Episode 3 of The Last of Us season 2 proudly wears its Western influences in a character heavy outing, and gives Bella Ramsey time to shine.
Showrunners: Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann
Season 2 Episodes: 7
Ep. 3 Release: April 27, 2025
Where to Watch: HBO and Max (U.S.) / Crave (Canada) / Sky & Now (U.K. & Ireland)
The Last of Us is a show with many genre influences, but in episode 3, it wears its Western bona fides as proudly as the Washington Liberation Front patches adorned on the militia which closes the episode. This doesn’t become more obvious until later in the episode, but the clues are scattered throughout, and it works based on where the story is so far in season 2.
Of course, there’s plenty of other great character beats throughout this week’s installment, but I like that the show affords itself a slight genre detour before barreling towards the inevitable action-heavy episodes.
The city of Jackson is still reeling from the attack from the border of Infected last week, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is still mourning Joel (Pedro Pascal) three months later. Ellie has always been someone who’s great at hiding. Naturally, this comes with the territory of being the only one immune from the planet-killing fungus, but she instinctively puts up a front to keep people from knowing the real her. If nothing else, episode 3 is a great showcase for Ramsey, as they find ways to keep people away, lest they see how much Ellie truly misses Joel. Consider the opening scene between Ellie and Gail (Catherine O’Hara), when she jokes her way out of discussing how she feels. Of course, as soon as she’s alone at Joel’s house, the mask falls off and she loses control, only to wipe the tears away when Dina (Isabela Merced) arrives.
The Searchers is revered as one of the greatest Westerns of all time (not to yours truly, but we’ll save that for a different column), and its influence can be felt once Ellie learns that Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her crew were part of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), and Ellie seeks permission to get revenge. John Ford’s film is centered around a ragtag crew scouring the earth in search of a group of Apaches who abducted one of their own, and The Last of Us dedicates the middle section of episode 3 to discuss the futility of revenge.
I’ve written before about the show, especially in Jackson, and the struggle between the old ways and the new. Ellie can’t simply leave and take 15 others with her; the town council has to vote on it first. Maybe Ellie sees herself as the Gary Cooper character in High Noon (now this is a Western I can get behind), the lone do-gooder who sets out to defeat the forces of evil when the town can’t muster the courage. Either way, Dina knows Ellie too well to think she’ll take the council’s rejection lying down, so she appeals to Ellie’s practical side by laying out the route and the provisions they’ll need.
So now The Last of Us becomes a kind of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Ellie and Dina hit the road, bantering back and forth about music and sharing cheesy movie quips. The show could have stretched out their journey to Seattle for another episode or two, but we already saw Ellie traveling across the country with a singular companion last season, so I appreciate the protracted montage we get in episode 3.
Crucially, episode writer Craig Mazin also briefly introduces the Seraphites this week, a sect in Washington who follow in the footsteps of a prophet who died 10 years ago. We don’t learn too much about who they are, or what they specifically believe – we do see that all the men have shaved heads, and everyone, even the children, have scars reaching from their ears to their lips.
It’s especially notable when this new group of characters is introduced, and how they connect to our heroes. The father we see speaks of how they still follow their prophet’s teachings, even after she’s been dead for so long. I couldn’t help but think of Ellie, and how she’s now essentially doing the same thing after Joel’s death. Especially when Gail drives the hammer home while speaking to Tommy (Gabriel Luna) about her: “I think they were walking side by side from the start.”
The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 – Gamer Corner
Every week I’ll be highlighting plot momentum from the game “The Last of Us Part II”, and the differences and similarities from season 2 of the show, and how those changes could shape the show going forward. Obviously, spoilers ahead:
I thought I was reading too much into something when Dina just slightly touches her belly while bringing Ellie cookies, but episode 3 makes more overt references throughout to show that Dina is, in fact, pregnant. She mentions, in the tent, that she already went back to Jessie when they discuss their New Years Eve kiss from episode 1. And then she vomits when they happen upon the group of dead Seraphites, blaming it on the smell.
The major question left unanswered by this week’s episode is whether Tommy escaped Jackson separately, or decided to stay behind. The show made the change of giving Tommy a son, which might indicate he has more to lose if he doesn’t stay. Personally, I’m fine if The Last of Us changes course and keeps him behind; we don’t see him much in person in Seattle, and once he does show up, he’s quickly killed shortly thereafter.
Episode 3 of The Last of Us Season 2 is now available to stream on Max.
