The Last of Us' Episode 6

And this emotional swell in the story is brought to life by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who turn in not just their best performances in the series thus far, ...

What’s significant here is that Ellie, who’s depended on Joel for survival up to this point, is now put in the dreadful position of having to save Joel’s bleeding, unconscious ass while traveling through parts unknown. They offer Joel and Ellie one of their extra houses to stay in, Maria takes Ellie to the movies, the brothers share a couple of stiff drinks at the town bar. Their later meeting, in which Joel implores Tommy to take Ellie to the Fireflies in his stead, is even more emotional. It’s one of the most gut-wrenching scenes from the game, and they reenact it essentially line for line, because the original material is just that damn good. Our hearts break for him because we know he’s held it in for so long, and because his love for Ellie has grown so much that he doesn’t trust himself to keep her safe anymore. Tommy and Maria are having a child, and Joel, still haunted by the loss of Sarah all those years ago, can’t muster up anything but resentment and perhaps a tinge of jealousy when he hears the news. It’s got little action to speak of, but the reveal of Jackson is monumental, Joel finding Tommy at long last feels like a huge sigh of relief (until it doesn’t), and we get some of the most powerful, revealing Joel and Ellie material we’ve seen yet. The backdrop for all of this is, of course, the commune in Jackson, Tommy’s adopted home where he plans to start a new life with his wife Maria and their unborn child. The first talk between Joel and Tommy is a contentious one. But this is the first time we really get to focus on the central duo’s relationship and dive deep into what’s going on inside of their heads and how they feel about one another. The couple are downright adorable, and their little shared chuckles of amusement at Joel and Ellie’s high-strung energy make for a nice moment of levity following the visions of horror we were left with last episode. We watch Joel and Ellie finally speak openly about their feelings toward each other, which is a revelation, narratively.

HBO's hit sees Joel and Ellie stumble upon an idyllic community in Jackson, Wyoming, while also facing the biggest threat to their survival yet.

Now he’s the one on the ground with a terrible wound to the midsection, and his surrogate daughter is the one hoping against hope that he can survive. That The Last of Us can do both within the same episode, and have it feel all of a piece, is among its most impressive traits. But Jackson is doing as fine at the end of “Kin” as it was when Joel and Ellie first arrived. Ellie’s conversation with Maria is the first she’s heard of Joel having (and then losing) a daughter. But in the process, his stomach gets impaled by the shard of a baseball bat, and the episode ends with a panicked Ellie tending to his wound and pleading for him to get up. It’s remarkable how easily this show can jump from [Bill and Frank’s love story](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-recaps/the-last-of-us-season-1-episode-3-recap-hbo-nick-offerman-murray-bartlett-gay-love-1234667212/) to the dark Kansas City two-parter to this calm, very [Station Eleven](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/station-eleven-review-1265799/)-esque look at Joel and Ellie’s relationship, and at the possibilities of finding peace even in a post-apocalyptic world. In the melee, Joel briefly appears to be the superman he wants to be for Ellie, snapping the neck of one of his attackers. Instead, the threat is to the relationship of the two leads, as his fear of opening up to her instead makes her think she’s being abandoned by him. Where “Endure and Survive” was full of [mayhem, spectacle, and despair](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-recaps/the-last-of-us-episode-5-recap-hbo-sam-keivonn-woodard-henry-lamar-johnson-melanie-lynskey-death-1234674650/), “Kin” is quiet and contemplative, heavy on character and so light on action until the end that we don’t even see any infected. [Rutina Wesley](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/qa-true-blood-star-rutina-wesley-on-taras-vampire-transformation-243584/) from Queen Sugar and True Blood), and they are expecting a baby. It is the dead of winter, and our heroes have stumbled across an older Native couple — played by the great character actor Graham Greene and Northern Exposure alum Elaine Miles — who have managed to carve out a life for themselves in a cabin in the middle of nowhere that few people or infected ever come across. [The Last of Us](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/the-last-of-us-review-hbo-zombies-neil-druckmann-pedro-pascal-bella-ramsey-1234655768/), which at times is extremely straightforward, but exciting and crafted at a high level.