Latest news with #WashingtonLiberationFront
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Season 2 finale: [Spoiler] dies, and a tease of what's to come in Season 3
WARNING: The following piece contains spoilers about The Last of Us Season 2 finale The Last of Us ended its traumatic second season with the death of another beloved character. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) During Sunday's season finale, Jesse (Emmy Award nominee Young Mazino) was killed by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), an act of further retaliation against Ellie (Bella Ramsey) after she murdered Abby's friends. 'You can't just commit acts of violence, walk away, and have your story end,' The Last of Us cocreator Craig Mazin said after the Season 2 premiere in April, establishing the moral ground rules of the episodes to come. 'The repercussions create more of them, not fewer of them.' Those ripple effects have been felt all season. After tracking Abby to Seattle, Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced) became unwittingly embroiled in a war between the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and a religious group known as the Seraphites. Against the backdrop of their cyclical violence, Ellie and Dina hunted down Abby and her friends to get revenge on Abby for murdering Joel (Pedro Pascal), who had killed Abby's father in the Season 1 finale. In Episode 5, Ellie encountered Nora (Tati Gabrielle), who was with Abby when she killed Joel. Ellie beat and tortured Nora, who became infected with Cordyceps, and left her to die. The act of violence shook Ellie, as she explained to Dina during the season finale, but not enough to stop her quest for vengeance. During the finale, Ellie tracked Abby to an abandoned aquarium, where she encountered Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer) instead of her target. A standoff ensued and, after Owen pulled a gun on Ellie, Ellie killed him and Mel, who was pregnant. Abby was never found, and it seemed clear from their conversations that Owen and Mel had also lost track of their friend. In the aftermath, Ellie, Jesse, Dina, and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) prepared to leave Seattle, but not before a surprise appearance from Abby. She incapacitated Tommy, shot and killed Jesse, and held a gun on Ellie. The season ended with Abby shooting her weapon in the direction of Ellie, whom she admonished for wasting her second chance at life. It's unclear if Abby shot Ellie or if she merely fired a shot in her direction. (Game fans know Ellie's fate, even if the show left it ambiguous heading into Season 3.) The actual end of Season 2 is a flashback: After Abby shoots at Ellie, the show cuts to black and returns with Abby as the focus three days before the finale events. Season 3 is expected to show what happened to Abby during that period and what led her to confront Ellie and kill Jesse. Speaking to Gold Derby before the finale, Mazino said he was excited for people to see his final episode. 'There's a performance between Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever that is absolutely phenomenal in the last episode, brilliant stuff,' he said. 'I had the pleasure of being able to be there on set for that, and it was tremendous. It carries so much weight in their words and their stillness in that moment. It was really cool stuff.' Best of GoldDerby 'The Pitt' star Supriya Ganesh on Mohan 'reworking' her trauma and when she'll realize Abbot is flirting with her Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' TV sound editors roundtable: 'Adolescence' and 'Secret Level' Click here to read the full article.
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Q&A: ‘The Last of Us': Kaitlyn Dever breaks down explosive finale, teases ‘crazier' Season 3
LOS ANGELES - It's 6 a.m. in Brisbane, Australia, and Kaitlyn Dever is thinking about going to the beach. Except it's pouring rain outside, which is the only reason she had the option to check out the waves in the first place. The deluge has delayed her call time for "Godzilla x Kong: Supernova," the monster movie she's been shooting for the past couple of months. Just how hard is it raining? Like a normal downpour? Or is it the kind of deluge we see in the final minutes of the season finale of "The Last of Us"? "It's actually pouring like the finale of 'The Last of Us,'" Dever says, laughing. With the beach off the menu, we have plenty of time to settle in and talk about the bruising (and possibly confusing) season finale of "The Last of Us." Anyone thinking that the finale might feature a showdown between Dever's character, Abby Anderson, the young woman who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal) to avenge her father's death, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who has been hunting Abby to exact her own revenge, might be disappointed. Abby doesn't turn up until the episode's last three minutes. When she does finally arrive, she ambushes Ellie. It's not a tender reunion. "I let you live," Abby hisses. "And you wasted it!" Then we hear the sound of a gunshot and the screen goes black. After a reset, we see Abby lying on a sofa in an entirely different environment, being beckoned from her respite to meet with militia leader Isaac (Jeffrey Wright). She strides to a balcony in Seattle's T-Mobile Park, the stadium now being used as a base for the Washington Liberation Front. Her entrance is positively papal, and as Abby surveys the scene, a graphic lands on the screen: Seattle Day One, a time frame we've already lived from Ellie's point of view. Q: What the hell just happened? A: [Laughs] I don't know. I have no idea. Q: It looks like the show just reset and we'll be starting Season 3 following Abby for three days, leading up to her confrontation with Ellie. A: One would think, yes. But ["The Last of Us" co-creator] Craig [Mazin] hasn't talked to me about what he's doing. All he said to me was, "Just get ready for what's to come because it's going to be crazier." He always said he wanted to make Season 2 bigger than Season 1, and he said Season 3 is going to be even bigger. I'm like, "OK. I'll be ready." Q: How did he pitch you on doing the show in the first place? A: At my first meeting with Craig and Neil [Druckmann, co-creator of "The Last of Us" game] they told me that their plan for Season 2 was Abby's introduction to "The Last of Us" world. They told me the number of episodes, so I wasn't super surprised about that, though I wasn't thinking that the entire season was going to end on me. [Laughs] Q: So when you got the script and read that ending ... A: I was like, "We're really doing this. Wow." It's a lot of pressure. I always think about the times in my past when I've done things and I've had one line in a scene, and it's the most nerve-racking thing to do. Everyone else has dialogue, and you're just thinking about your one line and how you're going to say it and if you screw it up, the whole scene is screwed up because of your one line. It's pretty terrifying - but thrilling too. Q: You're talking about Abby telling Ellie, "You wasted it"? You really spit it out with some heat. A: That's good to know. I was going back and forth between Vancouver and L.A., so I constantly had to recalibrate and get back into the emotional intensity of Abby. That was actually the last scene I shot. Q: How did you find your way back into Abby's anger? A: Well, the very first scene I shot was the killing of Joel. The light one. [Laughs] So getting back into it, I'd always go back to that and Abby's monologue, what she says to Joel before shooting him. Those words are so visceral and heartbreaking and really paint a picture. So I just kept bringing myself back to that place, how I'd been thinking about saying those words for five years. Q: Did you watch that Joel episode when it aired or had you already seen it? A: I did watch it with my partner. But the first time I watched it, I was by myself. And before that, I had gone to do ADR [automated dialogue replacement] with Craig, and he asked, "Can I just show you a little bit of it?" And I was on the floor because I was so overwhelmed. That is the most intense episode of television I've ever seen. And then when I watched it later, I couldn't believe it, even though I had experienced it myself. Q: You had experienced it, but you've said you don't really remember filming it because it was four days after your mother's funeral. [Dever's mother, Kathy, died from breast cancer in February 2024.] In some ways, it must have been like you were watching it for the first time. A: I had to fly out three days after her funeral. And the fourth day was that scene in the chalet with the Fireflies and Joel on the floor. So, yeah, it's all a blur, and it felt like I got to experience it as a first-time viewer. I'd see things and go, "Oh, yeah." Grief does a really interesting thing with your brain. It messes with your memory. Q: Filming the scene where you brutally kill one of the most beloved characters on television goes back to what you were saying about pressure. And to do it under those circumstances must have been overwhelming. A: I was terrified. I had spent so much time contemplating my mom's death before she died, thinking about how I wouldn't be able to go on. I couldn't imagine. And then it's a heartbreaking thing to think about, how life moves on. And you have the choice to keep going or not go to Vancouver and do the show that she was so excited about me doing. And then after she passed, I realized there's no part of me that couldn't not do this. I had to do it for her. Q: How did you fight past the fear? A: My dad really encouraged me. I really was terrified. And he was like, "You got this. Mom was so excited that you got to be in this show." And luckily, the crew was so understanding and supportive. Everyone took care of me. Q: Then it's 15 months later and the episode finally airs, which I'd imagine brings about a different set of worries. Did you go online to check out the reaction? A: Of course I did! I kill everyone's favorite character, the love of everyone's life. I'd never been part of anything this massive before. Like, the whole world is watching this. I had no idea what to expect. Q: And what did you find? A: It was more positive than I thought it would be. Q: I didn't play the game, so one of my first thoughts after watching it was: Wow, gamers can keep a secret. A: They can. I loved watching all those TikTok videos where people were filming their parents or partners watching and showing their reactions. Q: Having played the game, you've known about Abby and Joel for years. A: My dad was playing the second game and handed me the controller and said, "Kaitlyn, you've got to see this." In the game, it's so jarring and shocking. Q: On TV too! A: [Laughs] But with the game, after they kill Joel, all of a sudden you're playing as a woman. And my first reaction was, "Is this Ellie? Am I playing as Ellie?" It is interesting how they take these two characters who are mirrors of each other in many ways. Q: I was thinking about how it'd be great if Season 3 would have an episode with Abby and her father that mirrored the one with Ellie and Joel. A: That's a really good idea. I hope we get to do something like that. Q: I have a feeling you might. Maybe you even know something about that. [Laughs] A: Honestly, I can keep a secret too! I knew about Joel dying long before even Season 1 because I had met with Neil years ago when they were talking about making a movie from the game. And he was showing me the making of the second game and asked, "You want to know what happens?" And I'm like, "Oh, my God!" So I've been keeping this in a long time. Q: So you're good at keeping a secret. Gamers know how Season 3 is likely to develop. You've played the game. Are you being coy? A: [Laughs] We don't know what Craig's plans are. He has been playing with dynamics, even in that first episode of the season where we see Abby taking charge and being a leader. Q: She sure looks like she's a leader in the finale's last scene. A: That scene plays at the idea that Abby is sitting in her power. And whatever that means, I will keep to myself for now. People who have played the game will have a few guesses. Q: When you went to work on "Godzilla x Kong: Supernova" the day after the Abby/Joel episode aired, did people treat you a little differently? Maybe keep their distance a bit? Hide the golf clubs? A: It was pretty wild to go to work that day. Everyone wanted to talk about it. And all they could really get out was, "Oooooof, that episode." Q: One thing I kept looking for all season was where they used CGI to remove a spider bite from your face. I couldn't find it. A: [Laughs] It's in the first episode with the Fireflies. I had gone home for a few weeks and got a spider bite on my cheek. I thought it was a pimple. It was not a pimple. It was a huge spider bite and ... I hate to use this word, but it was oozing. And the CGI is amazing. You can't even tell it is there. I still have a scar on my face because they had to cut it out. Q: So, to summarize: a very eventful shoot for you. A: For many reasons. I'll never forget it. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
'The Last of Us' Season 3: Everything we know so far from the game
'The Last of Us' Season 3: Everything we know so far from the game Show Caption Hide Caption Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal discuss father-daughter relationship 'The Last of Us' stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal reveal they didn't enjoy their character's estrangement in season 2. Spoiler alert! The following contains details from "The Last of Us" Season 2 finale on HBO, as well as the video game "The Last of Us Part II." Well that's one way to end a season of TV. The seventh and final episode of "The Last of Us" Season 2 on HBO brought our hero, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), to the brink. In a single episode she: nearly drowns, is almost lynched, kills two people including a pregnant woman, and is rescued but then immediately hunted down by her enemy Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who Ellie was on a mission to kill. And just when the final confrontation between Abby and Ellie reaches a bullet-charged climax, the scene ends. All of a sudden we've flashed back three days and the camera's focus is solely on Abby, waking up in a football stadium-turned-compound for her militia, the Washington Liberation Front. So what does all of this mean for Season 3? Producer Craig Mazin promises, "all of it will become clear," but clues can also be found in the video game that this season and the next are based upon, "The Last of Us Part II." We break down what can you expect in Season 3 if the series continues to follow the game as closely as it has in the past. Spoiler alert: Ramsey may have some time off from killing fungal zombies for awhile. Kaitlyn Dever will take center stage in 'The Last of Us' Season 3 Get ready for Kaitlyn Dever to become the main star of "Us" in Season 3, which, if the game is any indication, will likely include very little of Ramsey's Ellie. The Season 2 finale's closing scene, showing Abby waking up at the WLF's headquarters on "Seattle Day One," implies the series will retain the controversial structure of the game, which divides its narrative evenly between Ellie and Abby. In the game, players spend hours controlling Ellie on her quest for revenge against Abby for the murder of Joel (Pedro Pascal), as depicted in the show. This culminates in a confrontation between Ellie and Abby in the theater which − in a moment that made millions of gamers throw their controllers across the room in frustration − abruptly cuts to black mid-scene. The game then jumps back in time and has the player assume control of Abby to follow everything she was up to during the three days that Ellie and Dina (played by Isabela Merced in the series) were in Seattle. From there, players stick to Abby's perspective for nearly the entire remainder of the game. It takes hours for the story to loop back around to the theater, where Ellie's fate is finally revealed, and the game ends not long after that. Game vs. Show: All the major 'The Last of Us' Season 2 changes Precisely how much of next season is devoted to Abby will depend on whether producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann decide to finish adapting "Part II" — which would also mean ending the show, given there are no more games in the series — in Season 3. If so, the resolution of the Season 2 cliffhanger could likely happen around two-thirds of the way through the season. But if the game is turned into yet more seasons, as Mazin has suggested, it's possible Ramsey would not be in Season 3 whatsoever until around the finale. Abby's now-deceased friends will return for supporting roles Fans should also anticipate a shakeup to the supporting cast, given the shift to Abby means characters like Dina and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) will be absent for the next stretch of the story. But Abby's friends Nora (Tati Gabrielle), Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer), who were tortured and/or murdered by Ellie in Season 2, return for key roles in the second half of the game, as does Manny (Danny Ramirez), who joined them on the mission to kill Joel (Pedro Pascal). In the Season 2 finale, WLF leader Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) learns that Abby's entire crew has gone AWOL, and that will be a big part of her storyline in Season 3. Because that story takes place at the same time as Season 2, it will shed new light on certain peripheral details already seeded into the second season, such as the fact that a medical procedure appears to have been performed at the aquarium not long before Ellie arrived. Owen's relationship with Abby will also be a major focus. It's explored in flashbacks in the game, which could potentially get their own episode like the Joel and Ellie flashback episode of Season 2. The war between the Seraphites and the WLF will be explored further In Season 2, viewers received glimpses of a war between Abby's militia and a religious cult known as the Seraphites, but they were infuriatingly vague. This conflict will become central to the next part of the story, so it's safe to say Wright will return as Isaac. In the Season 2 finale, we see Isaac set out to lead an attack on the Seraphites, which begins off screen as Ellie sets out to find Abby. In "Part II," this attack made for one of the most epic, visually stunning sequences in the game, meaning a battle episode on par with "Game of Thrones" could be in store for Season 3. Also keep an eye out for casting news about a pair of crucial new characters: Lev and Yara, brother and sister Seraphites who Abby meets along her journey. In particular, the role of Lev, a trans boy, could be a star-making role for a young actor around age 13. Don't expect any more Pedro Pascal Pedro Pascal almost certainly won't return for any of Season 3, though if the show had followed the game more closely, he may have. Whereas the show devoted a flashback episode to revealing what happened between Joel and Ellie during the time jump before Season 2, the game sprinkled those flashbacks all throughout the story and saved some for the second half. In fact, Joel and Ellie's emotional porch conversation from the Season 2 episode "The Price" is the penultimate scene at the very end of the game. It's possible the show could replace that with a new flashback scene in a future episode. But more likely, fans truly have seen the last of Joel. And given Pascal's busy schedule, including Marvel's new "Fantastic Four" movie, a new Ari Aster film at the Cannes Film Festival and more future projects, it's not that surprising that his time in the apocalypse may be over and done for good.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Goes After Revenge for That Shocking Death
(Warning: Spoilers ahead.) Lots of characters die on The Last of Us, but Joel (Pedro Pascal) isn't just anyone, and it doesn't take a therapist or a fortune-teller to predict Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) next move. Many Jackson residents met a violent end on New Year's Day 2029, but only one of them was killed in cold blood by another human. This distinction is the crux of Ellie's argument during the town council meeting, as she pleads her case to take an armed group to Seattle to seek justice for Joel. In the third episode, The Last of Us presents several age-old philosophical debates, including justice versus revenge and nature versus nurture. Still, no matter how you frame it or how the vote pans out, Ellie is determined to go to Seattle to kill Abby (Kaitlyn Dever)—whether alone or with 15 others. The Last of Us wastes no time before Ellie gets back on a horse. Or rather, she has to spend three months in the hospital to recover from injuries sustained when she tried to save Joel, because Manny (Danny Ramirez) booted her hard in the ribs. Instead of showing Ellie's recuperation after the run-in with the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), the episode opens with the immediate aftermath of the siege at Jackson, before skipping ahead after the credits to Ellie's hospital discharge. Much like Ellie, the town is rebuilding, but still grieving. Not that Ellie lets anyone see her cry, saving her tears for the shirts in Joel's closet. She blows off Jackson's in-demand psychotherapist, Gail (Catherine O'Hara), by lacing her 'feelings' with sarcasm. She mirrors Joel's withholding in his last session with Gail. While Ellie doesn't reveal the meaning behind Joel's 'I saved her' admission, Gail immediately sees through Ellie's BS, yet doesn't push beyond a gentle prod. Gail is an observer, constantly gathering information and dishing out helpful advice to those who ask. 'You see things others don't,' says Tommy (Gabriel Luna) later on. At the town hall, Gail watches from the rafters, clocking the different dynamics playing out in the room as Ellie's proposal to take a posse to kill Abby in Seattle is considered and ultimately rejected. Is Gail ever off the clock? Clients pay the therapist with alcohol and weed, so it is hardly surprising that she is self-medicating with her wages. A few beers while watching the Jackson kids play T-ball isn't a red flag, but whisky for breakfast before her last session with Joel is more alarming. When Tommy asks how Gail is dealing with being the only mental health professional during this brutal time, she is straight to the point: 'I'm an alcoholic, and I smoke as much weed as I can. You know, a complete f---ing disaster.' O'Hara is one of the best on-screen drunks, but this is not Moira Rose levels of slurring her way through a fruit wine commercial on Schitt's Creek. Instead, Gail is a textbook high-functioning boozer whose big tell is when she stops sugarcoating things, and who can blame her for this professional faux pas (or misconduct)? In the apocalypse, all bets are off, especially when there are not enough qualified shrinks to go around. Gail also knows that Tommy hasn't come for the beer and T-ball, or to check on her well-being. Ellie is his cause for concern as he's afraid she is going to walk the same grief-turned-rage path that Joel did after his daughter died. Before the town hall, Tommy had already gently rebuked Ellie for Joel-splainng to him about how Joel would have reacted if the roles were reversed. It is easy to see why Tommy thinks Ellie's anger-fueled and impulsive behaviour is something she learned from her surrogate father, but Gail makes it clear that nurture only has a small impact. Nature does most of the heavy lifting: 'If she's on a path, it's not one Joel put her on. I think they were walking side by side from the very start.' Given Gail's soft and empathetic tone, you might think this off-books session will end on a hopeful note. It is not as clear-cut as that. 'Take it from a psychotherapist of 40 years, some people just can't be saved,' she says. At first, I thought Gail was suggesting that Ellie is doomed to a violent fate. However, after rewatching the scene, I think Gail is (rightly) flexing her experience to tell Tommy he isn't responsible for what happens to Ellie if (okay, when) she heads down the dangerous road. It was Dina (Isabela Merced) who was with Joel when Abby enacted her vengeance, and she is equally invested in payback. Dina has been sitting on the information that Abby is a member of the WLF militia and waits until Ellie is out of the hospital before sharing. It was an informed choice as she knows Ellie would have sacrificed her health to hunt Abby down. Dina also knows Ellie will make the 800-plus-mile journey to Seattle solo, which has disaster written all over it. Dina doesn't want to dissuade her bestie (and maybe object of affection); she wants to accompany her on this quest. Plus, Dina knows how to plan for a cross-country journey, including convincing Ellie that Chucks are not all-terrain footwear. Usefully, a Reddit poster has calculated the length of this journey on horseback, which ranges from 24 to 47 days depending on various factors. By the end of the episode, they have made it to Seattle. Talk of their New Year's Eve smooch has come up, but Ellie downplays the significance of the matter. Dina has slept with Jesse (Young Mazino) since then, but there is still tension bubbling beneath the surface. Surprisingly, nothing happens in this enclosed space beyond teasing about how good the kiss was (Ellie gives it a six out of 10) and Dina worrying that Jesse is sad because of her. They don't run into anyone living along the way but do stumble upon the aftermath of a massacre. Earlier in the episode, we see a group of Seraphites (or Scars) who are migrating away from war. The matching cheek scars (hence the name), outfits, and hair (braided for women, shaved for men), along with talk of a prophet, give this group big cult energy. It is this entire group that Ellie and Dina find slaughtered at the hands of humans, and not infected because the Scars' hammers are no match for guns. Dina reacts to seeing the dead young girl by throwing up, emphasizing the horror of the scene. Ellie thinks Abby and her friends did this, but it is unclear how accurate this is at this point. By the closing moments, it is clear the WLF is not a ragtag group with minimal resources, such as hammers. How Ellie and Dina will get to Abby without getting caught (or worse, killed) is unclear. Perhaps Gail was right that Ellie cannot be saved. But you don't need to be a shrink to understand why Ellie won't stop until she's got her justice—or revenge.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Reveals Ellie and Dina's Life-Changing Secrets
(Warning: Spoilers ahead.) There is nothing quite like nearly dying to move a relationship to the next level. Sure enough, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) become more intimately acquainted after dodging death at human and infected hands in an action-packed The Last of Us. It is a revelation-filled episode that sees both young women revealing secrets—and themselves. Venturing into Seattle opens with a pleasant hangout in the city's now-abandoned gay neighborhood, Capitol Hill. Ellie and Dina have a moment to breathe before horror nips at their ankles—and arm. Ellie finds a guitar in perfect condition and plays an acoustic version of A-ha's 'Take on Me,' moving Dina to tears and showcasing both Ramsey and Merced's range as actors. It serves as a poignant reminder of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and what he taught Ellie, beyond just survival skills. Still, it doesn't take long for the pair to locate the militia that Joel's killer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), belongs to. While they don't find Abby, Ellie and Dina have an eye-opening encounter in which they learn they are not the only ones hunting the Washington Liberation Front, also known as the Wolves. What begins as gathering intel descends into a subway ride from hell. After last week's zombie-free outing, The Last of Us goes all out with a sequence that had my heart in my mouth. It begins with Ellie and Dina discovering a gory tableau; several Wolves have been gutted. 'Feel Her Love' is written in blood next to the same symbol worn by the massacred group that Dina and Ellie found on their journey. The duo has stumbled upon a turf war. Oops! Last week, I incorrectly assumed the group known as Seraphites (or Scars) were pacifists, and didn't think it was Abby's militia that did this. It turns out I was very wrong as the Scars have shed a lot of Wolf blood—and vice versa. 'What the f--- is wrong with Seattle?!' Dina says after throwing up a second time—and I start to wonder if she is pregnant. There is zero time to assess the situation before a team of Wolves arrives on the scene. The pair hides, but needs to find a way out of the building and is at a disadvantage because they are unfamiliar with this location. However, they are experienced in escaping difficult situations. When the patrol gives chase, they can't squeeze through the same gap into the subway system as Dina and Ellie. The soldiers know another way, soon lighting the transit tunnels with red flares. It is a good news/bad news situation as one flare lands on a parasitic fungus, immediately attracting a swarm of infected to their location. At first, it sounds like a few are coming their way, but Dina will run out of fingers, toes, and body parts if they wait to do a head count. The Wolves are quickly overwhelmed, leaving Ellie and Dina with the undead. A derailed subway train proves to be a reprieve, but soon the zombies are punching their way through windows. The tight space and sheer volume add to an already edge-of-your-seat sequence. The pair escapes the train, but hits another obstacle that can be a pain even without a horde on your heels: the iron maiden turnstile. Not having a card to swipe through isn't the issue. Instead, the exit hasn't been used in over two decades, and barely moves. To buy Dina some time, Ellie pulls her immunity trick out of the bag. But when the infected bites her arm, Dina has zero idea that Ellie hasn't sacrificed her life. Unlike a flimsy fence, the turnstile keeps the infected at bay. Above ground, an old movie theater offers shelter. Or rather, a place for Dina to shoot an infected Ellie. 'I would die for you, but that's not just what happened,' Ellie says. Ellie's immunity is a closely guarded secret, and no matter how flippant she seemed in the premiere when she was teasing Tommy (Gabriel Luna), Ellie has stuck to this code of silence. However, getting bitten could lead to death by gunshot instead. It is another tense situation, which Ellie tries to defuse by telling Dina to let her go to sleep, and if she turns, then Dina can kill her. Of course, Ellie is confident it won't happen, but Dina looks terrified. When Ellie wakes up later, the bite shows zero sign of infection. One revelation down, another to go. 'I'm pregnant,' says Dina. Honestly, I am shocked at myself for not calling it last week when Dina puked (the tell-tale TV pregnancy trope). Dina kisses Ellie, and all thoughts of babies and bites slip away as they go much further than New Year's Eve (thankfully, there are no homophobes, Wolves, or infected to interrupt). The following morning. Dina looks at the fresh bite and then the tattoo-covered scar. It is open confession season, as Dina admits that thinking she had lost Ellie made her confront the attraction she has long denied. Dina knew Ellie had feelings for her and that Jesse (Young Mazino) wasn't the one. 'No, you like boys,' Dina's mother insisted when her daughter said she was into boys and girls. Dina thinks Ellie is brave for being out, and Ellie jokes that she's 'just obvious.' By the end of the episode, Dina and Ellie are even more united. Ellie wants to raise the baby with Dina (and Jesse), but gives Dina an out in this fight because of her pregnancy. The radio they lifted from one of the dead proves handy as they hear gunshots and recognize the name of one of Abby's team members. Dina insists she will join Ellie on this mission. But who are they facing? Well, for starters, Jeffrey Wright as former FEDRA soldier Isaac. The episode opens with a flashback to 2018, when Isaac killed his FEDRA unit, including Josh Peck (from Drake & Josh), sparing only young soldier Burton. (As a Guilded Age fan, I was thrilled to spot 'Clock Twink' Ben Ahlers with another HBO gig under his belt.) This introduction shows Isaac becoming a Wolf, joining Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach, another HBO mainstay), and he remains a commanding force in the present, giving a tutorial about Mauviel copper pans as an instrument of torture rather than fine dining. The interrogation scene highlights that the Scars are impossible to break, and some Wolves have switched sides. Can Ellie and Dina use this ongoing bloody war to their advantage? All of Ellie and Dina's cards are on the table with no secrets left to tell (other than what Joel did to the Fireflies), and they are more united than ever before. Perhaps the two of them versus an army isn't such bad odds after all.
