The Last of Us S2 E3 "The Path" Review

Following the death of Joel last week, The Last of Us is going to have to rest the weight of the show on a different set of shoulders from now on. And honestly, I can't say that Bella Ramsey is a mature-enough actress to take on the job. The Path is definitely the slowest episode of the show so far, which isn't necessarily bad. These types of episodes are necessary, as every payoff first requires a setup. However, the leisurely pace of episode 3 highlights the admittedly few flaws of the show, though it does a lot of things well that are certainly noteworthy.

The Path makes one subtle change to the episode's opening credits, and I won't spoil what it is here because even though it's a minor change, it hits like a sledgehammer. It's some brilliant visual storytelling on the part of all involved, and to them I say bravo. Episode 3 expands the season's world beyond Jackson, spending a little time with the Seraphites, a name you may recognize if you've played the games. If not, they're a religious cult that operates near Seattle, a cult at war with the WLF - Abby's group - for control of what's left of the city. Expanding on its source material is what the show does best, and The Path continues this trend.

The episode also does some intriguing things with Seth, the man who accosted Ellie and Dina in the season premiere. The little part of my mind that recognized him was worried the show would reduce him to a preachy moral lesson, but The Path actually uses him in some pretty interesting ways. Whatever you may think of the worldviews presented in the show, these choices do reveal a surprising earnestness in Seth. As for Gail, the town therapist, she's just an absolute joy to watch and a wonderful addition to the show. Catherine O'Hara is an incredible actress who brings a jaded but honest empathy to the role. Much to my delight, she's getting more screen time than I expected her to, and O'Hara's maturity as an actress shines every second she's on the screen.

Despite featuring some excellent performances, The Path is the season's slowest episode so far. Though I do understand that a level of meticulousness is both to be expected as well as necessary, I couldn't shake the sense that something was missing. Now that Joel is gone, the slower patches of the show reveal a massive emotional hole with nothing to fill it yet. Abby is absent from this episode, and I missed Kaitlyn Dever's shockingly good performance. Bella Ramsey is good enough (yes, she is), but she lacks Dever's range. However, I do want to give my compliments to whoever styled Ramsey's hair for the episode. Though Ashley Johnson and Bella Ramsey look very different, Ramsey's hairdo was extremely on point, looking strikingly similar to the game.

I think I'm noticing a pattern here - one episode sets up a significant event, and the following episode pays it off. The Path is building towards something bigger than itself, and it does many things well. The character dynamics are very satisfying, the production elements are phenomenal as always, and the small details of the world of The Last of Us that the show chooses to expand on are intriguing. And for the most part, this episode is great television. However, when Joel died, I was worried that a lot of the show's emotional core would die with him. This episode isn't doing enough to dissuade those worries, and because it hasn't yet had the time to establish Ellie and Abby's relationship as enemies, The Path is missing its core, that strong relationship that held the rest of the series together. Ellie and Dina don't cut it for me, and that's not a complaint about the performances of either Bella Ramsey or Isabella Merced. It's just that the soul of the games was built around father-daughter and enemy-enemy relationships, and when both of these dynamics are absent, you feel it. Nevertheless, The Last of Us is undeniably premium television. And whichever way it goes, I think it's a telling sign to me that the only thing I feel when thinking about future episodes is excitement.

Deuteronomy 32:35