Dina – Simon’s Incoherent Blog

The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 5 – Feel Her Love

“Would it have made a difference if my family had hurt his people first? No. No. And if I hadn’t killed him, if he had gotten away, I promise you I would have hunted him down forever.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

Feel Her Love, eh? Fnarr, fnarr 😊
Actually, though, the ep title really is a double entendre, albeit not in a smutty, Carry On film kind of way. Yes, there’s the literal motto of the Seraphites (or “scars”, as the WLF disparagingly refer to them). But it’s also, presumably, a reference to the burgeoning love affair between Ellie and Dina; which, having been properly established last week, is already in jeopardy with the unexpected return of old flame (and father to her baby) Jesse.

The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 4 – Day One

“Every day, one of your Wolves comes to see the truth, and takes Her into their heart. Every day, every day, a Wolf leaves you to take the holy mortification to become a Seraphite. And none of us ever leave to become a Wolf.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

After an incredibly busy week enmeshed in the toils of Spanish bureaucracy (I needed to exchange my UK driving licence, a Herculean task of procedure), I’m now a week behind on The Last of Us – in fact, I’ve only just seen this fourth episode. With another one waiting in the wings, here’s some brief thoughts on episode 4 – Day One.

The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 3 – The Path

“I want everyone to know – it’s not because I want revenge. It’s not about revenge.”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

…And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.

It was necessarily a more sedate episode of The Last of Us this week – well, how could it not have been, after the carnage last time? After a brief prologue showing the piles of Infected corpses, and various concerned parties grieving, we cut to three months later, and the debate about what happens next.

The Last of Us: Season 2, Episode 1 – Future Days

“This is where we live. And what’s that?”
“The fence!”
“And what’s inside?”
“People!”
“And what’s outside?”
“Monsters!”

(SPOILER WARNING!)

It’s a typically slow-burn start for the sophomore season of video game adaptation The Last of Us, a show whose first season I very much enjoyed despite never having played any of the games. As before, the most obvious comparison is to the seemingly never-ending The Walking Dead, and as before, The Last of Us is a far more thoughtful show. Both have very strong characterisation, but while TWD’s season openers typically included a spectacular horde of zombies, this dispensed with spectacle to build on the characters and relationships that were so strong last time.