The Last of Us has always promised to be an emotional story about loss and love in a post apocalyptic world and Episode 5, titled Endure and Survive is not only that but an excellent reminder of why the world is in such ruin now with a spectacular and horrific climax.

Spoilers for episode 5 below

Typical for the show at this point, episode 5 flashes back a few weeks to introduce us to Henry and his little brother, Sam, as they escape and evade capture from the Kansas City resistance. We see the attic they were hole up in, aided by the doctor Kathleen executed last week, and we see they had a front row seat to the shootout Joel got into with the resistance members that tried to kill them. After this brief prologue of sorts we pick up right where we left off with Joel and Ellie being held at gunpoint by the brothers. From here the two pairs decide to team up and escape the QZ (Quarantine Zone) that is under the rule of Kathleen’s resistance.

Last week we didn’t know much about Kathleen other than she was the leader of the resistance, she’s desperately looking for Henry, and will kill anyone who has helped him. This week we get more insight into her motivations and understand how she became the leader of the Kansas City resistance. It seems Henry killed her brother for FEDREA, leaving her to step up and lead. And while her brother was more of a benevolent leader, Kathleen has proven to be more ruthless doing what her and her followers feel need to be done to get out from under FEDRA’s oppressive, violent rule. As a result she has garnered much more loyal followers such as Perry (played by the original Tommy, Jeffrey Pierce) who will gun down unarmed civilians at Kathleen’s behest and without hesitation.

We already know Kathleen and her resistance are new additions to the story but another key change from the game, and one that really works, is Sam (played by newcomer Keivonn Woodard) is deaf. This lends itself more to how much Sam needs his brother’s protection. Henry, (played by Lamar Johnson) is the only one that can communicate with Sam making his dependence on Henry all the more important. We learn that the reason Henry killed Kathleen’s brother in a conversation with Joel and it’s clearly something that Joel understands, despite his rough exterior that won’t allow him to express how much he relates to Henry. It’s good character moments like this that push Joel on his inevitable path as it pertains to Ellie.

Ellie seems to see Sam as a little brother. They play games together, read comics together and have an overall bond that feels real despite the limited screen time mostly due to Bella Ramsey’s (continues to be) stellar performance. When we get to the moment where she sees Sam has been bitten so so badly wants her immunity to means something important that you can almost understand why she doesn’t tell anyone Sam has been bitten. She believes her blood will cure him.

Let’s talk about the events that lead up to that reveal, shall we? Holy shit! That was awesome.

We get an extremely short version of the game’s set piece of Joel making his way through the houses to reach the sniper and at first I was a little bummed it was so short because it’s probably my favorite section of the game. But after Joel takes out the sniper I understand why they did it this way. Because we were going to get a massive action set piece as Ellie, Henry and Sam are chased down by Kathleen and her cronies and a massive snow plow barreling down on them.

This gives way to an even better set-piece when the infected rise from a hole beneath the ground (assuming over the sewers) and attack everyone. It’s an awesome spectacle of horror, action and violence. The clicker that follows Ellie into the car is all-time creepy and seeing that same Clicker return when Ellie, Henry and Sam are confronted by Kathleen is a great example of how the writing pays off even the tiniest of threads.

Going back to Henry and Sam, in the game we spend a little bit more time with the brothers as part of the group which meant a lot more for me when they meet their tragic end, but such is the nature of adaptations. [It worked like crazy on my girlfriend who told me she cried so mission accomplished, I guess]. It’s a minor complaint on my end because it still worked and that’s really all that matters.

Episode 5, Endure and Survive, reset the whole bar in terms of how great this show can be. It also most closely follows the game’s story with a seminal set piece that manages to surpass even that of the game. The emotional gut-punch at the end might be somewhat muted due to the truncated pacing of a TV show vs the game, but it provides a powerful evolution of the character’s of Joel and Ellie.

Score: 10/10

Pros:

• Henry and Sam are great for the limited time we get with them
• Kathleen is given more depth
• The climax is incredible

Cons:

• We don’t get as much time with Henry and Sam as I would like