“When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.” This is the theme of the HBO series “Last of Us”, a theme that is prominent in the first episode. The darkness is shown, sometimes quite graphically, but the pockets of light pierce this darkness, making it a captivating introduction into the world of Joel and Ellie.
Joel is a smuggler who is tasked with taking a teenage girl called Ellie across the U.S. Joel has not forgotten how the world was before the outbreak and because of the loss of his daughter, he has become hardened to the world. Ellie was born in the post-outbreak world, a world where death and loss are the order of the day rather than the exception. It is a world where there are few children and if children are the future, then it is a world with a very limited future. Despite the darkness all around, Ellie has not lost hope and her sense of wonder. Thus, as the opening sequence of the series portrays, this unlikely pair embark on a journey that will pit them against the bad, the ugly and the horrifying.
The bad, the ugly and the horrifying are explained in a 1960s talk show at the beginning of the episode. A scientist explains: “Fungi can alter our very minds.” The scientist also paints the grim picture of what infection means: “There are no treatments for this. No preventatives, no cures. They don’t exist. It’s not even possible to make them”. The scientist ends with the gloomy, doomy and prophetic proclamation: “We lose.”
In this first episode, we see Joel’s backstory which is full of loss. We see Joel’s life on Outbreak Day, then 20 years later and Joel is still mourning the loss of his daughter. He has done bad things but the fact that he is still alive gives us a sense that he hasn’t completely given up on life and all that is good about life. Ellie is one thing that is good about life. It is that last spark of hope burning eternal in Joel that makes it possible for him to create space in his heart for Ellie and Ellie’s light.
One visual way that Ellie’s light is symbolized is with her arm. Ellie was bitten by a person infected with the mind-altering Cordyceps fungi but the scars are proof that her wounds did heal. Ellie is immune, meaning she is valuable. She offers hope for a cure or a vaccine and hope for Joel’s redemption. Thus, the first episode of “Last of Us” ends with hope but it is just a sliver of light in a maelstrom of madness and darkness. One of the final shots of episode one features Joel’s radio, which is used as a signal to Frank and Bill, fellow smugglers. The song playing on the radio is “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode. Earlier in the episode, Joel tells Ellie that if an 80s song is playing then it means Frank and Bill have met danger. It is this tension between hope and despair that will invite viewers to seek out episode two and the rest of the serie
