This post contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season two, episode two.
Sometimes an episode of television knocks you on your ass. It doesn’t always take much. A single scene or memorable performance can do it. Just as stellar filmmaking, really great writing, or amazing visuals can leave a major impact on viewers. But the very best episodes in history, the truly special ones, give you everything you could ever want from an hour of television. Some installments are so good that they elevate the entire medium. That’s what The Last of Us just delivered in season two’s stunning second episode. It was TV at its absolute best in every way.
“Through the Valley” is not the first time a TV show has ever pulled off a surprise, horrifying zombie attack. Nor is it the first time such a sequence was ever done that well at that kind of blockbuster scope. HBO itself has done it before with “Hardhome.” The very fact that the infected assault on Jackson, Wyoming, in The Last of Us season two can really only be compared to Game of Thrones‘ iconic episode is enough to make it an all-timer.
Like “Hardhome,” spectacle alone cannot elevate an episode to standing among TV’s best ever. The Last of Us reached that rarified air because it did everything else just as well. The writing is crisp and honest, full of great, meaningful characterization and plot development from start to finish. That’s true of moments both big and small. Abby’s monologue to Joel is emotional and powerful. As is watching a bitten man silently show off his bite wound before handing over his gun for his own execution.
The episode also creates real tension and terror because it invests in its characters first. It then uses impeccable pacing, expertly build towards the action, so it not only means something when it arrives, but we feel the weight of what’s happening. It starts with the casual reports of Infected nearby. And that small piece of news leads to a mobilization that feels like the possible beginning of the end for everyone we care about. And when that terrible storm finally rolls in, it really does feel like the end of the world is coming for them.
Then it does.
The attack on Jackson also works so well because this episode of The Last of Us season two seamlessly lets us experience it in two very different ways. We see this nightmare in the macro, as thousands of cordyceps zombies besiege hundreds of frightened citizens. But we also engage in the personal side by going through the attack with Tommy. We’re with him on the wall, fighting on the main street, and when at his side when he’s trapped by doors he ordered barred. Because we’re with him, we feel the same terror everyone in the commune is feeling. It’s like both watching a boxing match and fighting in it at the same time, all without ever being disoriented. As a result, we feel the same pain as those who survived this major The Last of Us battle at episode’s end.
If the Battle of Jackson—which is even more impressive since it’s a wholly original sequence that does not happen in The Last of Us Part II—was the entire episode it would have been a crowning achievement for the medium. You just can’t film a better, more epic, more tense, more logical war sequence. It was perfect. And yet, somehow, all of that happened while The Last of Us season two was also adapting one of the most infamous, shocking scenes in video game history. The siege on the commune is interwoven with Joel’s last day alive. We see him save Abby from certain death amid a brutal storm (another amazing action sequence), all so he could walk into his own execution.
The two stories that make up this episode are separate, yet in total harmony with the other. They’re two halves of one story. Each has its own story and focus, but the shared terror of both elevates the other. They work together to create a sense of unimaginable dread and death. Then they deliver both.
But great writing and great filmmaking still need great performances, and this episode is overflowing with them. The Last of Us season two, episode two features an incredibly nuanced performance from Gabriel Luna, who conveys the raw human emotion of the commune attack. He says so much without speaking while Tommy fights for his town’s existence. Kaitlyn Dever shines in a different way. The humanity and pain of her monologue to Joel make it impossible not to see her character’s human side, even while she’s doing something we’re desperate for someone to stop. Pedro Pascal is just as good at the famously brutal scene. His Joel faces death with the steely determination that helped him save the life of his eventual murder. The way he gives Ellie one final look will stay with us, just as it will stay with her.
Then there’s Bella Ramsey. She’s been giving memorable, iconic performances on HBO shows for years. Yet here she gives the performance of her life. Ellie’s futile pleading for Joel’s life takes an already heartbreaking moment and makes it almost too much to bear. It’s literally hard to watch her scream and threaten and grieve, yet it’s impossible to turn away from someone giving a performance that good. It’s an immensely talented artist at their best giving us something truly special.
Truly special is the only way to describe this entire hour of television. The Last of Us just delivered an all-timer, an episode few TV shows have ever have reached. It knocked us on our ass, and it’ll be a long time before we can get up.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who thought this episode was pretty, pretty, pretty good. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.