‘The Last of Us’ Stabs Out With its Biggest Cliffhanger Yet

The good news about this week’s The Last of Us: we meet several happy characters, and for once, none of them die! The bad news? It just might be the last of Joel.

Whether he’s still alive or not, Joel’s current outlook is grim, based on the ending of “Kin,” written by Last of Us creator Craig Mazin and directed by Jasmila Žbanić. Featuring a laundry list of scenes ripped straight from Neil Druckmann’s video game of the same name, The Last of Us episode six puts Joel and Ellie closer to their end goals than ever before while also clarifying what actually matters to both of these people — just in time to stick a knife in that hard-earned lesson’s gut.

The action picks up three months after “Endure and Survive.” While Joel and Ellie have put time and space between themselves and Kansas City, the deaths of Henry and Sam (Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Montreal Woodard) still live rent-free in their heads. Meanwhile, their easy shorthand and relaxed attitudes make clear that tthese unlikely companions are growing closer, whether they like it or not.

Joel and Ellie’s mission to reunite with Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), takes them deep into the mountains of Wyoming. They hold a happily married couple at gunpoint, essentially hijacking them for directions. The trouble rolls off the couple’s backs like rain, making light of Joel and Ellie’s desperate situation. When it becomes clear that no one in this foursome wishes harm on any other, the couple offers up a helpful tip: don’t go west, or else court death. Just one problem: Tommy’s out west. So, west they go. 

In the night, Joel and Ellie camp out under the stars, staying up late, dreaming about the future. Joel wants to retire and herd sheep. Ellie wants to be the next Sally Ride. In time, they both want rest. 

“Get some sleep,” Joel tells Ellie. “Dream of sheep ranches on the moon.”

Morning comes, and Ellie lets Joel sleep in. He’s mad about it but cools down when Ellie talks him through the uneventful night shift. It’s akin to Joel’s daughter making a big deal out of his birthday some 20 years earlier, whether he wanted a big birthday or not. But Ellie isn’t Sarah, as he’s all too painfully aware. 

Wandering through the wilderness, Joel and Ellie stumble upon civilization almost by accident, as they encounter a group of survivors who just so happen to know Tommy. One of them is married to him: Marie, played by HBO veteran Rutina Wesley. The erstwhile Tara Thornton is a long way from Bon Temps, but still right at home in the close-knit community of Jackson, Wyoming. 

Jackson is a beacon of light in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom, which has tons of people, working electricity, operational movie theaters, and countless other creature comforts. Most importantly, it has Tommy. Joel’s reunion with his brother is an emotional one, as the typically steely soldier’s voice catches in his throat, the word “Tommy!” barely escaping. For the first time in months — years, even — Joel has a semblance of his old life again.

But it ends up being a complicated day for our heroes. For Ellie, it’s a chance to see what the world looked like before it ended. She gets a warm meal, among the best she’s ever had. She gets a haircut, a few of them, in fact. She goes to the movies and catches an Oscar-winning performance from Richard Dreyfuss. Most importantly, she learns about Sarah, Joel’s daughter, who looms large over the whole day.