The Last of Us episode 7

In The Last of Us Episode 7, we'll get a flashback of Ellie's life before she met Joel. Viewers will get to know a new character named Riley (Storm Reid), a ...

[Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels](https://www.amazon.com/b/?rh=i:instant-video,n:2858778011&ie=UTF8&filterId=OFFER_FILTER=SUBSCRIPTIONS&node=2858778011&ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1465430649312&_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=pf4&tag=fs-livedrops1-20&linkId=90b2815fb79ba0e403137c68e139db16%E2%80%9D) Keep checking in with us at Winter is Coming for all of our reviews, news, analysis, and more as we get closer to the finale. It’s a favorite among fans of the game and With what looks to be a pretty serious wound, plus the fact that he and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are kind of in the middle of nowhere, it’s going to be a close call. Viewers will get to know a new character named Riley (Storm Reid), a very important person in Ellie’s journey. But in tonight’s episode, we won’t focus on Joel at all.

What time does episode 7 of The Last of Us air? Is this the Left Behind episode? Digital Trends has all the information about the hit HBO show.

The Last of Us is one of the best shows of 2023. [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_of_us), The Last of Us sits at 97% on the Tomatometer, with an audience score of 91%. Is The Last of Us worth watching? There are nine scheduled episodes in season 1 of The Last of Us. Can I watch a trailer for episode 7 of The Last of Us? The Last of Us is quickly becoming a huge hit for HBO, joining the recent success of series like House of the Dragon, Succession, and Winning Time. [Game of Thrones](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-best-episodes-hbo/), The Wire, and The Sopranos are also available to watch on the service. When does episode 7 of The Last of Us release? The episode is directed by Liza Johnson. You can also get lost in the movie library with a great selection of films, ranging from blockbusters like [The Batman](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/the-batman-review/) to classic standout dramas like The Verdict. [The Last of Us](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/the-last-of-us-hbo-review/) has been one of the biggest hits of 2023 so far. [The Last of Us honors its original video game](https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/last-of-us-part-i-review-ps5/) source material and is about more than just bacteria-infested zombies.

Episode 7 will also introduce a character from Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) past. But don't worry, we'll get to see how Joel (Pedro Pascal) is doing, too. Needless to ...

[The Last of Us](https://hiddenremote.com/2023/02/19/whats-wrong-joels-heart-the-last-of-us/) episode 7 is titled “Left Behind,” and as excited as we are to watch it tonight (February 25), it’s bittersweet because it means we are one episode closer to the end. It will become available to stream at the same time as it airs (9 p.m. We share how long The Last of Us episode 7 is and how to watch. Tonight’s episode will run for approximately 60 minutes, starting at 9 p.m. Needless to say, this is not an episode you want to catch later, you need to be one of the first to see it as it airs on [HBO or stream it on HBO Max](https://hiddenremote.com/hbo/). [The Last of Us ](https://hiddenremote.com/2023/02/19/last-us-episode-6-recap-happens-joe-end/)returns with an episode that will once again tug our heart strings.

Warning: This story contains The Last of Us spoilers for season 1.] The Last of Us has left behind its super-sized episodes. HBO's live-action adaptation of ...

ET / 8:41 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. [The Last of Us](/category/the-last-of-us-tvshow/) spoilers for season 1.] The Last of Us has left behind its super-sized episodes. ET / 6:00 p.m. Recent episodes have run shorter: episodes 2 and 4 clocked in under an hour, with [episodes 5 and 6](https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-last-of-us-recap-episode-6-kin/) running just over an hour each. They expected to track down Marlene's (Merle Dandridge) Firefly faction developing a vaccine for the Cordyceps infection, but instead found evidence the Fireflies fled to Salt Lake City.

It's finally time for Ellie and Riley's night out. Here's how to watch The Last of Us episode 7 on HBO Max.

ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 4](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-4-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Feb. ET on HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 6](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-6-recap-and-review-abandonment-issues)— Sunday, Feb. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 5](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-5-recap-and-review-the-best-episode-yet)— Friday, Feb. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 3](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-3-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Jan. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 2](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-2-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Jan. Binge is the place you want to go to watch The Last of Us episode 7 online in Australia. [The Last of Us episode 1](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-1-recap)— Sunday, Jan. [Crave](https://www.crave.ca/en) (opens in new tab) is the home of The Last of Us in Canada, and episode 7 will air at its normal time, just like it does in the U.S.. So, get ready to watch The Last of Us episode 7 at 9 p.m. [Sky Atlantic](https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?awinmid=11005&awinaffid=103504&clickref=tomsguide-us-4922839227722946000&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fshop%2Ftv%2F) (opens in new tab) (the normal home for HBO and HBO Max Originals in the UK) and NOW in the U.K. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch The Last of Us episode 7, no matter where you are. And we'll finally get to meet Riley in The Last of Us episode 7, when it rewinds the clock back to weeks before Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie met.

How can you watch the seventh episode of The Last of Us on HBO Max? What can you expect going forward? Find out right here.

If it’s like The Last of Us video game, this will showcase where Ellie gets bit. Let us know in the comments below. Joel and Ellie’s trek to Denver is a bust. It’s also where viewers will see more of Ellie’s tragic backstory. He also told him that he can’t take Ellie any further, as he almost got her killed because of a panic attack. Here’s how you can watch it live and online.

Written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the post-apocalyptic drama thriller stars actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The story-driven game is set in a ...

[HBO Max](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F&xcust=xid:fr1674272326260hhj Boxing fights, MMA and more](https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2021/02/how-to-watch-dazn-on-your-tv-what-is-it-what-does-it-cost-and-include-boxing-fights-mma-and-more.html) [How to watch ESPN+ on TV: What is it, what does it cost and include?](https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2019/09/how-to-watch-espn-plus-on-your-tv-what-is-it-what-does-it-cost-and-what-does-it-include.html) ET](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F%3Futm_id%3D1011l5669%26utm_source%3Dskimlinks_phg%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate%26clickref%3D1101lwuJxCFY&xcust=xid:fr1674856256772ace [The Last of Us](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F&xcust=xid:fr1674272326258ijf xid:fr1677099550748eha) ($9.99/month, or $14.99/month without ads). xid:fr1677099550748eef) ($9.99/month with ads and $14.99/month without ads). [stream The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 7 on HBO Max](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F%3Futm_id%3D1011l5669%26utm_source%3Dskimlinks_phg%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate%26clickref%3D1101lwuJxCFY&xcust=xid:fr1674856256772caj PT/9 p.m. Death: The Undoctored Story Christopher Duntsch documentary available now on Peacock](https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2021/07/dr-death-the-undoctored-story-christopher-duntsch-documentary-releases-tonight-live-stream-info-how-to-watch-online-with-peacock.html) [How to watch DAZN on your TV: What is it, what does it cost and include? The story-driven game is set in a zombie-ravaged America that has been taken over by once-human creatures infected with a mushroom-like virus that causes them to become violent cannibals. The game franchise, originally created by gaming company Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment, became an automatic hit and has since been expanded with a sequel. xid:fr1677099550748gfh) is a new TV series based on an action-adventure post-apocalyptic survival horror video game.

The Last of Us returns to HBO and HBO Max with its seventh episode. Here's when you can watch episode 7, "Left Behind", in your neck of the woods.

Let us know in the comments below! [Left Behind](https://bamsmackpow.com/2023/02/26/last-us-season-1-episode-7-live-stream-watch-online/)“, premieres in the US on HBO on Sunday, February 26, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 26 CT on Sunday, February 26 MT on Sunday, February 26 PT on Sunday, February 26 AKST on Sunday, February 26 HST on Sunday, February 26 In doing so, we’ll also meet the character of Riley (who was namedropped in the premiere). Joel protected Ellie but was The Here’s when you can watch episode 7, “Left Behind”, in your neck of the woods.

The Last of Us breaks away from the crisis at hand to show a glimpse of who Ellie was before hitting the road with Joel. A recap of “Left Behind,” episode 7 ...

After taking steps to leave the mall, Ellie returns, following the sound of screams to a Halloween store, the fifth wonder of the mall, where Riley awaits and explains herself. Back to the present: If Ellie thought for a moment about abandoning Joel, the thought didn’t last for long. They have to deal with adult matters like sexuality and postapocalyptic politics, but, like teens before the apocalypse, they really just want to goof around and fall in love and decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Though unaware of the looming danger, Ellie notes that it’s getting late and that she needs to return, but Riley’s not having it. But The Last of Us is a heartbreaker, and the story keeps going. It doesn’t last, and Riley counters Ellie’s doubt with the information that the Fireflies have “set things right” in other cities. When Bethany taunts Ellie by saying she doesn’t fight and that the friend who does fight isn’t here, Ellie responds with a punch that, we’ll soon learn, sends Bethany to the infirmary in need of stitches. That tension complicates the show, and it’s at the heart of this episode. But then Ellie pauses to fix her hair in the shop’s windows, the comment not quite forgotten. The episode’s action shifts back to the Boston QZ and Ellie’s life as a FEDRA soldier in training, a grind of schoolwork (with a heavy emphasis on physical fitness), and bullying at the hands of a much taller classmate named Bethany. And it’s obvious he’d like to have a smart kid like Ellie as an officer. She gives a look that suggests she’s steeling herself for the decision, and though she hesitates before turning the doorknob, she walks through it.

A post-apocalyptic romance as good as a mushroom monster world will allow.

[Henry and Sam!](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42825522/the-last-of-us-episode-5-henry/) [Frank and Bill](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42687278/the-last-of-us-episode-3-recap/). [Tess](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42618596/the-last-of-us-tess-death-show-vs-video-game/). [Frank-and-Bill](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42691787/how-do-bill-and-frank-die-in-the-last-of-us/) us all. This time, she’s going to save the person closest to her. There’s even a damaged photobooth and a big carousel that plays a toy-box piano version of The Church’s 1987 hit song “Under the Milky Way.” The Last of Us's trend of [picking out good songs](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42705769/the-last-of-us-linda-ronstadt-bill-frank-song/) is one of the only things in this series that's alive and well. [recapping last week's The Last of Us episode](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42955394/the-last-of-us-episode-6-recap/) while I was off meeting Mario in [Super Nintendo World](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a43012062/doug-bowser-super-nintendo-world-mario-movie-interview/). He strikes at the perfect time—right as the two girls argue about how Riley’s leaving the city and wants Ellie to come with her. (AKA Danger Land, USA.) Ellie warns her that the building is full of infected, but Riley doesn’t believe her. Riley already quotes their ideology as freedom fighters against the fascist FEDRA “dickbags.” Ellie and Riley escape in the middle of the night to explore a random building, which feels even less safe since, you know, this world is full of monsters. It’s been a minute since I've been in this mushroom world—the apocalyptic one, not Princess Peach's kingdom—and I come back to my The Last of Us home to find that Joel is fighting for dear life. We kick things off with Ellie in the Boston QZ military academy, getting reamed out by the corporal for misbehaving. But I’m shocked to learn that I leave for one minute and Joel ends ups (possibly) dead?!

Even as the show moves through a new postapocalyptic reality, it keeps a close eye on what's been lost. By Shirley Li. Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid on a ...

And just like Ellie when she first laid eyes on the structure, the show is finding many wonders to ponder—and to treasure. [wrote recently](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/the-last-of-us-video-game-hbo-show-episode-3/672889/) that turning The Last of Us into a television series revealed that “there just isn’t that much to the story,” not when you’re now a viewer instead of a player concerned with getting Joel and Ellie past hordes of infected. As a TV series, the story now has room to meditate—on concepts as enormous and existential as the price of being human and caring for someone else, as well as on more minute details, such as the elegance of a working set of escalators in an abandoned mall. Sure, this episode included little forward momentum of the overarching plot, but that’s the point: The show is not just about whether Joel and Ellie will save the world. The episode thus delves into Ellie’s backstory and how she experienced the kind of loss that instilled in her a potent fear of being alone. [The Last of Us](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/01/the-last-of-us-hbo-tv-series-review/672690/) has its share of this—the walking dead are not “zombies”; they’re “infected”—but the series keeps a close eye, through Ellie, on what’s been lost. As Riley guides Ellie around the mall, she promises to show her “wonders.” These turn out to be ordinary machines, including a photo booth, an arcade game, and a merry-go-round. [Station Eleven](https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/i-have-notes/61d368aedd6c7f00233182a6/pandemic-station-eleven-show/), another outstanding HBO adaptation (in its case, of a novel) set in a postapocalyptic landscape. In postapocalyptic stories, world building typically emphasizes the new reality: new vocabulary to learn, new systems of government to understand, new social norms to parse. Much of the hour instead chronicles a single evening that took place months before the two met, when Ellie and her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), snuck out of the Boston quarantine zone. An abandoned mall at the end of the world is not a pretty sight. In the present, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s journey to a lab that can study Ellie’s immunity has come to a halt after Joel is hurt in an attack.

In Episode 7 of 'The Last of Us', viewers finally got a glimpse into Ellie's past, and the tragic circumstances that led to her getting bitten.

We don’t see it, but we know that Riley turns and Ellie doesn’t, and Ellie probably had to kill her own best friend — a girl she may have loved. Did she take Riley’s revolver and kill her before she could turn completely or fight off an inhuman Riley like she fought off the Infected that bit her? Now, it’s up to Ellie to do whatever she can in return, but unfortunately, there’s not much she can do but watch Joel get worse and worse. Ellie manages to drag Joel into an abandoned house, but she doesn’t know what to do. Now, in Episode 7, it’s up to Ellie to take care of Joel, and it’s forcing her to remember the last time she wanted to save someone. After the end of [Episode 6](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/the-last-of-us-episode-6-lampshades-a-common-post-apocalyptic-trope) saw Joel and Ellie disappointed by the lack of Fireflies in the university in Colorado, the loss was only compounded when Joel found himself stabbed by a raider.

Ellie grapples with love, death, and ideology in a (mostly) abandoned mall in a touching flashback episode. By Randall Colburn February 26, 2023 at 10:00 PM ...

"But you mattered to me first," Ellie says, softening enough for Riley to rope her into her last event of the evening. The gift, which Riley's stored with her bedroll in the backroom of a taco restaurant, is the book of puns Ellie will later entertain Joel with on the road. This is her last wonder of the mall. Riley takes her to one of the several "wonders" of the mall: a working carousel. The moment passes, though, and Ellie, uncomfortable by this rush of emotions, says that she needs to get back to the facility before they discover she's missing. Riley reveals she's being sent to the Atlanta QZ by the Fireflies and that this is her last night in Boston. A buzzing arcade is the next wonder, and Ellie declares its array of glowing, blooping cabinets "the most beautiful thing" she's ever seen. Riley's next wonder is a photo booth that snaps five photos of the pair before spitting them out in a strip that Ellie tucks into her bag. Ellie, who's spent the majority of her life being told that the Fireflies are terrorists, is concerned, but nevertheless intrigued when Riley tells her she has a surprise for her. The shops are trashed and looted, but the breadth of this consumerist wonderland, a relatively intact relic of a time she never knew, dazzles nevertheless. "We're the only thing holding all this together," Kwong says of FEDRA. "Put me in the hole," says Ellie, who's now got a black eye.

The Last Of Us gives us a major flashback taken directly from The Left Behind DLC from the game.

And I don’t hate flashbacks, but at this point one thing that never bothered me in the games is starting to bother me here: Everyone outside of Joel and Ellie is starting to feel disposable. Overall, I think the games handle this very well, though the writing in Part II suffers from a heavy hand at times (in other ways beyond sexuality, including the cartoonish bad guys). I have more to say about the game vs the show but I’m going to save it for a separate post. Well all I can say is welcome to The Last Of Us. I got in some arguments with people saying things like ‘I’m not homophobic but why do they have to shove this stuff down our throats!?’ Overall, I did like this episode a lot, but it’s another depressing entry in the show in the end, for all its lighter moments. I suppose my problem with this episode, even though it’s plucked from the game and at the same juncture as the game, with Joel wounded, is that it interrupts the story again to give us yet more flashbacks. I think she’s great, don’t get me wrong, but Ellie of Part II is a tour de force and I’m just not sure. The Ellie of Seasons 2 and 3 of HBO’s adaptation. As with episode 3’s glimpse back in time, the episode works in many ways, giving us a clearer portrait of Ellie’s past and exactly what happened to her just weeks before she meets Joel. On the one hand, I really liked this episode as a self-contained story. I loved the music in this episode as well.

Although the video game flashback to Ellie and Riley was released as bonus content in 2014, it's considered to be essential to the game's overall narrative, as ...

From a tear-jerkingly sentimental, music-box version of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” playing on the carousel, to the girls dancing the night away to Etta James’ version of “I Got You Babe.” It’s a lovely mixtape of tracks that elegantly ties the story together in neat little bows. But Ellie and Riley’s mall is a dazzling spectacle of colors, lights, and sounds that are unlike anything else we’ve seen on the show so far. One of the most extraordinary aspects of the episode is the presentation, which is, in a word, ravishing. It’s actually a little sad that we won’t get to see more of them together on the show. The show includes Ellie’s backstory as a part of the main story and stays true to the game where it counts, though some moments are omitted and some new ones are added. Although the video game flashback to Ellie and Riley was released as bonus content in 2014, it’s considered to be essential to the game’s overall narrative, as it gives stirring insight into Ellie’s past that lends depth to her relationship with Joel.

In "Left Behind," we get to know Ellie on her own terms.

In the video game, the arcade machines are busted, and instead Riley asks Ellie to imagine the video game in her head. Ellie smashes up the store in frustration as Riley sinks to the floor in disbelief. Although we don’t see it, we know as the audience that Ellie had to kill Riley before realizing her own immunity. The Fireflies have assigned her to a post in Atlanta, and Marlene (the Boston Firefly leader from the first episode) has refused to let Riley take Ellie with her. In an effort to save the night, Riley pops a tape into the store’s speaker system and the two dance. This is probably also the episode that most mimics the video game version, as the “Left Behind” gameplay consisted mostly of Ellie delights in seeing an escalator for the first time, and spends a minute or two charming the pants off Riley (and the audience) by playing with the seemingly impossible physics of escalators. Riley takes Ellie to a room she’s turned into a hideout to offer a gift (the pun book that Ellie obsesses over throughout the show) and Ellie discovers Riley’s been making bombs for the Fireflies. Riley is here to show Ellie a great time at the mall. Throughout this whole trip to the mall, Ellie pokes and prods Riley over her supposed “betrayal” of FEDRA and defection to the Fireflies. Riley chides Ellie for fighting with her bully, advising her to pick her battles. Maybe a bit high off seeing a dead body, Ellie asks Riley to hold her gun.

Episode 7 of HBO's The Last of Us takes a look back at what Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) life was like before we met her at the beginning of the show.

This week, an extended flashback fills in significant aspects of Ellie's life in the Boston Quarantine Zone.

Nearly everything in Ellie and Riley’s room either comes up again in this episode or is a part of Ellie’s lore. Ellie comes back though, because Riley is about to be reassigned to Atlanta, and Ellie doesn’t want their last memory of each other to be her storming away in anger. It takes a while before any trouble starts; and in the hour or two before then, these two girls have the greatest night of their lives. The scene where Riley lights up the mall is absolutely beautiful, rich with the soft, colorful glow of retail outlet signs. (Her death is not shown, but it is possible that when Ellie hinted to Joel back in Kansas City that she had killed before, she meant Riley.) When Riley makes fun of the mall’s un-looted Victoria’s Secret store and jokes about what Ellie would look like in lingerie, Ellie blushes and then surreptitiously checks her hair in the window’s reflection. The friends later briefly split up after Ellie realizes that Riley didn’t just stumble across this mall but has in fact been posted there by the Fireflies, who have her building explosives for them. Ellie is skeptical, but still agrees to join her best friend for a wild after-hours excursion — which turns out to be a trip to the mall. About 95 percent of this week’s episode consists of an extended flashback to Ellie’s life in the QZ, while in the present day she scrambles to keep the wounded Joel alive. Most of what we see in the flashback confirms what we already knew. When the flashback starts, Riley has been AWOL for three weeks; but while Ellie is asleep in their barracks after lights-out, Riley sneaks back in and explains her where she has been. She was bucking authority, sneaking out at night, and fighting with the other girls — spurred on in part by her rebellious roommate Riley (Storm Reid).

With Joel in bad shape, Ellie remembers a night of joy and loss. It's another killer episode.

The flashback ends with Ellie and Riley fleeing the mall as hordes of infected chase them. [fictional game The Turning](https://youtu.be/aecgd82z_No?t=3067) (which is basically Mortal Kombat) in the arcade... The thing you always have to remember is that life is worth living! This is when the romantic tension peaks and Ellie decides to make her move, giving Riley a brief but passionate kiss. The cabinet doesn't work, so Riley has Ellie close her eyes and place her hands on the controls, and then Riley describes the action. Avoiding infected and human marauders along the way, she discovers the meds in a military helicopter that's crashed through the mall's roof. Through some miracle, many of the booths still work and they hop on iconic 1993 fighter Mortal Kombat 2 (a poster for this game is also visible over Ellie's bed, hinting at her fascination). Ellie isn't at all happy with this but ultimately decides to continue onto the final wonder. Songwriter Robert Smith said this tune was inspired by [ the romance of a trip](https://thecuretc.wordpress.com/tag/2003/) he took with girlfriend Mary Poole, who'd later become his wife. Turns out the escalator was just a precursor to the real fun. After she gets in a tussle with one of her peers, a FEDRA officer presents her with alternative visions of her future in the zone: Continue messing about, end up a grunt with crappy duties, and likely die in some random accident. And run on an escalator to the tune of Norwegian synth-pop band

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Storm Reid as Riley ride a carousel in a scene from. Screenshot: HBO. The release of The Last of Us in 2013 already ...

I feel like “don’t go” is a bigger ask on Ellie’s part here in the show than it is in the game, since she knows that FEDRA has Riley pegged for grunt work, and it’s a lot to ask someone you love to resign themselves to a life of such limited possibility just to be with you. For a while they just enjoy the moment, but what Ellie is feeling is too strong to be contained, so she takes off her mask and pleads with Riley, “Don’t go.” Just as in the game, Riley agrees, almost as if she’s been waiting, hoping that Ellie would ask her this. Riley proposes “one last thing,” and Ellie agrees, before Riley tosses her a werewolf mask and grabs a spooky clown mask for herself, masks they both also wear in the game. In the game, Riley gives it to Ellie just after you ride the carousel, and you can spend a while reading jokes to Riley if you like. “I asked if you could join so we could go together,” Riley says, “but Marlene said no.” In the game, Riley phrases this sentiment a bit differently, telling Ellie that Marlene “wants you safe at that stupid school. In the show, however, Ellie’s delight in the new treasure trove of punny goodness is short-lived, as she finds a bunch of explosives Riley has made. At the same time, I think the interactivity of the sequence was central to its impact, that just seeing Ellie imagine the game and input sequences would have little of the same effect that the scene conjures through the device of having you do it, and in lieu of that, I think swapping in Mortal Kombat II, a game so many of us have our own memories of playing, allows us to feel some deeper connection to the scene. As Riley narrates the action, and as Ellie imagines it so vividly that she can hear the game’s announcer as well as the sound effects of battle, you enter a series of onscreen inputs to pull off attacks, blocks, dodges, and, finally, an ultra kill. For instance, both have a restaurant chain called Fast Burger, and in the pocket of a body she’s searching, Ellie finds a strip of photos created by the same type of photo booth she and Riley use at the mall in Boston. When Riley protests that it’s not a fantasy, that the Fireflies have set things right in other QZs, Ellie tells her that they could do that too, “if you come back. Riley promises to show her “the four wonders of the mall,” and their adventure truly begins. This is—and I don’t mean this as an insult at all—a very good episode of a mostly very good TV series, and it does benefit from a few music cues that the game lacks.

Episode 7 of HBO's The Last of Us is a beautifully faithful adaptation of the beloved Left Behind chapter of Ellie's story.

Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. Based on the short story by Stephen King, Children of the Corn is a chilling new re-telling for a whole new generation. A-ha’s Take On Me holds special significance to those familiar with the games, while The Cure's Just Like Heaven is a fun nod to Ellie – herself a form of cure – experiencing a moment of heaven amongst the hell of it all. It’s all the better for it as well, with this glimpse into Ellie’s past perfectly placed to give us a deeper understanding of her at this stage of the story. This is still The Last of Us, however; a show where the good times are never destined to last for long. It’s a refreshing lift in tone for a show that spends most of its runtime submerged in the despair this post-pandemic world relentlessly offers.