The Last of Us Review - Episode 6 Recap: Kin explores the fragility of human life and leaves us with a worrisome conclusion
David Bowie's Major Tom has more to do with this episode than you'd think.
You can quote me on this.
When I grow up I want to be Craig Mazin, writer and creator of The Last of Us.
Why?
Apart from having the incredible honor of writing for a show that grows steadily each week in viewership (7.5 million viewers watched last episode alone) his latest coup is including his daughter’s soulful rendition of a classic “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode as the exit score on a very vexatious ending that we’ll now need to wait at least 2 weeks to resolve. I’ll let you sit with that. And on my future hit show, my daughter will be covering Bowie. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
Brandi Carlisle also does a mean cover of this:
Reunited and it feels so good
I had two Space Oddity moments during “Kin” - this week’s episode, aptly titled as this is the definitive episode where one of our show’s leads is reunited with blood family or “kin.” I make the distinction here from chosen family/adopted family as many of the themes in these disaster space-themed shows have to do with rebuilding community and redefining what your family looks like in the wake of grieving your kin. In this case, Joel, our main character and older brother to Tommy, a character we haven’t seen since 2003 and episode 1, thinks his little brother is in danger as he hasn’t heard from him on the radio in months.
Turns out the reunion of these two characters was heartbreaking, but not in the sense you would think. Tommy is living the life in Jackson, Wyoming - a town that is thriving and offers civilized people, Christmas trees, communal movie showings (The Goodbye Girl), plated food, showers, alcohol and bacon (?), not to mention wholesome protection from the outside world. He is also married and his wife is expecting a child. If anyone’s clock stopped in 2003 it was Joel’s and Tommy has found a way to move on. And in this version of his life, he’s doing better than ever.
So what does this all mean for Joel?
Panic
Joel was put on this earth to protect people. He’s not high on charisma, or connecting with people but he can wield a weapon and he has a heart. You may recall from episode 3, Nick Offerman’s character, Bill, makes a comment to Joel on how he doesn’t like him but they are the same. Namely, their mission in life and this apocalypse era is to protect the people they love. Joel’s sense of self and value is very tied into this idea which is why his anxiety, PTSD, his increasing hearing loss, and what he deems as weakness (i.e. panic attacks at inopportune times like Ellie nearly being mauled by a mean looking dog who sniffs out infected people and rips them apart) are rendering him helpless and hurting. He’s failing at the one thing he thinks he’s meant to do and won’t evolve to living beyond surviving, or can’t.
Check out minute 3:20+ for the panic attack with attack dog scene.
Bowie and space exploration but not the trip-y kind
It’s with this inner turmoil bubbling over and mounting fears that Joel begins to open up to Ellie and answer her endless questions. When she asks him what he wants to do when he’s delivered her to the Fireflies and can flee the scene, he talks about being a sheep farmer and owning a big ranch. The implication here is that he’s solo and without her. No room in his life for people. They only cause pain when he loses them, like his daughter Sarah and his partner Tess.
Ellie, dreaming of a life beyond the present state of things, and staring up at the sky, shares with Joel how much she loves the sky and astronauts, especially Sally Ride, the first U.S. female astronaut in space. Incidentally, Ride died in 2012 of pancreatic cancer which would have put her in our show timeline as 9 years post outbreak. Would Ellie or Joel have even known? Considering information circulation at that point would have been mostly limited to Joel’s radio, probably not. I’m only being half sarcastic here. Will Ellie’s future voyage including forging a life “far above the world” as we hear in Space Oddity? I hope so. Where’s Elon Musk when you need him? Probably a Clicker by now. Nope. Sorry. Musk is the Bloater, Bezos a Clicker. Either way, not sure if space exploration is a thing in this version of the world in 2023.
Joel’s Fate
After bonding over teaching football to Ellie (Side note: hearing Joel explain it to Ellie made me wonder if this game is really as basic as it sounds), showing Ellie how to hunt or at least shoot a target sock monster sack called, “Asshole” and riding a horse together, like Trinity & Bambino heading towards the wild west, off on an adventure, Joel and Ellie, make their way to Eastern Colorado University, supposedly where the Fireflies are, but there is nothing but wild monkeys and raiders. Wild monkeys are terrifying. Just check out the trailer for the film Monkey Shines (1988).
Ground Control to Joel
The whole episode Joel wants to have a moment where he comes out on top protecting Ellie and not needing to be protected by her. He finally gets his moment at the end of the episode, when a raider threatens them and he literally wrings the dude’s neck and cracks it. He looks at Ellie with peace in his heart and a smile making its way to the corners of his mouth before Ellie points out he’s been stabbed. Joe pulls the knife from his gut and they giddy up on the horse before the other raiders can catch up with them. As they approach a train crossing, Ellie comments that they’ve lost them and Joel pretty much slumps over and off the horse. Ellie is now panicked and trying to cover Joel’s gut wound but blood is pooling and he’s unconscious.
And the cruelest trick? Next week’s episode is an Ellie origin story.
