'The Last of Us' Episode 8 Review: Main antagonist from original game's winter chapter returns
Spoilers for 'The Last of Us' Episode 8 'When We Are in Need'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'The Last of Us' Episode 7 'Left Behind' brought an ocean of emotions and turned the cry-o-meter up a notch. However, things went in the opposite direction when in the final episode things got too violent, too fast. 'When We Are in Need' was a highly anticipated episode that brought back an essential villain from the original game. The character is not only villainous, but also hides a secret that is revealed halfway through the episode.
The hit HBO Max series is about to wrap up its first season and we still have no idea what the second season will be like, but we hope it will live up to the story of the original game and bring the OG characters that fans fell in love with. Episode 8 stars Pedro Pascal's Joel, Bella Ramsey's Ellie and 'Breaking Bad' actor Scott Shepherd.
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Penicillin and venison
Episode 8 takes us to an abandoned restaurant where people are sitting and listening to a man reciting Bible verses, in the middle of the window is a white cloth with something written on it in black ink. The words read, "When we are in need, he shall provide," and one quickly assumes that it is a funeral and a young girl, about Ellie's age, is crying over the loss of her father. She asks when they are going to bury him, and the preacher, who it turns out is named David (a character many game fans would recognize), tells her that the ground is too cold to dig him up, and that they will not be able to properly bury his father until spring.
The prayer group seems to be almost out of food when David and one of his co-workers, James, talk about how their rations are running out and that they need to come up with a plan to do something about it. If you are a fan of the original game, you might know that James, played by Troy Baker, is the voice of 'Joel' in 'The Last of Us' game. His role is more than a cameo appearance. The scene cuts to the final scene from Episode 7, in which Ellie is seen nursing Joel back to health, as his condition seems to have worsened after his stomach injury. It seems that Ellie and Joel are going through the same food crisis and have nothing to eat. Ellie excuses herself and wanders outside in search of food when she comes across a deer running away wounded. James and David find it and think that since no one is around, they should just pick it up. But then Ellie meets the antagonist duo.
Ellie makes a deal with Duo, asking for penecillin from her medical supply and half of the hunt. After she agrees, James is asked to get the medicine, and David and Ellie find a spot away from the blizzard and light a campfire. David shares some details about his group and that he found them after escaping the firefly group, and that he found God after the apocalypse. In the middle of the conversation between Ellie and David, James comes back, but not with the intention of helping, but to kill Ellie. David asks James to lower his gun and then asks him to give Ellie the medicine and sends her on her way.
What was prayer group eating if there was no ration?
Episode 8 will bring back many memories for fans of the original game, as the production has done justice to the original plot. David, as we know, is the nasty villain whose aggravated version is seen in the game. However, the series version was a toned down part of David. Later in the episode, it is revealed that the prayer group are actually cannibals who hunt and eat humans. It is revealed that only James, David and the cooks know about this and none of the other group members know the truth. David finds Ellie intriguing and is drawn to her in a creepy way. The episode is fast-forwarded rather quickly and feels like the production wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Still, Scott Sheppard got a deserved amount of screen time and he did a great job of bringing the sinister David to the viewer.
'The Last of Us' is exclusively available to watch on HBO Max.