Warning: spoilers ahead for The Last of Us episode 5.
When preparing to watch The Last of Us, fans all across the world – even those unfamiliar with the video game franchise on which it is based – would have known to brace themselves for lots of horrors and tears.
Nothing, however, could have prepared them for the tragedy that awaited them in episode 5, when Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard) died in a really unimaginable way after facing danger after threat for years in a post-apocalyptic, desolate world.
In the newest episode, Henry and Sam, together with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), survive an onslaught by revolutionary leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), her armoured warriors, and a wave of infected, including a formidable Bloater.
They escape the near-impossible predicament by the skin of their teeth, before Sam admits to Ellie that he was bitten and she attempts – and fails – to heal him.
What follows is considerably more terrifying than the prospect of terrible beasts wandering the world… a time that anyone who has loved ones in their lives would find terrifying to contemplate.
After finding his brother has been infected, Henry shoots him dead in a split-second choice before realising the seriousness of his actions and turning the pistol on himself.
The thriller The Last of Us has proven to be far more than a programme about the impact that horrific, ever-spreading animals may have on the Earth throughout the last five episodes.
From Joel and Ellie’s growing bond to Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) literally finding love in a hopeless place for 16 years before dying peacefully in each other’s arms, it highlights the power of human connection to a greater extent than many of us may have anticipated before watching it.
Before viewers met Henry and Sam, the elder sibling had already done everything he could to preserve his younger sibling’s life, including becoming a collaborator with the fascist FEDRA dictatorship in order to secure medical care following his younger sibling’s leukaemia diagnosis.
Henry’s passion for Sam is so strong that he is ready to turn a whole city’s people against them, eternally setting a bullseye on their backs. So watching him shoot his own sibling is unbearably upsetting.
‘What did I do?’
Lamar’s delivery of the statement after Henry pulls the gun and sees the blood fall onto the floor is heartbreaking. So quiet and wobbly, yet so strong and unforgettable. His eyes glazed over minutes after the gunshot, unable to comprehend what had just occurred.
As he aims the pistol towards himself, it’s as if he’s being commanded by an outside force, as if his soul left his body at the same time his brother’s soul left his.
The epic struggle looked to be the most terrifying aspect of the programme at one point, when the earth caved in on itself, revealing a swarm of infected lurking under the surface, ready to attack.
The fact is that there are many more terrifying terrors in the real world and in fiction than blood-curdling monsters.
While episode three presented an unexpectedly uplifting turn of events, a love story to remind viewers that there is still hope even when the rest of the world appears to be on fire, episode five was a sobering reminder that horrors may lurk in unexpected places.
It’s impossible to imagine what went through Henry’s mind when he realised he’d slain his own brother. No one with loved ones, whether friends or family, would desire for anything less than to be in his shoes.
It’s a tragedy that no one should ever have to watch, and it’s even more heartbreaking when recounted through the perspective of a fictitious scenario.
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW, with new episodes released on Mondays.
Source My Celebrity Life.