what story need to do? I'm not like occasionally. I'll be like, okay, let's walk around since we already came here for the one thing we were to got, but I don't know. I just never, I didn't grow them all torture. I was a military brat. So, like, our mall was the PX R BX. Mmm. The commissary like, yeah, I understand that. I mean, I grew up in New York. I grew up in Queens. So, malls were a huge part of my life. You can go there after high school and when I was little, I mean, that's what you did. You went to the KB Toys store, you went to the Restore. You went and played in the arcade, you know, and then you bought some stuff, you really didn't need. So I completely got that. Like, wow, this place is amazing, even when you're little, it's just so exciting for me.

21:47 It was always so exciting to go to the mall. Well, they also never experienced it. They've heard about it. So, like, to be a person that has always heard of these things and has Media or whatever people telling you from before of how things were And experiencing it kind of was actually a great gift that Riley gave Ali because if Riley didn't do it and nobody was gonna do it, I do feel bad that they would never have experienced Cinnabon which is one of the greatest experiences on Earth. They probably could have. I think that stuff goes bad, 20 years. That's fine. My 20 year old cinnamon roll. It's fine. It's in the tube possibly, it's fine.

22:28 Oh wait no flower yeah that's probably where the cordyceps It's spread. So no, let's not do that. Deadly and not just for your Didact digestive tract anymore. Phone now just taken over your brain. Yeah, I shouldn't have gone to the mall and had that set of too late but throughout this whole episode we see you know, these looks that are exchanged between both of them. We see kind of these brushes, these touches these longing, looks at a, almost hold on, for too long. They almost region, you know, Riley, whenever they're in front of the Victorious. It's tour and Riley's like, oh, I'm just like imagining you in that and it's a joke but she's kind of testing the waters a little bit.

23:09 They're both the. It what's really funny is they're both like half liquid courage so that big bottle of moonshine or Hooch or whatever they sip it periodically and I think it's to their benefit almost. Absolutely. Because they're like, I don't know where this is going, but like I need to muster something up. I need to like, be kind of comfortable in this. It's in, in comparing this episode to the bill and Frank. Road, they still share some of those same beats, right? Of two people coming together, feeling unsure about maybe their feelings and and if the other one shares it but in this one, it's a lot more sweet. Obviously. I think that, you know, no matter where if you're queer or straight or whatever, that the feeling of a crush is the same across the board.

23:54 So these are just two teenagers that are feeling those feelings and I think anyone can reminisce about that. Yeah, I will say that. at, I do like that they show and I think there is a through line and I think it is similar no matter what, your sexual orientation is, or what you identify as I think, you know, trying to see if that person has the crush on you, but then there's that added layer especially when you're in a lgbtq. You don't know that is this okay? Because if they don't it's awful, not only does because, you know, a friendship could possibly survive if it's between a male and a female or opposite sex Whenever it's the same sex, it's a little scarier because you usually start as best friends and then if it does not work there's a lot more kind of writing all that.

24:44 I mean when you're 14 you're not going to be surrounded. You can't like you know and a lot of times if you can find an lgbtq Center that's fantastic. But a lot of times you're in school by yourself feeling like the odd one out. I don't think Phaedra has one of those. No, they don't reach Italy. They don't have, you know, fun Friday nights for the. No, no not at all. So It was it was sweet and it was real and it was great that they added those moments in here of them just kind of looking to each other and specifically on the carousel. When you know, they're on the Carousel and they're just they're looking at each other but then Ellie look really starts. Looking at her and you can see that she's kind of like putting these feelings together a little bit and like she's doing all of this for me, right?

25:29 Like just for me yes. You know there's also that thing right where Kind of like am I looking into it too much? Right, you know, and I think she's feeling that emotion as well. It's like she also doesn't want to get her own hopes up that it means more because maybe my friend just came back but it is that sort of uneasy feeling, but at the same time, you're watching Ellie, get excited. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's you you brought up a point that I think we should talk about before we go any further and It's Riley deciding to join the fireflies and we get her version of why she did that in a conversation with them and it turns out that she was going to be put on like scheuer Duty or something super duty.

26:14 Which why? I mean cool like what do you that's it? Like that's what you're going to be like, you know, that's what you're going to do for your life at 16. Last week, I don't blame her for trying to find something else and they found her there. Like I like what you do you have a purpose you could do this now, right? Will I say it's a good purpose or is it being used in a certain way? Well to me it even feels predatory, right? Yeah. Marlene is waiting in the shadows, somewhere going. Oh hey, you're really good at sneaking around. Have you ever thought of maybe joining another blah blah blah? So it feels like a not to say that Riley doesn't have those talents but or Merlin was necessarily being predatory but it feels like I'm a group and I'm trying to get people to join it.

27:03 I mean that's why some people in the qz sort of the fireflies as a cult, right? Right. You know. So those are coming out of the Shadows, right? Like, hey, right, and you're seeing it. Take these bottoms actionable. Yeah. So I'll look, you could stay in the mall. Yeah. So it felt kind of icky to me, but I think the point is though is that Riley needed someone to say that to her. Yeah. And she sees. So we get the impression that they've talked about doing this type of stuff like, Talking about what the fireflies are doing or talking about Liberation or rebelling and Ellie makes a point to say there's a difference between like talking about it and actually doing it. So it's it's interesting to see those beliefs kind of clash.

27:44 Yeah. Also LED being a little more reserved because she had that conversation with the captain and he's pretty much telling her like look if we don't hold this together, it's gonna go to shit and we saw what happened in Kansas City and he's Wrong. No, and I think there's also something to be said about again. They're going, they're going down these Divergent paths, right? And so Ellie is still very solidly in the federal training program, where they probably have lectures about fireflies and how to not trust them and propaganda means, right? But then Riley goes, and she's almost been deprogrammed for the last three weeks. So again there it's hard because they love each other and they want to come together, but they've been Separated for these last three weeks. So it does.

28:32 The puzzle piece doesn't fit together as well as it used to hmm between the two of them. Well, they're almost figuring each other. It's being reintroduced to a new person. I'm sure Riley is a little different to her. I mean, she has a whole, you know shelving unit of bombs at the Orange Julius of the taco place or whatever that was Macho Nacho. I might do nothing. But so this this episode adds an extra layer of music. I think that this is the first episode where we have multiple Both songs that seemed like they were purposely chosen for reasons. I did like that. There was one that played during the Carousel and you couldn't really hear too much over the Carousel music and also Riley, and Ellie talking.

29:17 But they did a remix of the cures Just Like Heaven and it's just that song. If you haven't heard it, it's great, but it talks about holding her hand and kissing her and wanting to do that. So, the music in the background is almost like giving you those Extra hints or almost like, saying with the characters have in their mind, it's just, it's good. This little details that they chose nice episode. The team here, they're not playing any games with what they're doing. I feel like everything they do. Has a very clear Point purpose to it and I think that those song Choices were just spot-on. Yeah. Yeah. The the Take On Me by the aha's, one of my favorite songs, one of Ellie's favorite songs. So I mean it's just it makes sense that we like each other so much.

29:59 But I do like They used it in this one and it's going to be something that I'm not going to spoil anything, but it does come up in the second one and it's just great. I love that it has to do with love interests and I like that. It's with her first love interest. So they're almost like bookending a lot of things. This is a great little detail. I mean, we're just, we're in some sort of past present, Ellie, love triangle. I mean, last episode we got Dina, maybe peeking around the bend there and then now we have Riley. It's great. I want Holly to have all the love interest possibility. Yeah. Yeah, in thinking about this romp through the mall, there were the four now five wonders. I mean except for the escalator which which of the four would have been your cup of tea.

30:43 Well, not to skip to the end of the Halloween, really? Yeah, the Halloween, you know, how much I love Halloween and stuff like that. If I was deprived of knowing that love, but loving it at the same time and knowing that there was a store that somebody could have taken me to head. Over Heels, the ooky spooky store Head Over Heels dancing. On top of cabinets with masks on to oh my God, that made me very nervous. I thought they were going to fall through the cases. Yeah, it's not Final Destination. So I also was nervous when they were jumping on the roofs earlier in the episode, I was like they're very close together. Thankfully thankfully, yes, yes, I think for me it would have been the arcade. I liked going to arcades when I was little so I can win tickets and, you know, cash them in for Rings, you know. You know as a young child stuff to do for me not even I loved playing the games.

31:35 Okay, but I never used the ticket. I do this stuff. Yeah I like gave it to one of my siblings or something like that but like I just I didn't care because like all the stuff like the stuff I would have wanted. I'm like my parents would never give me money to play enough games to get that stuff. I was addicted to the game where the alligator comes out and you hit him with a mallet, and he goes now, and then I would get enough tickets that I would buy these big chunky plastic rings. It's a Todd. They were like there were sharp. No, they were like, they were like big gem on top and there was like a bubble in the middle of it and I had them in all the colors and as a crossover I would use them as Captain Planet rings. So that's good, that that's fun. You use them for your other games fashion and function. I liked the physical games.

32:19 So a lot like the ones where you have to like, you know, that electronic jump, rope one, where you to like, jump up. Oh thanks the one with like the spider one where you had a hit all the thing like I like to those ones. Zones were appointed you have longer limbs. So you're probably good at that. Spider was smack my body all around that arcade. That was me. That was you. And I was the one prancing around with rings at the bulk up. Blond smacking his body against all the things that was bad. But that I mean, so the the, the Wonders that she planned, fantastic, we can't not talk about her giving her the second volume to the pun book. I mean, the thought, That Riley put into this. If my like Wonder three.

33:03 Ellie was not like this girl loves me. Like, who does this for somebody. Like this is beyond best friend party-planning duties. It was she had to. Yeah, she had to have like that, that would have clicked. I mean, Noah and I, we give each other books as presents. I get time, especially as a book collector when you can get the next volume. And the set during the apocalypse, though, we'll see ya more, Barse. All of them are used no new books. Everywhere is this? And yeah, that's it. But so, this is where we start getting one of the big diverging paths that is going to be with these two, and just like the military, just like the government just like bedro, just like all this stuff.

33:48 The fireflies are stationing her somewhere else. So, Riley kind of wanted to do this big last thing, for Ellie to almost cushion the blow to show how much you cared for her. How much she loved her. Yeah. Very sweet, but Ellie is Ellie. And again, she's going to be left alone. The only person that she had that was family fret. Anything is telling her that she's leaving and she chose to do that. And In This Moment, Riley's also telling her. Well, if you wanted to come, you could. But you have to decide right now because we're leaving tomorrow. Yeah. It was. But Marlene also told her that she couldn't go, but like she could go, which confused me, you know, I don't trust Marlene no idea. I've said it.

34:32 I yeah. She then locked her in a room handcuffed to a radiator was barley and listen to be sure twice shy, I don't know. I agree. I agree with Marlene on that one. I don't try this modeling is just she's in the street. She's trying to get kids to join the Firefly, she's taking them captive, she's sending them across the country with strangers. I don't trust, but I loved when Ellie turned back because she thought Riley was in trouble. She turned back initially but then she heard what she thought she was screaming. So she went to go help her danger danger and the Halloween store.

35:17 Let's Okay, so let's talk about them. Dancing on top of the cases to, I got you babe, we're just a with literal masks on. Yeah, because they are masking who they truly are and their feelings man. Stop it with the metaphors in the Poetry. I can't take it, even though it was a very scary clown and a werewolf. It was still touching and meaningful. Yeah, this scene that we get that, like, during this This when we saw the infected kind of like twitch and come to life. Yeah that's where it obviously went all downhill. I'm gonna pass. Yeah, this I mean it is what the show it is with the universe is we knew it was coming but that I mean just the scene of them dancing of Riley like just, you know, making Ellie just fully just be in the moment. She was hesitant at first.

36:09 But Riley, is that person that can break her out of her shell? Even with the mask on, but she could do it. Etta James. I got you. Perfect. Perfect song to play in this those lyrics. Do, you know, the lyrics to that song as high form? I got you babe, babe. I got you babe. Well, one of the particular lyrics that plays especially before they take off the masks and share a very sweet and innocent, yes, this is people say that we don't know what love is or how to make it grow. Well I don't know if that's all true because you got me and baby, I got you and it's just it's perfect because they're so young, they're so young and they don't know what love Of is, but they're figuring it out on their own.

36:50 It's just it's so sweet and I spoke I spoke about this when I talked about my thoughts of the bill and Frank episode. But again, when you are queer, LGBT it all when I was little, it almost felt like I would never find another person. I so did it. But when when you do find another person, especially when you're that young, when you have like your first yeah, love or whatever. It feels like I never thought this would happen. I always thought I was alone and so that, you know, when we always put that layer on top of an apocalypse. Yeah, it just means a lot more. So again, we found these two queer characters, who Against All Odds, managed to find each other. Yeah, and are experiencing that together and figuring it out together and when they share their kiss, it's just it's so sweet and you CLE like really smile. Like a goofy kid smile for the first time. It's so sweet, but it's the last of us. So it cannot last.

37:56 I don't understand these. Infected that guy was like growing into a wall. Yeah. He was sleeping for so long and then he's like, Sonic the Hedgehog. Yeah no. Yeah, he's dormant until he doesn't have to be. I don't believe it. I don't like it and I don't believe it this this scene. Is so visceral. So intense terrifying. And it just keeps adding the way they decided to tell the scene with, you know, it on Ellie it on Riley. It, you know, Ellie falling into the shelves and trying to crawl away. She doesn't even know if she's immune yet and a detail that they added with this is. Did you notice?

38:39 She has like short sleeves and everything. She does not have short sleeves at all, right? She's always covering up, right? Because she's been so, So seeing that and seeing that their children dealing with this and only Riley is the one with the gun and she wasn't able to take it down. Is just so scary, it's so scary and then the way they told it was oh she sees the Ellie's been, Ellie's reaction to it. Just trying to wipe it off. Black tea bagging out that got me. Yeah, her saying no. Yeah. Oh my gosh. And then Riley revealing that she's also been and it's just so To put in Riley's words it's just like just be all poetic and shit like it is so sad.

39:22 But it's also until until she finds out that she's immune, it's almost she kind of comes down after she's done breaking shit because they're still going to do this together. I mean what better way almost so that you know that's what's that's something that really added to the emotion of it all was. This is literally the night before they Set for their Futures. Yes. And it stopped. Yep. And in in literally not even a minute, it just adds to the weight of everything and now they have no Futures anymore. Yeah. Oh well Ellie does unfortunately well not at cheated.

40:03 No, really. They thought it was over but I love this conversation that they have. It's so this just kind of speaks to what I was saying, saying earlier, how Riley knows Lon Boss. She knows violence and after Ellie has her tantrum and breaking stuff which I don't blame her, go ahead, break everything you want. She tells her like even if we have two minutes or two days like why waste them. Here's that she says those two options and one of them is to use the gun just to end it quickly or just kind of hang out a little more until because those minutes and seconds and days that you have with that person is worth more.

40:45 Then just ending it quicker than it should have been. So two more days in Mortal Kombat baby. I mean they have all the coins. You can you can learn all the special moves. Yeah. Yeah. It's just it's so sweet. It's so mature of that character and it's so loving of that character and I'm glad that it cut off when it did because we know the rest. We know that Marlene founder. We know that she had Ellie and then that's what brought Joel intestine to the thing, and then here we are, but going back. Back to present day. She she thought of that, she thought back to Riley after Joel told her to leave and she said you know what fuck that. I'm not going to I'm not going to lose again. Another person she's been through that just like Joel, he's lost people, he's not going to do that again. So why would she it's so good and then she finds some thread. Hallelujah.

41:39 Hey, you know and it feels like, you know, there's a part of you and you're watching it. You're like Does she have the training? Nope, to do that? And it's like, well no, that doesn't matter, Derek actually matter. I mean like a good thing. She has that innate ability to be like, oh, skin needs the clothes, right? So she's just like she got to that level of federal Medical Training. Yeah, it's not a butterfly stitch or anything but it's it's there. It's going to help. Yes, Ali. And maybe one of the most beautiful things ever is as she's doing this Joel opens, his hand and takes hers and his I mean you have to I think that like you thinking about how he played this scene, how Joel reacted to the scene and the words.

42:21 He was saying and his face was saying a completely different thing. Yeah. And the, his tears, his very real tears. Yeah, man. I mean, he was telling her to leave, he probably thought it was the right thing to do, but he knew he didn't want her to leave. Like, why would you want to die alone? Why would you want to, you know? And I even think there's the thing of once. She leaves, he can no longer protect her. Yep, he knows that like, yeah, she's gonna go out there and What what's going to happen to her? She's a know, even where to go, right? Where the hell are we? Yeah, he's a go north. He's like, I don't know where that is. What does that mean? In the air for this guy? Where does that mean? Look how man? That moment is just so sweet. And that's really the the growth that these characters got to like him being able to hold her hand, and let her take care of him. Big step for this, dude, huge step, but man, this I just I heli, I feel so bad for all these characters. It was such a beautiful story.

43:20 It's a beautiful way to tell this. It's unfortunate that the events have to play out the way that they did. I am keeping my fingers crossed that next week. It isn't so depressing as it is action packed. Yes, mmm. Right. There was some there's a boom boom and some fires. Yeah. I mean this is creepy. Yeah there. Yep. I know I'm not going to put anything in anybody's head it The show, doesn't it to? I'm not gonna say gets darker but it gets more intense. We're getting to the climax of the story, the ending of the first game. So just think about how games work. There's going to be a lot happening at the end of it. More bloaters man I don't know if we're gonna get any more maybe and my God more of them.

44:10 Yeah I'm very excited to see how they wrap this up into episode. Yes. And I think that the next two episodes are really about an hour so Because right, so next week we're seeing some sort of very scary, horrible people and then David figure within the last episode, we have to get to Salt Lake City. Yeah. Ryan to get to the fireflies. Yeah, yeah. So we have a lot of ground to cover in only two more episodes. Yeah, this I mean, again, this the show continues to undo itself week after week, it adds a new layer to the type of story or what it's trying to say with keeping that same feel throughout the whole thing. It's just Just I, I can't wait for it to be over but I'm loving every size.

44:54 Yes, I need a breather. I need a breather. We've just had an intense month across the board Garden. The invite of household. So yes, some levity would be nicer. Yeah, something that'd be real nice. But let us know what you thought of this episode. What was your favorite Mall thing? Yeah. What was your favorite wonder of the mall? Yeah. Or, you know you could just make up your own like, well, that's what I want to know. I want to know like if your favorite thing was to go The Yankee Candle and smell. The candles are going to Claire's and buy jelly bracelets. I've never been into a class. Oh, well then I mean accessories, go law but I haven't been in one recently. Either I only used to go when I was in high school to buy sparkly, jelly bracelets, and Puka shell necklaces.

45:35 I never wore a baby star necklace in my life. It was turqoise. How dare you real Turk was oh man. Alright well next week we got the penultimate episode, your favorite word is my favorite word. I'm saying it early, the penultimate episode of The Last of Us, of The Last of Us at the weird sentence to say, you did it? Beautifully kid. But I'm, we're gonna try to make you have some smiles when we talk about the last two episodes. Do you love Smiles for Miles? All right. Bye. Thanks for listening to a bite of artwork and editing by our own Noah. Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter at a bite of pie.

46:19 Odd. And on Facebook at a bite of if you have any questions recommendations or just want to say hi, you can contact us on a bite of pod.com. Please be sure to subscribe rate and review to spread the word. See you next time on a bite of bye.