Preamble

This might be the quickest and meta preamble that I’ve ever written. Whilst I watched episode 5 at a reasonable time, my thoughts on it were slow forming. This was in addition to being absorbed with Doom: The Dark Ages during its early access period. It’s solid and engrossing so far, but it is a terrible distraction for a weekly schedule. Anyways, have you seen the latest episode of The Last of Us Season 2? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

At its worst, “Feel Her Love” highlights the problems that have permeated the sophomore season so far. The episode depicts Ellie and Dina’s continual search for Abby and her friends, as they close in on Nora, who works at a Seattle hospital. For all its new additions that have mostly worked for me, the lack of urgency is a major problem with The Last of Us’s second season. Whilst the game was fueled by Ellie’s singular and terrifying desire for revenge (for half of its running time), the show feels shockingly light on its feet. 

This comes from the Dina and Ellie relationship. While it’s mostly sweet and endearing, it takes the sting out of the show’s drama. Whilst there’s a moment where the pair connect on the notion of vengeance, I can’t help but feel that their budding relationship removes tension that they could have as a couple. It’s a problem that never really felt lacking in the game’s version of the pair. This is coupled with some awkward plotting that favours a surprising reveal as opposed to drama that’s built into the new changes and established dynamics.

Jessie’s shushing of Ellie is almost an emblematic quality of this problem, as the show feels it’s in a hurry to get to the next plot point. And Tommy choosing to leave Jackson matches the game but fails to capitalise on the show’s new element of Tommy seeing Ellie as a surrogate daughter whom he feels responsible for after Joel’s death. The same could be said for the episode’s inconsistent writing, namely instances where Ellie and Dina use their firearms when they try to hatch a plan not to do so. Contrivance city is putting it mildly.

On the other hand, the episode does illustrate how strong the cold opens can be in telling one-off stories that have pay-offs that hold greater significance. In this instance, the opening is a harrowing introduction to the spores, which parallels Joel and Ellie’s singular, violent choices with a gut-wrenching utilitarian twist. The opening also paints a very human portrait of the person whom the Seraphites deify, which further fleshes out the world in a fascinating way. It also introduces a potential theme of this season, which is the difference in perception versus reality insofar as the gap between how one person thinks of someone versus the reality, etc.

Also, much like last week’s episode, the lighting takes centre stage in showing the cinematic qualities of the show. In particular, Ellie’s confrontation with Nora is haunting in its nightmarish use of reds and black that paint the young woman in almost demonic light as she descends into a space that’s reminiscent of hell. Bella Ramey delivers her best performance to date in this moment. She combines an almost machine-like disregard for human life and seething hatred that feels unflinchingly raw.