Left Behind picks up right where Kin left off. Joel is hurt and Ellie is desperately trying to save him.
Spoilers Below
I give detailed, blow by blow details as I review. If you want to skip the spoilers jump down to the Scoring!
If you have watched Left Behind let me know if you agree with my Scoring Below.
Wounded
Joel is wounded and bleeding. Not to mention in a ton of pain. He urges Ellie to go to Tom. Ellie covers up Joe’s shivering body before walking upstairs and going through the door. Is she leaving? We won’t know for a little bit because when Ellie leaves she steps into an epic Flashback.
Fedra Camp (Flashback)
Ellie is running lap before a bully decides to pick on her. Ellie says she doesn’t want to fight but her bully just says “her” friend is gone and her friend was the fighter. After the brawl Ellie’s camp commander tells her she is smart and she could be leader – but not if she keeps acting like a grunt.
Later, after Ellie goes to bed we see someone sneak into her room. It turns out it is her best friend, Riley Abel, who has been on the run for three weeks. Ellie demands to know where her friend went. Her friend went to join the Fireflies. The two of them head out into the night as they chat about when to fight, and when not to.
The two young ladies climb the stairs of an abandoned building only to find a corpse. It looks like the dead guy overdosed and drank himself to death. The Last of Us is a tough world.
The Mall (Flashback)
Riley has taken Ellie to the old mall. Which takes us back to Episode 1, When You’re Lost in the Darkness. The mall was referenced when Ellie was talking about how she got bit.
After Riley leads Ellie into the mall, Riley turns on the lights. Riley is going to shoe Ellie “The Four Wonders of the Mall”. Ellie is amazed at how the escalator works, and ends up almost taking Riley down. I thought it was going to lead to them coming face to face. Maybe for a kiss or something. But it didn’t happen. Yet. There have been hints that Ellie might be gay. You be you Ellie. Love who you want to love.
Riley makes Ellie close her eyes before taking her hand. Riley walks her to the Ferris Wheel. The two share a touching moment as Ellie looks at her friend, clearly in love.
This is when the Ferris Wheel stops.
Photo Booth (Flashback)
Ellie and Riley go into the photobooth after the Ferris Wheel freezes. The girls pull the drape closed and proceed to make funny faces as the booth takes pictures. The two exit the photo booth to head to the Fourth Wonder of the Mall, the Arcade.
They head into the Arcade as the beeps and sound effects of the games fill the air. The two find a Mortal Kombat II game and can’t contain their excitement.
The camera slowly pans away from the girls and into the darkness. They aren’t alone. One of the infected is in the mall and all the noise is wakening it up.
Macho Nacho (Flashback)
Riley’s next stop takes the girls to where Riley has been sleeping. It is also where she’s been making explosives for the Fireflies. After Ellie confront her, Riley admits she came back to see Ellie because it is her last night in Boston. The two share a touching moment as Riley tells Ellie she wanted to say goodbye.
Ellie stomps off as Riley watches. Ellie gets as far as the main entrance before guilt or anger makes her go back. The lights are off and we can hear screaming – but it was just Riley in the Halloween store.
This leads Riley & Ellie to having a very cute dance scene that culminates in a kiss. Of course everything is ruined by the infected.
The way they both smiled afterwards says it all. Love is love.
Enter the Infected (Flashback)
Riley tells Ellie to run just before the lone infected attacks. Riley is knocked out almost immediately, leaving Ellie to go toe to toe with the Zombie with her blade. Just when it looks like Ellie might be in trouble Riley get up and distracts the infected with her baseball bad. Giving Ellie the moment she needs to stab the creature in the head with her knife.
Ellie momentarily celebrates her victory in combat before lifting her arm to show her bite mark. Riley lifts her hand as Ellie cries out in denial and frustration. Riley has been bit too.
Ellie rages before she asks Riley what they are going to do. Riley lays out two options. She has the gun in her hand or they can just keep going.
We aren’t shown how Riley dies before jumping back to the current timeline.
Joel & Ellie (Current Timeline)
Ellie searches frantically for something. We don’t know what it is until she finds it. She was looking for a needle and thread.
Ellie uses a needle and string to sew up Joel. He’s in pain but the job has to be done. The episode ends with her sewing up Joe’s injury.
Am I the only one panicking because there are only two episodes of Season 1 left?
Left Behind Scoring
Left Behind scores 90/100 and is and is Worth Your Time. It is an amazing episode. Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid have electricity jumping between them! My only wish is that there were more Zombies!
Things I loved about this episode:
- The way that the episode portrays Ellie’s affection for Riley. So much was said with so few words.
- The Halloween Store dance and emotional movement when Ellie kisses Riley. There is just a moment where we aren’t sure how Riley will react to being kissed, but clearly she was just as much in love with Ellie as Ellie was with her.
Things I hated about this episode:
- Have the young survivors not seen an infected? Is the mall in the Quarantine Zone? It seems like the survivors in the Quarantine Zone would maybe be more careful?
- Sewing up the external wound on Joel isn’t going to do much if he’s bleeding internally.
| Season | Episode | Episode Name | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | When You’re Lost in the Darkness | 100 |
| 1 | 2 | Infected | 100 |
| 1 | 3 | Long Long Time | 95 |
| 1 | 4 | Please Hold on to My Hand | 94 |
| 1 | 5 | Endure and Survive | 100 |
| 1 | 6 | Kin | 90 |
| 1 | 7 | Left Behind | 90 |
| 1 | 8 | When We Are In Need | 100 |
| 1 | 9 | Look for the Light | 100 |
