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Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us season 2, episode 5, and The Last of Us Part II.
A familiar face makes a surprise reappearance in to get Abby’s location. When the episode mercifully cuts away from the torture, it doesn’t cut back in on Ellie’s return to the theater like in the video game; it flashes back much further than that.
Ellie wakes up in her bedroom back in Jackson, where she’s greeted by a smiling Joel standing in her doorway. It’s a joy to see Pedro Pascal back in The Last of Us, but what does his return mean? Was Joel’s death and Ellie’s ensuing quest for revenge in Seattle just a really bad four-episode dream? The final moments of this episode set up some key video game events for the next episode, and also tie into the overarching themes of the story.
The Last Of Us Season 2 Episode 5 Ends With A Flashback Featuring Pedro Pascal's Return As Joel
Ellie Wakes Up To See Joel Smiling At Her
Image via Max
While Ellie is torturing Nora, The Last of Us season 2, episode 5 cuts away to Jackson, where Ellie is waking up to the sight of Joel wishing her a good morning. The sequencing of images boldly suggests that the whole nightmarish ordeal surrounding Joel’s death was just a bad dream. But this is a flashback to long before Ellie went to Seattle, long before Joel was killed by Abby, and long before Joel and Ellie had even fallen out.
Everything that Ellie has done since Joel’s death — putting her life at risk, becoming a cold-blooded killer, prioritizing her quest for revenge over the people she loves — is completely at odds with what Joel would’ve wanted for her.
The juxtaposition of these two images connects to the overall theme of the story. It contrasts how far Ellie has fallen into violent rage with the happy, peaceful life that Joel wanted for her. Everything that Ellie has done since Joel’s death — putting her life at risk, becoming a cold-blooded killer, prioritizing her quest for revenge over the people she loves — is completely at odds with what Joel would’ve wanted for her, and the look he gives her in the flashback illustrates that perfectly.
When The Last Of Us Season 2 Episode 5's Joel Flashback Takes Place
It's Unconfirmed, But It's Likely To Be Ellie's 16th Birthday
The episode doesn’t confirm exactly how far back this flashback goes, but based on the events of the game, it’s likely to be Ellie’s 16th birthday. In the game chapter “The Birthday Gift,” Joel takes Ellie on a birthday trip to a science museum full of dinosaur models and space memorabilia. The Last of Us season 2’s trailers have already teased a faithful adaptation of this chapter (which is great news, because it’s one of the most beautiful parts of the game).
The Last of Us airs new episodes on HBO and Max every Sunday.
It’s worth noting that, in the flashback, Ellie’s bedroom is still in Joel’s house, so it’s before she moved into the garage when they had their falling-out. This suggests that it’s before Ellie found out Joel killed the Fireflies to save her life, which is the same as in the game. In the game’s timeline, this flashback takes place three years before Ellie’s vengeful rampage through Seattle, but since the TV show changed the four-year time jump to a five-year time jump, those three years will be stretched to four.
What The Joel Flashback Means For The Last Of Us Season 2 Episode 6
Episode 6 Will Finally Deliver A Heartwarming Video Game Moment
The Joel flashback at the end of The Last of Us season 2, episode 5 is only brief, but it’s setting up a much longer flashback in episode 6. In the game, there are three different Joel flashbacks peppered throughout Ellie’s adventures in Seattle, but it’s looking like the TV show will streamline all three of those flashbacks into one supersized flashback in The Last of Us season 2, episode 6. So, while Joel’s death is a heartbreaking permanent change that the show is sticking to, he’s technically back, and we’ll get to enjoy Pascal for another couple of episodes.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
Joel Miller
Ellie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
- Franchise(s)
- The Last of Us
- Creator(s)
- Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
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