There is an understandable, undeniable pall Our last one After a shocking last week. It is the calm before the storm that will make up the rest of the season: Ellie and Dina head to Seattle to track down Joel’s killer. But, in this grief of loss and Ellie’s frustration, she hasn’t been supported by the town in her revenge plan, it’s definitely the absolute pleasure of seeing more Ellie and Dina together.
They might be the highlight of the first episode – their chemistry didn’t hit Joel and Ellie immediately, but Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced did a great job together right now in the bat. Here we can see more of something together, Dina’s romp and planning combination is a solid objection with Ellie’s dry humor and impulsive nature.
A good example is that they rode to Seattle, as Dina challenged Ellie to name the best band she could think of for every letter of Elphabet, and Ellie ended up having enough. Dina says she can come up with another match, and Ally immediately jokes that they can only travel in silence, and Dina ignores the matter and asks Ally to tell her the first person she must kill. Just what that relaxing road trip companion Ellie needs now.
Dina is at her best in the episode when she plans to escape the city at midnight to get Abby to justice alone. Earlier in the episode, Jackson Town Council voted her proposal to form a large crew to follow the WLF group – mainly because when Joel was killed that day, the infected tribes in the town were tortured so much that they could not forgive the people. Naturally, Ellie is ready to get a rogue and be alone, but she isn’t really ready yet. Dina shows up at her residence, mocking her for not planning to bring anything other than a gun and lists exactly what they need and what they don’t need. Oh, she’s ready. It would be a little too mean to say that Ellie is not the brain for surgery, but she would almost certainly have had trouble without Dina.
Aside from her practical skills, Dina keeps flirting with Ellie throughout the episode, asking Ellie to yes Ellie’s bad guy after the clumsy movie style manifesto. But perhaps the most persuasive comment she made was after they discussed Nay Kiss very briefly – Ellie said Dina was tall, and Dina said Ellie was drunk and they both agreed that it didn’t mean anything. Then, they turned off the lights in the tent, and Dina couldn’t help but say she wasn’t That High. Ramsey and Merced’s version of “Will, no, they won’t” brings some much-needed benefits to their situation.
It should be clear that much-needed rewards are necessary. Even without much action, the consequences of Joel’s death and the infected siege are everywhere in this episode. First, Tommy slowly cleans Joel’s body before the camera pulls out and shows the body on the entire sheet. Next comes Ellie wakes up in a hospital with a tube lifted up in her chest. Then she screamed in the bloody murder to remember what happened to her. Not to mention the sunrise visit to Joel’s grave, where Ellie puts some coffee beans next to him, or she walks through his empty house, where she finds his signature watch, revolver and jacket. Keep tissue convenient.
When Ramsey’s Ellie was working with Dina, she was in her best shape, but she did some great work herself as well – the above-mentioned hospital scenes were shocking, but my favorite Ellie moment was when she tried (and failed) to convince her that she was OK. Her speech at town council encouraged them to follow WLF is not the anger that Jesse encouraged her to avoid, but you can tell Ellie just wanted to calm the masses, not to say what she really wanted. The same goes for her conversation with the therapist Gail when she left the hospital, although Ellie didn’t even try to cover her therapy cliche behind the faith veneer.
Strangely, it was Seth (the die-hard who bowled in Joel in episode 1) who said Ellie really felt, interrupting the meeting when someone objected to the plan to go to Seattle. Seth is angry at what happened to his community members and thinks they should seek justice at all costs. It’s far from the most measured one, but it certainly feels like the most honest one.
So it’s not surprising when he’s ready to help Ellie and Dina leave town, give them plenty of supplies and insist on Ellie picking up a better rifle. He said he would go with them except to catch some friendly fires in the infected battle, and Ellie replied, “Are you sure it’s friendly?” Apparently, she wasn’t ready to forgive his words, but better guns, some supplies and a shared desire for revenge made her close enough. She shook hands as they rode.
Infection score: 0/10
The performers say season two will be more infected than season one – let’s see if they stick to their words.
Except for some burnt bodies around Jackson, there was no infection here. After last week’s showdown, I’m fine for me.
