Before The Last of Us returned, I cooked up a vegetable stir-fry with shiitake mushrooms. Usually, I love a little forest fungus. But ever since The Last of Us season 2 began, I've experienced a funny spell of taste aversion. Now, I can't eat them. The thought of those little fungi tendrils shooting out of the infected's mouths and threatening to turn me into a monster is simply just too unnerving. (Honestly, it's a credit to the show's make-up team.)
Even though I was still reeling from The Last of Us episode that ended Pedro Pascal's tenure on the show, I gathered up enough courage to eat a couple of mushrooms—of the truffle variety—at a Netflix event for Chef's Table: Legends on Wednesday night. Thankfully, I'm still cordyceps-free … as far as I'm aware!
The event was hosted by World Central Kitchen chef José Andrés, who is one of the most personable and brilliant chefs around today. If you're a loyal Esquire reader who is doing a double take right now, allow me to put your mind at ease. Yes, Esquire's editor-in-chief Michael Sebastian also spoke with Andrés at a separate event hosted by Hearst Magazines last week. Truly, what are the odds?
After a toast to the new season, Andrés gave a speech that he's probably stated a hundred times; still, it remains just as impactful, whether you've heard it for the first time or the hundredth. He spoke about opportunity. "I came to Ellis Island on a navy boat with $50 in my pocket and a dream," he said. "And I believe that dream should be a reality for all of us." Then he brought the speech back around. Much like the faith he put in Chef's Table creator David Gelb, it's all about opportunity.
So, I'll bring my point home just the same as Andrés this week. I'm sure many fans of The Last of Us are concerned where this story heads next now that Pedro Pascal's character is gone. But I hope you stick with it. There's a lot of opportunity here to tell a truly unique story, far from anything else you've ever seen on TV. How can I be so certain? Well, because I knew Joel would die last week—and I know what happens next.
When The Last of Us Part II video game released for the PlayStation 4 in 2020, creator Neil Druckmann seized the opportunity to shake up the player's expectations. I wrote a lot about what it means to upend TV tropes to tell a unique story last week, but our collective wounds were still fresh following Joel's death. It's the same for our heroes in episode 3, which sees the show slow down to focus on how Ellie processes the traumatic event. No surprises here—she's vowed revenge against Abby and her band of W.L.F. soldiers.
Sadly, Jackson isn't as enthusiastic about Ellie's mission to find Abby. The council votes against her plan despite Ellie's rousing speech, which calls for unity and strength against those that try to harm their found family community. After the infected's assault last week, the town is simply too damaged right now to allow some of their surviving fighters to leave. They loved Joel, but now is not the time. So, Ellie takes off on her own—with Dina in toe—to try and find out what they're up against in Seattle. For this week's cliff-hanger, The Last of Us reveals an entire militia of W.L.F. soldiers marching around the city. Without Joel? Good luck.
From here on out, this is Ellie and Abby's story. As Druckmann said in the HBO "After the Episode" feature, he hopes that "some viewers will start seeing some parallels between" the two adversaries. Players spend time with both characters in the video game, and it seems that The Last of Us will continue to faithfully adapt its source material. "Abby has lost her dad, and now, inadvertently, Abby has created those same nightmares for another character," Druckmann explained. "This event will change all the characters we know forever, from this point on."
As controversial as it may seem to remove Joel, Druckmann and co. are not spinning their wheels and looking for ways to move the series forward. The Last of Us is a story about how violence begets violence. How it infects us, consumes us, and turns us into monsters until there's nothing left but the anger and the animosity that spreads to everyone around us—including the ones we love most.
Hopefully, you'll stick with it. I certainly will, and I'll greet you here next week following episode 4 to dive deeper into all the new characters crawling out of the infected woodwork to deepen our story. See you next Monday.
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