The Last of Us episode 7

Both major flashbacks in this series may not be narratively necessary, but that's just fine.

But in the meantime, Episode 7 proves that just because you can cut out an episode without unraveling the entire plot doesn’t mean it’s not serving an even more important purpose to the bigger story. Instead, Ellie’s flashback was added later on in The Last of Us: Left Behind, released a year after the original game. Just look at the addition of In the 2013 video game, we saw Joel get injured and then we followed Ellie as she attempted to take care of him months later in a chapter that will presumably make up Episode 8. The episode, entitled “Left Behind,” was an adaptation of [the DLC](https://www.inverse.com/gaming/last-of-us-2-story-left-behind-dlc-ellie) of the same name, which delivered a flashback to Ellie’s life before the events of the original game. [Episode 3](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/the-last-of-us-episode-3-director-peter-hoar-interview), which has been criticized for delivering a story some people argue was unnecessary to the main plot.

In The Last of Us Episode 7, we'll get a flashback of Ellie's life before she met Joel. Viewers will get to know a new character named Riley (Storm Reid), a ...

[Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels](https://www.amazon.com/b/?rh=i:instant-video,n:2858778011&ie=UTF8&filterId=OFFER_FILTER=SUBSCRIPTIONS&node=2858778011&ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1465430649312&_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=pf4&tag=fs-livedrops1-20&linkId=90b2815fb79ba0e403137c68e139db16%E2%80%9D) Keep checking in with us at Winter is Coming for all of our reviews, news, analysis, and more as we get closer to the finale. It’s a favorite among fans of the game and With what looks to be a pretty serious wound, plus the fact that he and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are kind of in the middle of nowhere, it’s going to be a close call. Viewers will get to know a new character named Riley (Storm Reid), a very important person in Ellie’s journey. But in tonight’s episode, we won’t focus on Joel at all.

What time does episode 7 of The Last of Us air? Is this the Left Behind episode? Digital Trends has all the information about the hit HBO show.

The Last of Us is one of the best shows of 2023. [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_last_of_us), The Last of Us sits at 97% on the Tomatometer, with an audience score of 91%. Is The Last of Us worth watching? There are nine scheduled episodes in season 1 of The Last of Us. Can I watch a trailer for episode 7 of The Last of Us? The Last of Us is quickly becoming a huge hit for HBO, joining the recent success of series like House of the Dragon, Succession, and Winning Time. [Game of Thrones](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/game-of-thrones-jon-snow-best-episodes-hbo/), The Wire, and The Sopranos are also available to watch on the service. When does episode 7 of The Last of Us release? The episode is directed by Liza Johnson. You can also get lost in the movie library with a great selection of films, ranging from blockbusters like [The Batman](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/the-batman-review/) to classic standout dramas like The Verdict. [The Last of Us](https://www.digitaltrends.com/movies/the-last-of-us-hbo-review/) has been one of the biggest hits of 2023 so far. [The Last of Us honors its original video game](https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/last-of-us-part-i-review-ps5/) source material and is about more than just bacteria-infested zombies.

The Last of Us returns to HBO and HBO Max with its seventh episode. Here's when you can watch episode 7, "Left Behind", in your neck of the woods.

Let us know in the comments below! [Left Behind](https://bamsmackpow.com/2023/02/26/last-us-season-1-episode-7-live-stream-watch-online/)“, premieres in the US on HBO on Sunday, February 26, at 9:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 26 CT on Sunday, February 26 MT on Sunday, February 26 PT on Sunday, February 26 AKST on Sunday, February 26 HST on Sunday, February 26 In doing so, we’ll also meet the character of Riley (who was namedropped in the premiere). Joel protected Ellie but was The Here’s when you can watch episode 7, “Left Behind”, in your neck of the woods.

Episode 7 will also introduce a character from Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) past. But don't worry, we'll get to see how Joel (Pedro Pascal) is doing, too. Needless to ...

[The Last of Us](https://hiddenremote.com/2023/02/19/whats-wrong-joels-heart-the-last-of-us/) episode 7 is titled “Left Behind,” and as excited as we are to watch it tonight (February 25), it’s bittersweet because it means we are one episode closer to the end. It will become available to stream at the same time as it airs (9 p.m. We share how long The Last of Us episode 7 is and how to watch. Tonight’s episode will run for approximately 60 minutes, starting at 9 p.m. Needless to say, this is not an episode you want to catch later, you need to be one of the first to see it as it airs on [HBO or stream it on HBO Max](https://hiddenremote.com/hbo/). [The Last of Us ](https://hiddenremote.com/2023/02/19/last-us-episode-6-recap-happens-joe-end/)returns with an episode that will once again tug our heart strings.

Warning: This story contains The Last of Us spoilers for season 1.] The Last of Us has left behind its super-sized episodes. HBO's live-action adaptation of ...

ET / 8:41 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. [The Last of Us](/category/the-last-of-us-tvshow/) spoilers for season 1.] The Last of Us has left behind its super-sized episodes. ET / 6:00 p.m. Recent episodes have run shorter: episodes 2 and 4 clocked in under an hour, with [episodes 5 and 6](https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/the-last-of-us-recap-episode-6-kin/) running just over an hour each. They expected to track down Marlene's (Merle Dandridge) Firefly faction developing a vaccine for the Cordyceps infection, but instead found evidence the Fireflies fled to Salt Lake City.

It's finally time for Ellie and Riley's night out. Here's how to watch The Last of Us episode 7 on HBO Max.

ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 4](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-4-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Feb. ET on HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 6](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-6-recap-and-review-abandonment-issues)— Sunday, Feb. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 5](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-5-recap-and-review-the-best-episode-yet)— Friday, Feb. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 3](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-3-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Jan. ET on HBO and HBO Max [The Last of Us episode 2](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-2-release-date-and-time-how-to-watch-on-hbo-max)— Sunday, Jan. Binge is the place you want to go to watch The Last of Us episode 7 online in Australia. [The Last of Us episode 1](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/the-last-of-us-episode-1-recap)— Sunday, Jan. [Crave](https://www.crave.ca/en) (opens in new tab) is the home of The Last of Us in Canada, and episode 7 will air at its normal time, just like it does in the U.S.. So, get ready to watch The Last of Us episode 7 at 9 p.m. [Sky Atlantic](https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?awinmid=11005&awinaffid=103504&clickref=tomsguide-us-4922839227722946000&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fshop%2Ftv%2F) (opens in new tab) (the normal home for HBO and HBO Max Originals in the UK) and NOW in the U.K. Here's everything you need to know about how to watch The Last of Us episode 7, no matter where you are. And we'll finally get to meet Riley in The Last of Us episode 7, when it rewinds the clock back to weeks before Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie met.

Written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the post-apocalyptic drama thriller stars actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The story-driven game is set in a ...

[HBO Max](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F&xcust=xid:fr1674272326260hhj Boxing fights, MMA and more](https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2021/02/how-to-watch-dazn-on-your-tv-what-is-it-what-does-it-cost-and-include-boxing-fights-mma-and-more.html) [How to watch ESPN+ on TV: What is it, what does it cost and include?](https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2019/09/how-to-watch-espn-plus-on-your-tv-what-is-it-what-does-it-cost-and-what-does-it-include.html) ET](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F%3Futm_id%3D1011l5669%26utm_source%3Dskimlinks_phg%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate%26clickref%3D1101lwuJxCFY&xcust=xid:fr1674856256772ace [The Last of Us](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F&xcust=xid:fr1674272326258ijf xid:fr1677099550748eha) ($9.99/month, or $14.99/month without ads). xid:fr1677099550748eef) ($9.99/month with ads and $14.99/month without ads). [stream The Last of Us Season 1, Episode 7 on HBO Max](https://go.skimresources.com/?id=126006X1587347&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F%3Futm_id%3D1011l5669%26utm_source%3Dskimlinks_phg%26utm_medium%3Daffiliate%26clickref%3D1101lwuJxCFY&xcust=xid:fr1674856256772caj PT/9 p.m. Death: The Undoctored Story Christopher Duntsch documentary available now on Peacock](https://www.oregonlive.com/tv/2021/07/dr-death-the-undoctored-story-christopher-duntsch-documentary-releases-tonight-live-stream-info-how-to-watch-online-with-peacock.html) [How to watch DAZN on your TV: What is it, what does it cost and include? The story-driven game is set in a zombie-ravaged America that has been taken over by once-human creatures infected with a mushroom-like virus that causes them to become violent cannibals. The game franchise, originally created by gaming company Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment, became an automatic hit and has since been expanded with a sequel. xid:fr1677099550748gfh) is a new TV series based on an action-adventure post-apocalyptic survival horror video game.

This week, an extended flashback fills in significant aspects of Ellie's life in the Boston Quarantine Zone.

Nearly everything in Ellie and Riley’s room either comes up again in this episode or is a part of Ellie’s lore. Ellie comes back though, because Riley is about to be reassigned to Atlanta, and Ellie doesn’t want their last memory of each other to be her storming away in anger. It takes a while before any trouble starts; and in the hour or two before then, these two girls have the greatest night of their lives. The scene where Riley lights up the mall is absolutely beautiful, rich with the soft, colorful glow of retail outlet signs. (Her death is not shown, but it is possible that when Ellie hinted to Joel back in Kansas City that she had killed before, she meant Riley.) When Riley makes fun of the mall’s un-looted Victoria’s Secret store and jokes about what Ellie would look like in lingerie, Ellie blushes and then surreptitiously checks her hair in the window’s reflection. The friends later briefly split up after Ellie realizes that Riley didn’t just stumble across this mall but has in fact been posted there by the Fireflies, who have her building explosives for them. Ellie is skeptical, but still agrees to join her best friend for a wild after-hours excursion — which turns out to be a trip to the mall. About 95 percent of this week’s episode consists of an extended flashback to Ellie’s life in the QZ, while in the present day she scrambles to keep the wounded Joel alive. Most of what we see in the flashback confirms what we already knew. When the flashback starts, Riley has been AWOL for three weeks; but while Ellie is asleep in their barracks after lights-out, Riley sneaks back in and explains her where she has been. She was bucking authority, sneaking out at night, and fighting with the other girls — spurred on in part by her rebellious roommate Riley (Storm Reid).

With Joel in bad shape, Ellie remembers a night of joy and loss. It's another killer episode.

The flashback ends with Ellie and Riley fleeing the mall as hordes of infected chase them. [fictional game The Turning](https://youtu.be/aecgd82z_No?t=3067) (which is basically Mortal Kombat) in the arcade... The thing you always have to remember is that life is worth living! This is when the romantic tension peaks and Ellie decides to make her move, giving Riley a brief but passionate kiss. The cabinet doesn't work, so Riley has Ellie close her eyes and place her hands on the controls, and then Riley describes the action. Avoiding infected and human marauders along the way, she discovers the meds in a military helicopter that's crashed through the mall's roof. Through some miracle, many of the booths still work and they hop on iconic 1993 fighter Mortal Kombat 2 (a poster for this game is also visible over Ellie's bed, hinting at her fascination). Ellie isn't at all happy with this but ultimately decides to continue onto the final wonder. Songwriter Robert Smith said this tune was inspired by [ the romance of a trip](https://thecuretc.wordpress.com/tag/2003/) he took with girlfriend Mary Poole, who'd later become his wife. Turns out the escalator was just a precursor to the real fun. After she gets in a tussle with one of her peers, a FEDRA officer presents her with alternative visions of her future in the zone: Continue messing about, end up a grunt with crappy duties, and likely die in some random accident. And run on an escalator to the tune of Norwegian synth-pop band

The Last of Us breaks away from the crisis at hand to show a glimpse of who Ellie was before hitting the road with Joel. A recap of “Left Behind,” episode 7 ...

After taking steps to leave the mall, Ellie returns, following the sound of screams to a Halloween store, the fifth wonder of the mall, where Riley awaits and explains herself. Back to the present: If Ellie thought for a moment about abandoning Joel, the thought didn’t last for long. They have to deal with adult matters like sexuality and postapocalyptic politics, but, like teens before the apocalypse, they really just want to goof around and fall in love and decide what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Though unaware of the looming danger, Ellie notes that it’s getting late and that she needs to return, but Riley’s not having it. But The Last of Us is a heartbreaker, and the story keeps going. It doesn’t last, and Riley counters Ellie’s doubt with the information that the Fireflies have “set things right” in other cities. When Bethany taunts Ellie by saying she doesn’t fight and that the friend who does fight isn’t here, Ellie responds with a punch that, we’ll soon learn, sends Bethany to the infirmary in need of stitches. That tension complicates the show, and it’s at the heart of this episode. But then Ellie pauses to fix her hair in the shop’s windows, the comment not quite forgotten. The episode’s action shifts back to the Boston QZ and Ellie’s life as a FEDRA soldier in training, a grind of schoolwork (with a heavy emphasis on physical fitness), and bullying at the hands of a much taller classmate named Bethany. And it’s obvious he’d like to have a smart kid like Ellie as an officer. She gives a look that suggests she’s steeling herself for the decision, and though she hesitates before turning the doorknob, she walks through it.

A post-apocalyptic romance as good as a mushroom monster world will allow.

[Henry and Sam!](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42825522/the-last-of-us-episode-5-henry/) [Frank and Bill](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42687278/the-last-of-us-episode-3-recap/). [Tess](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42618596/the-last-of-us-tess-death-show-vs-video-game/). [Frank-and-Bill](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42691787/how-do-bill-and-frank-die-in-the-last-of-us/) us all. This time, she’s going to save the person closest to her. There’s even a damaged photobooth and a big carousel that plays a toy-box piano version of The Church’s 1987 hit song “Under the Milky Way.” The Last of Us's trend of [picking out good songs](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42705769/the-last-of-us-linda-ronstadt-bill-frank-song/) is one of the only things in this series that's alive and well. [recapping last week's The Last of Us episode](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42955394/the-last-of-us-episode-6-recap/) while I was off meeting Mario in [Super Nintendo World](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a43012062/doug-bowser-super-nintendo-world-mario-movie-interview/). He strikes at the perfect time—right as the two girls argue about how Riley’s leaving the city and wants Ellie to come with her. (AKA Danger Land, USA.) Ellie warns her that the building is full of infected, but Riley doesn’t believe her. Riley already quotes their ideology as freedom fighters against the fascist FEDRA “dickbags.” Ellie and Riley escape in the middle of the night to explore a random building, which feels even less safe since, you know, this world is full of monsters. It’s been a minute since I've been in this mushroom world—the apocalyptic one, not Princess Peach's kingdom—and I come back to my The Last of Us home to find that Joel is fighting for dear life. We kick things off with Ellie in the Boston QZ military academy, getting reamed out by the corporal for misbehaving. But I’m shocked to learn that I leave for one minute and Joel ends ups (possibly) dead?!

This week's story is a flashback that belongs to Bella Ramsey and guest star Storm Reid—and the fans of the game it's taken from too.

Her walk back to Riley turns into a run when she hears screaming, but she soon realizes that the sound is not her friend in peril but a Halloween store: the fifth wonder of the mall. “Left Behind” belongs to Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid—and the fans of the game it’s taken from too. Somewhere, in a dark corner of the mall, an Infected is woken up by all the noise. By soundtracking the escalator scene to A-ha’s “Take on Me” (a reference to a particularly moving part in The Last of Us Part II), Riley took the liberty of breaking into the coin machine so they have infinite money to use on games. The scene is a near-perfect recreation of The first wonder is a fully functioning carousel, which Ellie and Riley ride in an adorable moment. Riley relents and tells her that she knew what her FEDRA assignment was going to be—patrolling while people shoveled shit—and she knew there was no future there for her. The show even feels more like the beginning of a sweet rom-com as opposed to a post-apocalyptic drama. Her best friend Riley (Storm Reid), who disappeared three weeks ago and secretly joined the Fireflies, returns to sneak Ellie out for “the best night of her life.” What could go wrong? While exploring the mall, the game flashes back to the first time Ellie was in a mall—her first and last date with her best friend Riley. Joel encourages her to just leave him, the idea of which sparks a painful and recent memory for Ellie.

'The Last of Us' Season 1 Episode 7, titled "Left Behind," tells the story of Ellie and Riley (played by Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid).

She finds thread, and while she's no pro, is willing to stitch Joel up to the best of her ability before losing him. The situations are almost analogous, but present Ellie is doing anything she can to avoid going through any sort of loss again. The meat of the episode, though, centers on Riley taking Ellie on a surprise adventure to somewhere that Ellie is entirely not suspecting. Ellie gets in and is absolutely flummoxed by the idea of "moving stairs," aka... Ellie manages to kill the infected, but the cost is major: both Riley and Ellie have been bitten. Riley takes Ellie first through an abandoned house, where they see a dead body—which allows Riley to refer to the fact that it's not the first dead body she's seen. We know, now, that Ellie is immune, but you can only imagine the utter fear and heartbreak that both must have had in this moment, and Ramsey and Reid do a fantastic job in expressing that. He also makes the case that she could have a better life if she would simply apply herself and get her "assignment" (which, we learn in the episode, comes at age 17) to become an officer herself. Ellie does, though, and attacks and beats the crap out of Bethany. Joel is struggling, and Ellie is doing her best to get him safe and stable. The episode once again proves The Last of Us' greatest feature: its ability to reinvent itself into something new each and every week. The Last of Us hasn't gone full Lost—which split every episode between a character-centric backstory plot and a present-day on-island plot—but the post-apocalyptic present sure does lend itself nicely to this setup.

Even as the show moves through a new postapocalyptic reality, it keeps a close eye on what's been lost. By Shirley Li. Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid on a ...

And just like Ellie when she first laid eyes on the structure, the show is finding many wonders to ponder—and to treasure. [wrote recently](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/the-last-of-us-video-game-hbo-show-episode-3/672889/) that turning The Last of Us into a television series revealed that “there just isn’t that much to the story,” not when you’re now a viewer instead of a player concerned with getting Joel and Ellie past hordes of infected. As a TV series, the story now has room to meditate—on concepts as enormous and existential as the price of being human and caring for someone else, as well as on more minute details, such as the elegance of a working set of escalators in an abandoned mall. Sure, this episode included little forward momentum of the overarching plot, but that’s the point: The show is not just about whether Joel and Ellie will save the world. The episode thus delves into Ellie’s backstory and how she experienced the kind of loss that instilled in her a potent fear of being alone. [The Last of Us](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/01/the-last-of-us-hbo-tv-series-review/672690/) has its share of this—the walking dead are not “zombies”; they’re “infected”—but the series keeps a close eye, through Ellie, on what’s been lost. As Riley guides Ellie around the mall, she promises to show her “wonders.” These turn out to be ordinary machines, including a photo booth, an arcade game, and a merry-go-round. [Station Eleven](https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/i-have-notes/61d368aedd6c7f00233182a6/pandemic-station-eleven-show/), another outstanding HBO adaptation (in its case, of a novel) set in a postapocalyptic landscape. In postapocalyptic stories, world building typically emphasizes the new reality: new vocabulary to learn, new systems of government to understand, new social norms to parse. Much of the hour instead chronicles a single evening that took place months before the two met, when Ellie and her best friend, Riley (Storm Reid), snuck out of the Boston quarantine zone. An abandoned mall at the end of the world is not a pretty sight. In the present, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s journey to a lab that can study Ellie’s immunity has come to a halt after Joel is hurt in an attack.

In Episode 7 of 'The Last of Us', viewers finally got a glimpse into Ellie's past, and the tragic circumstances that led to her getting bitten.

We don’t see it, but we know that Riley turns and Ellie doesn’t, and Ellie probably had to kill her own best friend — a girl she may have loved. Did she take Riley’s revolver and kill her before she could turn completely or fight off an inhuman Riley like she fought off the Infected that bit her? Now, it’s up to Ellie to do whatever she can in return, but unfortunately, there’s not much she can do but watch Joel get worse and worse. Ellie manages to drag Joel into an abandoned house, but she doesn’t know what to do. Now, in Episode 7, it’s up to Ellie to take care of Joel, and it’s forcing her to remember the last time she wanted to save someone. After the end of [Episode 6](https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/the-last-of-us-episode-6-lampshades-a-common-post-apocalyptic-trope) saw Joel and Ellie disappointed by the lack of Fireflies in the university in Colorado, the loss was only compounded when Joel found himself stabbed by a raider.

Ellie grapples with love, death, and ideology in a (mostly) abandoned mall in a touching flashback episode. By Randall Colburn February 26, 2023 at 10:00 PM ...

"But you mattered to me first," Ellie says, softening enough for Riley to rope her into her last event of the evening. The gift, which Riley's stored with her bedroll in the backroom of a taco restaurant, is the book of puns Ellie will later entertain Joel with on the road. This is her last wonder of the mall. Riley takes her to one of the several "wonders" of the mall: a working carousel. The moment passes, though, and Ellie, uncomfortable by this rush of emotions, says that she needs to get back to the facility before they discover she's missing. Riley reveals she's being sent to the Atlanta QZ by the Fireflies and that this is her last night in Boston. A buzzing arcade is the next wonder, and Ellie declares its array of glowing, blooping cabinets "the most beautiful thing" she's ever seen. Riley's next wonder is a photo booth that snaps five photos of the pair before spitting them out in a strip that Ellie tucks into her bag. Ellie, who's spent the majority of her life being told that the Fireflies are terrorists, is concerned, but nevertheless intrigued when Riley tells her she has a surprise for her. The shops are trashed and looted, but the breadth of this consumerist wonderland, a relatively intact relic of a time she never knew, dazzles nevertheless. "We're the only thing holding all this together," Kwong says of FEDRA. "Put me in the hole," says Ellie, who's now got a black eye.

Does Ellie still have her and Riley's photographs? How did the Fireflies find Ellie? Were Riley's bombs used in Episode 1? Was Riley the first person Ellie ...

[Can the zombie outbreak in The Last of Us actually happen? In The Last of Us episode 4, Ellie tells Joel that she’d already killed one person before she even met him. However, in The Last of Us episode 1, Tess (Anna Torv) gets caught in an explosive attack from the Fireflies. However, viewers aren’t actually shown what happened to Ellie after she and Riley were bitten by one of the show’s infected. In The Last of Us episode 7, it’s revealed that Riley was recruited offscreen by none other than Marlene (Merle Dandridge) to join the Fireflies. That means viewers may have to wait for a future episode of the HBO series to find out whether or not Ellie really does still have one of the most precious souvenirs from her and Riley’s last night together.

We again interrupt your regularly scheduled zombie drama with a touching love story, this time in the form of an extended flashback during a different phase ...

This being “The Last of Us,” nothing good can last for long, and a zombie intruded on their moment together, wounding both of them. Yet as the hour unfolds, it pretty clearly becomes what amounts to a first date, with Riley exposing the wide-eyed Ellie to a host of wonders – escalators, arcade games, photo booths, a merry-go-round – before a spontaneous kiss that takes their relationship in a new and more romantic direction. Along the way, the show even identified the source of Ellie’s book of stupid jokes.

In the seventh episode of The Last of Us, "Left Behind" we flash back to the last time Ellie truly cared about someone.

Riley also takes her mask off, and Ellie begs Riley not to go, and Riley agrees. With Riley out, Ellie stabs the infected in the side as she tries to fight him off. Ellie says she understands, and Riley says Ellie is the only thing she misses from that place. As Riley takes her turn, Ellie looks around and sees that Riley is keeping a whole stash of grenades. Riley then takes Ellie to a working photo booth, and Riley supplies the $5 for their photos. Unlike in the Left Behind, where Ellie and Riley had to imagine playing The Turning, a Mortal Kombat-like game, in the show, this pair can actually compete against each other in mortal kombat. When she arrives, Riley hits the light, and Ellie gets to watch the entire abandoned mall come to light. Riley jokingly says yup, but then says that one night, Ellie was in the hole and so Riley snuck out. Ellie and Riley crawl down a hole, and Riley explains that when FEDRA hooked up the new apartments with electricity, the mall was connected too. Riley says where they’re going to is secret, and that Ellie should trust her with her life. Later that night, Ellie is in her room reading her Savage Starlight comics as it rains, and looks over to the other side of the room to see an empty bed. We find Joel and Ellie camping out in the garage of an abandoned house in the suburbs.

The Last Of Us gives us a major flashback taken directly from The Left Behind DLC from the game.

And I don’t hate flashbacks, but at this point one thing that never bothered me in the games is starting to bother me here: Everyone outside of Joel and Ellie is starting to feel disposable. Overall, I think the games handle this very well, though the writing in Part II suffers from a heavy hand at times (in other ways beyond sexuality, including the cartoonish bad guys). I have more to say about the game vs the show but I’m going to save it for a separate post. Well all I can say is welcome to The Last Of Us. I got in some arguments with people saying things like ‘I’m not homophobic but why do they have to shove this stuff down our throats!?’ Overall, I did like this episode a lot, but it’s another depressing entry in the show in the end, for all its lighter moments. I suppose my problem with this episode, even though it’s plucked from the game and at the same juncture as the game, with Joel wounded, is that it interrupts the story again to give us yet more flashbacks. I think she’s great, don’t get me wrong, but Ellie of Part II is a tour de force and I’m just not sure. The Ellie of Seasons 2 and 3 of HBO’s adaptation. As with episode 3’s glimpse back in time, the episode works in many ways, giving us a clearer portrait of Ellie’s past and exactly what happened to her just weeks before she meets Joel. On the one hand, I really liked this episode as a self-contained story. I loved the music in this episode as well.

Ellie tended to Joel in a dilapidated basement, then flashed back to bliss, booze and photo booths with her best friend – just before disaster struck.

We know Ellie is still with us – this was, of course, the moment she found out she was immune – and Riley is not. The other seeing Ellie scouring an abandoned shopping mall in Colorado for medical supplies to treat the injured Joel before moving him to a hideout to heal and wait out the approaching heavy winter. The assumption here is that Riley will turn and Ellie will be forced to kill her best friend, no doubt using the pistol Riley tucked in her belt. From then on, it was merely a matter of time before they were attacked – not even the gorgeous scene of them dancing to Etta James and their eventual kiss could delay their inevitable demise. If nothing else, the fully stocked Victoria’s Secret window display did allow Ellie to think about desire for a moment, and question whether Riley could ever see her in that way. We left Riley and Ellie sobbing in the mall. We soon found out that Ellie and Riley’s glorious evening was also intended as a painful farewell – just as we were given our first glimpse of an infected. The realisation of their bites was heartbreaking, despite having been signposted from the beginning. After navigating “electric stairs”, we got a lesson in the logic of looting. Just as last week’s episode served up spectacular cinematography, this week was no less beautiful, despite being in the confines of a dilapidated shopping centre. It wasn’t so much a question of if some infected were going to appear, but when, and how many. Joel is still at death’s door, they’re miles from anything approaching safety and more than 500 miles from the Fireflies’ hospital in Salt Lake City.

After Joel and Ellie's touching reunion, Joel gets stabbed by a group of hunters. Now, it's up to Ellie to keep him alive, but that's what we're focusing on ...

Ellie’s t-shirt also doubles as a reference to the tank top she wears in The Last of Us: Left Behind. Take On Me was used in The Last of Us Part II, the HBO series' final trailer, and is now used in this episode. In The Last of Us Part II, we learn that Take On Me is one of Ellie’s favorite songs, leading to arguably the most significant moment in the game. While we don’t learn about Ellie’s backstory in The Last of Us Part I, we get it in the game’s DLC, The Last of Us: Left Behind. The episode title is a direct reference to the DLC, and while Riley has been mentioned a few times in previous episodes, we finally get to meet her here. Unlike the reimagining of Bill and Frank’s story in Episode 3, Episode 7 is heavily influenced by the video games.

Episode 7 of HBO's The Last of Us is a beautifully faithful adaptation of the beloved Left Behind chapter of Ellie's story.

Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. Based on the short story by Stephen King, Children of the Corn is a chilling new re-telling for a whole new generation. A-ha’s Take On Me holds special significance to those familiar with the games, while The Cure's Just Like Heaven is a fun nod to Ellie – herself a form of cure – experiencing a moment of heaven amongst the hell of it all. It’s all the better for it as well, with this glimpse into Ellie’s past perfectly placed to give us a deeper understanding of her at this stage of the story. This is still The Last of Us, however; a show where the good times are never destined to last for long. It’s a refreshing lift in tone for a show that spends most of its runtime submerged in the despair this post-pandemic world relentlessly offers.