Watching the fifth episode of the "zombie" series based on the classic game takes the necessary chutzpah for people, both fans of the game and those unfamiliar with Sony's console, to enjoy the episode. Creator Craig Mazin is one of the creators who can craft this game series to the legacy of the famous game.
What is this episode about? In a free city ruled by (very military) people, Joel and Ellie meet a pair of characters. Henry and his brother Sam are the town's outcasts, and they're out for their lives. But unlike the rest of the people, they care about survival and are trying to escape.
They are confronted by Kathleen, who is the ruler of a town with a dark past, and for her, everything is personal when Joel and Henry kill those closest to her.
The story of the episode is simple. It's a carbon copy of the play's arcade. It's not a pure copy, it's a copy adapted according to the creators' wishes, where it's really important to get to know the people around the main character.
At the beginning, they're introduced to the "twin" of the episode, experiencing the whole story with her, from the simple (creepy) journey through the tunnels, to the action-packed ending. Not just with the army, but with the zombie army. And importantly at the end of the episode, the leads regain their independence and travel on with their new experiences and weapons.
It's a similar progression to the third episode, where we followed the story of the men who live their lives from first encounter to death in an abandoned city. It's a filler episode that's all about getting to know the apocalyptic future, and we only get to enjoy the show's main couple, Joel and Ellie, as supporting characters.
In the fifth episode, you won't find so much a controversial topic like homosexuality, but it's more about what can be done to make sure the younger deaf-mute brother survives.
We're already over halfway through the episodes, with only the last four episodes of season 1 to go. Every episode is really good and I really like the treatment of the theme following such a template: Main couple meets new people at the beginning, we worry about them, main couple survives. New friends fear for their lives, so they don't survive. In each episode there is a big introduction to the epidemic so we can get a sense of what happened and what's going on. Mostly about how important Ellie is.
Rating: 90%
Original release of this article February 12, 2023 – Criticism.com
