The Last Of Us: S2E2 - You’re Not Ready!
The Last of Us Just Unloaded an Emotional Flamethrower and Called It Episode 2”
⚠️ MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD — SERIOUSLY, THIS AIN’T A DRILL. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
This episode will absolutely F@%K you up! Just sayin’.
Get caught up on The Last Of Us.
Hey, gang! Well slap a gas mask on me and call me Clicker Chow, because The Last of Us just served us an hour of television so good it made me question if I’ve actually ever seen TV before or if I’ve just been staring at glowing rectangles filled with corporate detritus and Marvel slop pretending to be “content.”
Abby escaping a megahorde…
Season 2, Episode 2—Through the Valley—doesn’t just knock you on your ass. It curb-stomps your heart, wipes its boots on your soul, and somehow still manages to whisper, “Was it good for you too?” And you’ll have to admit… IT WAS.
Let’s talk about what went down in Jackson. You know, the town that previously felt like the closest thing to a cozy apocalypse suburb, where the worst thing you had to worry about was running out of canned peaches. That is, until HBO decided to Hardhome the place into a full-blown fungal Armageddon. Thousands of infected swarm the gates like they heard Costco was giving out free brains. The chaos is so immersive, you can practically smell the spores.
Tommy protecting the town of Jackson…
And in the middle of it all? Tommy. Beautiful, tragic, morally exhausted Tommy. He’s trying to save everyone while the universe hands him the bill for every bad life choice he’s ever made—including trusting that one guy who said “it’s just a small horde.”
But don’t worry, The Last of Us isn’t just about soul-pulverizing horror—it’s about soul-pulverizing emotions, too! This episode dared to interweave the siege on Jackson with the quiet tragedy of Joel’s Last Day. And hoo boy, did they do it. The guy saves Abby’s life like a rugged apocalypse daddy and in return? She signs his organ donor card with a golf club.
Abby getting her revenge…
Brutal. Efficient. Devastating. HBO.
Abby’s monologue? Knife to the heart. Tommy’s silent breakdown? Emotional kidney punch. The infected smashing the walls of Jackson while the walls of our hearts were also collapsing? Poetic symmetry, baby. Television doesn’t get better than this. It gets bloodier, sure—but not better.
Joel’s last day running from a horde…
And the acting? Excuse me while I sob uncontrollably into a ration pack. Gabriel Luna’s performance as Tommy is so raw, I’m 90% sure the man wept real tears of cordyceps. Kaitlyn Dever made us feel every shade of rage, loss, and guilt. Pedro Pascal’s final moments? That was the Joel death—quietly defiant, fiercely protective, and so damn human. And Bella Ramsey? My God. Her screams were the sound of humanity breaking. If your soul didn’t fracture at that performance, I can’t help you. You might already be infected.
This wasn’t just an episode. It was The Battle of Helm’s Deep meets The Red Wedding meets every bad dream I’ve had since 2020.
Final Verdict:
Through the Valley is one of the greatest hours of television ever made. It’s a reminder that sometimes, amidst all the streaming sludge and reboots of reboots, something comes along that isn’t just good—it's unforgettable.
Ellie finding a surprise stash…
And if this is what they’re giving us in Episode 2? We’re not ready for the rest. I hope I’m wrong. I hope it gets lighter. But this show doesn’t do hope. It does fungus, heartbreak, and the occasional emotional war crime.
So yeah—keep crying, jabronies.
I’ll be here. Spores in hand. Heart in ruins.
—EFT out.
"Humanity would be amazing if it weren’t for all the humans… and the cordyceps."
