The Last of Us episode 2 spoilers follow.
HBO's apocalyptic show doesn't have to do much heavy lifting to push itself into a space heads and shoulders above the others in the zombie genre (take that Walking Dead), and nothing illustrates this better than Tess's death scene in episode two.
Forgoing severed body parts, bursting innards or even the sight of any blood, her fate was instead sealed with a kiss. And yet this notable absence of gore didn't make her final moments any less horrifying – in fact, they were all the more unsettling for it.
This was a deliberate narrative decision from the creators of the show, and also one that differed from the video game on which The Last of Us is based. Neil Druckmann has pointed out that the infected "don't have to get violent unless you're fighting them from spreading [the infection] further" (via EW). He later pointed to this "beautiful" and "yet horrific" illustration through Tess's storyline.
Tess had suffered a bite from an infected clicker during their time in the museum, only she'd kept it from Joel and Ellie (and us folks at home) until the moment came where she could hide it no longer.
Her fate became the motivation to sacrifice herself. Saving both her teammates and their mission in one fell swoop, Tess stayed behind to blow up the horde of fungal zombies, allowing Joel and Ellie to escape.
But rather than being torn apart by the undead crowd (something we've seen play out a multitude of times in both television and on the big screen), one of the infected locked eyes with her and took a much more intimate approach.
Making his way over slowly, he leaned in and put his open mouth to hers, allowing his tendrils to dance in her mouth and contaminate her all over again.
This further violation of Tess in her final moments only added to the devastation. She knew she was going to die, one way or another, and it could be seen that she was giving herself over to that fate, literally facing up to what she too would become had the lighter failed to set them all ablaze.
Related: The Last of Us narrowly avoided a big mistake in its devastating premiere
But the kiss could also have been read in a different, more insidious way. Far from consensual, it was something that was forced upon her – much like the fungal virus, which infiltrated her body uninvited.
While locked in that disgusting embrace with the fungus-infected puppet, Tess stood frozen. An instinctual, survival response. And yet we knew by this point – whether we're familiar with the games or not – how it was to end.
The camera left her face only to watch the Zippo fall to the petrol-soaked ground, and with it came a sense of relief that Tess's torment was finally to be over. The Last of Us lingered on what the blast left behind, inviting you to sit in your own discomfort at what you had just watched.
Two episodes in and two main characters down, we have a feeling that this is only the beginning of the devastation that's to come. The Last of Us is proving relentless, and yet we cannot look away.
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
