'The Last of Us' Episode 6 Review: Pedro Pascal delivers the required dose of dramatics in 'Kin'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Trauma and loss have forced Joel Miller to close his heart to the world. He couldn’t love Tess. He refuses to acknowledge his growing fondness for Ellie. All 'The Last of Us' fans today's episode is going to be just enough for you to fall in love with the 'Mandalorian' star, Pedro Pascal's Joel.
After last week's action-packed ending, episode 6 of 'The Last of Us' slows things down by pairing its characters up and letting them engage in heartfelt conversation after heartfelt conversation. It’s a fantastic chapter that almost completely delivers exactly what it sets out to achieve thanks to a top-tier script and nuanced performances throughout. Furthermore, as per recent reports, 'The Last of Us' episode 5 was arguably its most ambitious to date, shifting the action to Kansas City and following Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they evade loads of infected. The action scenes proved so intense, in fact, that filming them left Ramsey with "so many bruises," and even a "real black eye." However Bella Ramsey's Ellie looked all her normal self in episode 6.
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Fireflies, cure and all that jazz
In this week’s 'The Last of Us,' Joel and Ellie spend a fair amount of the episode riding horses, shooting guns and facing down posses, just like those western heroes. They also find the time to talk about what their lives might be like after the Fireflies whip up a cure for the cordyceps infection. And sure enough, the first thing Joel imagines for himself is living in an old farmhouse and raising sheep — who, he says pointedly to Ellie, are “quiet and do what they’re told.” Today's episode was far from violent and disturbing, it actually showed them as normal human beings who have emotions and emotional requirements.
'Kin' turns out to be all about peace and calm
'The Last of Us' has had a restless season so far, hopping from place to place. You could argue it’s the closest thing the show has to hindrance so far, not being able to find purchase in any one location before things inevitably crumble. Either the truck gets totaled or the sinkhole opens up or the old friends have died. This may be an episode in which action is sidelined, but in its place is heated conversation that successfully delivers the required dose of dramatics.
You can watch 'The Last of Us' episode 6, 'Kin' on HBO Max.