The Last Of Us season finale leaves viewers ’emotionally distraught’ as fans react to dramatic ending: ‘Only a few minutes in and I’m already crying’
The dramatic season one finale of The Last Of Us has taken viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, with one claiming they started crying just ‘minutes’ into the episode.
Fans took to social media after the episode aired and described how the episode left them ’emotionally distraught’ as they reeled from the dramatic conclusion.
‘The season finale of #TheLastOfUs had me crying just like the game did. Bravo #HBOMax you really created a real world of the game. Not disappointed definitely cried as much or not more than I did in the game,’ @skyburnsitsself posted.
‘All the affective overtones that Joel and Ellie finally say to each other in this episode… no it’s cool… really cool… I’m not crying at all.. at all,’ another posted.
‘Only a few minutes in and I’m already crying,’ @deansingletear tweeted.
I’m not crying, you’re crying! The dramatic season one finale of The Last Of Us took viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, with one claiming they started crying just ‘minutes’ into the episode
‘That last look between them… f***. and i’m crying again but it’s okay because ellie’s got my back with her puns!’
‘Finished the season finale of the last of us. Everything is totally fine,’ @SO_I_CRAVE joked with video of Pedro folding a napkin set to audio of muffled voices.
Another ’emotionally distraught’ viewer shared video of a someone walking wistfully down a sidewalk and wearing pajamas.
‘me figuring out what to do now that the last of us has finished and i’m emotionally distraught #tlou #thelastofus,’ she tweeted.
The first season of HBO’s critical and commercial hit The Last of Us came to an end on Sunday night with the Season 1 finale.
The first season has followed the harrowing journey of Joel (Pedro Pascal – who discussed the show while eating wings on Hot Ones last week) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in a post-apocalyptic landscape ravaged by the mutated cordyceps virus.
Joel has been tasked with protecting Ellie, who has a mysterious immunity to the virus, in hopes to find a cure.
The preview for Sunday night’s finale – entitled Look For The Light – teased Joel and Ellie continuing their fight against a number of enemies, while teasing an appearance from Ashley Johnson, who portrayed Ellie in the original game.
Her appearance comes after Troy Baker – who played Joel in the video game – was also featured in last week’s episode, When We Are In Need.
The season finale begins with Anna Williams (Ashley Johnson), a pregnant woman running through the woods as she hears voices behind her.
She makes it to a clearing and into a house, where she says, ‘It’s me,’ waiting for someone to respond but no one does.
She slowly makes her way upstairs, realizing her water has broke, barricading herself into a bedroom as she lowers herself to the ground.
Glass is heard breaking downstairs as she pulls out a switchblade and opens it while the creatures outside are heard trying to break the door down.
One breaks through and attacks her but Anna gets to her knife and stabs it in the head, killing it… as she looks down and sees she’s delivered her baby.
She looks down at her leg and sees a bite mark as she slices the umbilical cord with her switchblade and holding her baby for the first time.
Her baby starts crying and Anna says, ‘Yeah, you tell em. You f***ing tell em, Ellie,’ revealing that Anna is Ellie’s mother before the title sequence begins.
Marlene (Merle Dandridge) enters the home where Anna was with two other men, as she hears singing coming from upstairs.
Finale: The first season of HBO’s critical and commercial hit The Last of Us comes to an end on Sunday night with the Season 1 finale
Cure: Joel has been tasked with protecting Ellie, who has a mysterious immunity to the virus, in hopes to find a cure
Pregnant: The season finale begins with Anna Williams (Ashley Johnson), a pregnant woman running through the woods as she hears voices behind her.
Lower: She slowly makes her way upstairs, realizing her water has broke, barricading herself into a bedroom as she lowers herself to the ground
Attack: One breaks through and attacks her but Anna gets to her knife and stabs it in the head, killing it… as she looks down and sees she’s delivered her baby
Delivered: One breaks through and attacks her but Anna gets to her knife and stabs it in the head, killing it… as she looks down and sees she’s delivered her baby
Holding: She looks down at her leg and sees a bite mark as she slices the umbilical cord with her switchblade and holding her baby for the first time
Ellie: Her baby starts crying and Anna says, ‘Yeah, you tell em. You f***ing tell em, Ellie,’ revealing that Anna is Ellie’s mother before the title sequence begins
Marlene: Marlene (Merle Dandridge) enters the home where Anna was with two other men, as she hears singing coming from upstairs
‘Anna?’ Merle asks as she makes her way up to the room where Anna gave birth to Ellie.
Merle sees the bite on Anna’s leg, as Merle tries to apologize, saying they had trouble getting out of the quarantine zone.
Anna tells Merle that she cut her umbilical cord before she was bit, indicating the baby shouldn’t be infected.
‘I want you to… Take her with you to Boston… Find someone to bring her up, and make sure that she’s safe. I can’t do that. And I want you to give her this,’ Anna says, setting the switchblade on the young baby.
Merle says she can’t do what she asks, as Anna asks, ‘How long have we known each other?’
‘Our whole lives,’ Merle says, as Anna asks, ‘So you pick her up right now and you kill me.’
Merle picks up the baby but says she can’t kill her, as Anna begs for her to do it, as one of the men takes newborn Ellie out of the room and covers her ears as Merle kills Ellie’s mother.
The episode cuts back to the present where Ellie is sitting on the bed of a pickup truck when Joel says he found some Chef Boyardee Beefaroni.
Bite: Merle sees the bite on Anna’s leg, as Merle tries to apologize, saying they had trouble getting out of the quarantine zone
Safe: ‘I want you to… Take her with you to Boston… Find someone to bring her up, and make sure that she’s safe. I can’t do that’
Switchblade: ‘And I want you to give her this,’ Anna says, setting the switchblade on the young baby
Ellie: The episode cuts back to the present where Ellie is sitting on the bed of a pickup truck when Joel says he found some Chef Boyardee Beefaroni
He asks if she’s ever played a word game called Boggle, adding if she’d ever beat him at something it would be that game.
Joel adds they’re, ‘getting close’ and the hospital ahead may be the one they’re looking for.
They start walking and Joel says he was thinking of finding a guitar and teaching her how to play, but Ellie’s clearly distracted, thinking about something else, though she tells Joel, ‘that’d be great’ if he taught her.
Joel starts to say their plan which Ellie knows to a T, but he jokes and says he found some dynamite in the RV and they were going to blast their way through… but he was only kidding.
Joel sees there is no way up, as they find a ladder he can lift Ellie up to get, but she’s distracted again, which Joel notices.
He says she’s being, ‘extra quiet today,’ but she says she’s fine as Joel boosts her up to the ladder.
She makes her way up but gets distracted by something and drops the ladder. Joel rushes to pick it up as Ellie starts running asking Joel to catch up.
They make it to an area where they find a huge giraffe in the middle of a courtyard, as they start feeding it leaves.
Game: He asks if she’s ever played a word game called Boggle, adding if she’d ever beat him at something it would be that game
Teach: Joel adds they’re, ‘getting close’ and the hospital ahead may be the one they’re looking for
Ladder: Joel sees there is no way up, as they find a ladder he can lift Ellie up to get, but she’s distracted again, which Joel notices.
Quiet: He says she’s being, ‘extra quiet today,’ but she says she’s fine as Joel boosts her up to the ladder
Giraffe: They make it to an area where they find a huge giraffe in the middle of a courtyard, as they start feeding it leaves
Ellie can’t help but laugh as the giraffe eats, which Ellie says is, ‘so f***ing cool’ but the giraffe walks away, as Ellie runs up further to try and find it.
They make it up to the roof where they see a number of giraffes, as Ellie watches them all peacefully.
‘So, is it everything you hoped for?’ Joel asks Ellie, as she says, ‘It’s got its ups and downs but you can’t deny that view.’
Joel says, ‘Look, I don’t know exactly where this hospital is. Maybe there’s nothin’ bad out there, but so far there’s always been somethin’ bad out there.’
Ellie says, ‘We’re still here, though,’ and Joel says, ‘I know. I’m only saying there’s risk. We don’t have to do this.’
‘What do you mean? What else are we supposed to do?’ Ellie asks, as Joel says, ‘Nothin’. We just go back to Tommy’s. We forget about the whole damn thing.’
‘After all we’ve been through… Everything I’ve done… It can’t be for nothing. I know you mean well. I know you wanna protect me. You have. And when we’re done, we’ll go wherever you want. Tommy’s, sheep ranch, the moon,’ Ellie says as Joel chuckles.
Ellie adds, ‘I’ll follow you anywhere you go. But there’s no halfway with this. We finish what we started.’
Feed: Ellie can’t help but laugh as the giraffe eats, which Ellie says is, ‘so f***ing cool’ but the giraffe walks away, as Ellie runs up further to try and find it
Roof: They make it up to the roof where they see a number of giraffes, as Ellie watches them all peacefully
View: ‘So, is it everything you hoped for?’ Joel asks Ellie, as she says, ‘It’s got its ups and downs but you can’t deny that view’
Bad: Joel says, ‘Look, I don’t know exactly where this hospital is. Maybe there’s nothin’ bad out there, but so far there’s always been somethin’ bad out there
Can’t: ‘After all we’ve been through… Everything I’ve done… It can’t be for nothing. I know you mean well. I know you wanna protect me. You have. And when we’re done, we’ll go wherever you want. Tommy’s, sheep ranch, the moon,’ Ellie says as Joel chuckles
They get back on the road to the hospital, as Ellie asks if it’s a FEDRA setup and Joel says it was army ’emergency medical camps.’
‘They had me in one just like this,’ Joel says, as Ellie asks if Sarah was with him and Joel says, ‘No, she was gone already.’
Joel stops and tells her, ‘It was me. I was the guy who shot and missed,’ revealing he tried to kill himself. ‘There’s no story. Sarah died… And I couldn’t see the point anymore. Simple as that. And I wasn’t scared either. I was ready. I couldn’t have been more ready. When I– When I… Went to pull the trigger, I-I flinched. Still don’t know why.’
He adds, ‘Anyway, the reason I’m telling you all this,’ as Ellie stops him and says, ‘I know why you’re tellin’ me all this.’
Ellie adds, ‘Well, I’m glad that didn’t work out,’ as they get back on the road, as Joel says he’s in the mood for s****y puns.
She starts reading some puns from her book, though they don’t see the man behind them… who throws a flashbang at their feet.
Joel covers Ellie to protect her as the flashbang goes off… with Joel awakening in a room with Marlene waiting.
‘Welcome to the Fireflies. Ya got hit pretty hard. Patrol didn’t know who you were,’ Marlene says.
Camps: They get back on the road to the hospital, as Ellie asks if it’s a FEDRA setup and Joel says it was army ’emergency medical camps’
Flinched: Joel stops and tells her, ‘It was me. I was the guy who shot and missed,’ revealing he tried to kill himself. ‘There’s no story. Sarah died… And I couldn’t see the point anymore. Simple as that. And I wasn’t scared either. I was ready. I couldn’t have been more ready. When I– When I… Went to pull the trigger, I-I flinched. Still don’t know why’
Puns: Ellie adds, ‘Well, I’m glad that didn’t work out,’ as they get back on the road, as Joel says he’s in the mood for s****y puns
Puns: She starts reading some puns from her book, though they don’t see the man behind them… who throws a flashbang at their feet
Cover: Joel covers Ellie to protect her as the flashbang goes off… with Joel awakening in a room with Marlene waiting
Joel asks where Ellie is and Merle says she wasn’t hurt, ‘not even a scratch,’ adding Ellie was, ‘mostly worried about you.’
Marlene adds, ‘We lost half our crew crossing the country. I had five men whose only job was to protect me. And I still almost got killed. How’d you do it?’
Joel adds, ‘It was all her. She fought like hell to get here,’ but Marlene says, ‘She would’ve been dead on day one.’
‘I can’t. She’s being prepped for surgery. Our doctor… He thinks that the Cordyceps in Ellie has grown -with her since birth,’ Marlene says.
Joel asks, ‘Why is she in surgery?’ as Marlene explains, ‘It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal Cordyceps think that she’s Cordyceps. It’s why she’s immune. He’s gonna remove it from her, multiply the cells in a lab, produce those chemical messengers… And then we can give it to everyone. He thinks it could be a cure, Joel.’
Marlene adds, ‘We didn’t tell her, we didn’t cause her any fear, -there won’t be any pain,’ though Joel insists to take him to Ellie right now.
Joel says, ‘You don’t understand,’ but Merle says, ‘I do. I was there when she was born, Joel. I promised her mother that I would save her child. I promised. So I do understand. I’m the only one who understands.’
Marlene says, ‘ I’m sorry. I have no other choice. I do. Walk him out to the highway, leave him there with his pack. Give him this,’ handing over Ellie’s switchblade.
Not a scratch: Joel asks where Ellie is and Merle says she wasn’t hurt, ‘not even a scratch,’ adding Ellie was, ‘mostly worried about you’
Half: Marlene adds, ‘We lost half our crew crossing the country. I had five men whose only job was to protect me. And I still almost got killed. How’d you do it?’
Fought: Joel adds, ‘It was all her. She fought like hell to get here,’ but Marlene says, ‘She would’ve been dead on day one’
Understand: Joel says, ‘You don’t understand,’ but Merle says, ‘I do. I was there when she was born, Joel. I promised her mother that I would save her child. I promised. So I do understand. I’m the only one who understands’
Switchblade: Marlene says, ‘ I’m sorry. I have no other choice. I do. Walk him out to the highway, leave him there with his pack. Give him this,’ handing over Ellie’s switchblade
‘He tries anything… Shoot him,’ Marlene says as two men start walking Joel to the exit.
It doesn’t take long for Joel to overtake the two men, shooting his way through the rest of the facility to try and find Ellie.
He kills several men along the way, even one who surrendered before him, taking another man’s machine gun as he shoots his way through the building.
He picks up a handgun as he makes his way to the pediatric surgery wing, finding the doctors operating on Ellie.
He tells the doctors to unhook her as the one doctor says, ‘I won’t let you take her,’ but Joel shoots him right in the head.
He tells the nurses to unhook Ellie and telling them to turn around as he picks up Ellie and walks out with Ellie in his arms.
He takes the elevator down as Ellie is still out from the surgery as they get to the basement… where he finds Marlene with a gun pointed at them.
‘You can’t keep her safe forever. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many people you kill, she’s gonna grow up, Joel. And then you’ll die. She’ll leave. Then what? How long till she’s torn apart by Infected or murdered by raiders? Because she lives in a broken world that you could have saved,’ Marlene says.
Overtake: It doesn’t take long for Joel to overtake the two men, shooting his way through the rest of the facility to try and find Ellie
Surrender: He kills several men along the way, even one who surrendered before him, taking another man’s machine gun as he shoots his way through the building
Won’t: He tells the doctors to unhook her as the one doctor says, ‘I won’t let you take her,’ but Joel shoots him right in the head
Arms: He tells the nurses to unhook Ellie and telling them to turn around as he picks up Ellie and walks out with Ellie in his arms
Gun: He takes the elevator down as Ellie is still out from the surgery as they get to the basement… where he finds Marlene with a gun pointed at them
Safe: He says it isn’t for her to decide, as Merle says it’s not for him to decide either, as they wonder what Ellie would want to do what’s right
He says it isn’t for her to decide, as Merle says it’s not for him to decide either, as they wonder what Ellie would want to do what’s right.
Marlene says, ‘It’s not too late. Even now… Even after what you’ve done. We can still find a way.’
The episode cuts to Joel driving with Ellie still unconscious in the backseat, as she starts to come to.
‘Take it slow. The drugs are still wearin’ off. They were running’ some tests on you… And some others. Turns out there’s a whole lot more like you… People that are immune. Dozens of ’em. And the doctors, they couldn’t make any of it work. They’ve actually… They’ve stopped lookin’ for a cure,’ he says, as we see in flashback that Joel shoots Marlene in the parking garage.
‘Where are my clothes?’ Ellie says, as Joel explains, ‘Raiders attacked the hospital. I barely got Ya outta there. We’ll find you some new ones on the way.’
‘Were people hurt? Is Marlene okay?’ Ellie asks, as Joel tells her, ‘I’m takin’ us home.’
We see another flashback of Marlene on the ground after Joel shot her, but still alive, as she tells Joel, ‘I’m sorry.’
He walks up to her as she pleads, ‘No, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Please. Let me go,’ but Joel just says, ‘You’d just come after her,’ as he shoots Marlene in the head.
Right: He says it isn’t for her to decide, as Merle says it’s not for him to decide either, as they wonder what Ellie would want to do what’s right
Not too late: Marlene says, ‘It’s not too late. Even now… Even after what you’ve done. We can still find a way’
Decide: He says it isn’t for her to decide, as Merle says it’s not for him to decide either, as they wonder what Ellie would want to do what’s right
Coming to: The episode cuts to Joel driving with Ellie still unconscious in the backseat, as she starts to come to
Slow: ‘Take it slow. The drugs are still wearin’ off. They were running’ some tests on you… And some others. Turns out there’s a whole lot more like you… People that are immune. Dozens of ’em. And the doctors, they couldn’t make any of it work. They’ve actually… They’ve stopped lookin’ for a cure,’ he says, as we see in flashback that Joel shoots Marlene in the parking garage
Hurt: ‘Were people hurt? Is Marlene okay?’ Ellie asks, as Joel tells her, ‘I’m takin’ us home’
Shoot: He walks up to her as she pleads, ‘No, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Please. Let me go,’ but Joel just says, ‘You’d just come after her,’ as he shoots Marlene in the head
Joel tells Ellie their car got them, ‘close enough’ but they have to walk the five-hour hike the rest of the way.
Joel says he used to hike with Sarah like this all the time and it was her, ‘favorite thing’ but she wasn’t a fan of the mosquitos.
Joel thinks Sarah would have like Ellie because Ellie is funny and would have made her laugh, as Joel says Sarah was more, ‘girly’ than her and she had a, ‘killer smile.’
Ellie stops Joel, revealing what’s been on her mind the whole episode, telling him about her best friend Riley.
‘Back in Kansas City, you asked me about the first time I killed someone. When I got bit in the mall, I-I wasn’t on my own. My best friend was there. And she got bit, too. We didn’t know what to do, and she says, ‘We can just wait it out… Be all poetic and just lose our minds together.’ And then she did. And I had to… Her name was Riley… And she was the first to die. And then it was Tess. And then Sam,’ Ellie says.
Joel insists, ‘That’s not on you. Look, sometimes things don’t work out the way we hope. You can feel like… Like you’ve come to an end… And you don’t know what to do next. But if you just keep Goin’… You find something new to fight for.’
Ellie cuts him off with a serious look on her face, saying, ‘Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.’
Joel looks at her and lies, ‘I swear.’ Ellie takes a few moments to process everything before nodding her head and saying, ‘Okay,’ as the first season of The Last of Us comes to an end.
Walk: Joel tells Ellie their car got them, ‘close enough’ but they have to walk the five-hour hike the rest of the way
Hike: Joel says he used to hike with Sarah like this all the time and it was her, ‘favorite thing’ but she wasn’t a fan of the mosquitos
Best friend: Ellie stops Joel, revealing what’s been on her mind the whole episode, telling him about her best friend Riley
Killed: ‘Back in Kansas City, you asked me about the first time I killed someone. When I got bit in the mall, I-I wasn’t on my own. My best friend was there. And she got bit, too. We didn’t know what to do, and she says, ‘We can just wait it out… Be all poetic and just lose our minds together.’ And then she did. And I had to… Her name was Riley… And she was the first to die. And then it was Tess. And then Sam,’ Ellie says
Not on you: Joel insists, ‘That’s not on you. Look, sometimes things don’t work out the way we hope. You can feel like… Like you’ve come to an end… And you don’t know what to do next. But if you just keep Goin’… You find something new to fight for’
Swear: Ellie cuts him off with a serious look on her face, saying, ‘Swear to me. Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true’
Liar: Joel looks at her and lies, ‘I swear.’ Ellie takes a few moments to process everything before nodding her head and saying, ‘Okay,’ as the first season of The Last of Us comes to an end
Renewed: HBO announced when it renewed The Last of Us that the series premiere episode has surpassed 22 million viewers through on-demand formats, five times the audience for the linear broadcast
HBO announced when it renewed The Last of Us that the series premiere episode has surpassed 22 million viewers through on-demand formats, five times the audience for the linear broadcast.
Episode 2 of The Last of Us tallied 5.7 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts in the U.S. Sunday night, based on Nielsen and first party data, adding more than 1 million new viewers vs. the series premiere.
This 22% jump marks the largest week two audience growth for any HBO Original Drama Series in the history of the network.
The Last of Us was also a hit on social media, with the series trending #1 both in the U.S. and worldwide on Twitter during its series debut.
To date, season one teasers and trailers have amassed more than 100 million views globally.
Additionally, the first episode of the series’ companion podcast hit #1 on the Apple Podcast US charts across all genres within 48 hours of its release.
The hit series raked in 8.1 million viewers for last Sunday night’s new episode entitled When We Are In Need, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The 8.1 million same-day viewers marks a whopping 74% increase over the series premiere that aired on January 15, which was watched by 4.7 million viewers.
Premiere: HBO announced when it renewed The Last of Us that the series premiere episode has surpassed 22 million viewers through on-demand formats, five times the audience for the linear broadcast
Tally: Episode 2 of The Last of Us tallied 5.7 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts in the U.S. Sunday night, based on Nielsen and first party data, adding more than 1 million new viewers vs. the series premiere
The premiere was the second-most-watched premiere in over a decade, behind the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon (5.7 million viewers).
HBO also revealed that the first five episodes of the series – based on the 2013 video game of the same name – is ‘approaching’ an average of 30 million viewers per episode on HBO Max and other on-demand viewing options.
If those numbers remain throughout the rest of the season, it would surpass the average of 29 million viewers per episode for HBO’s House of the Dragon.
Viewership for the first four episodes of The Last of Us continued to climb, with 5.7 million viewers for the second episode, the largest increase between a premiere and second episode in HBO history, which lead to a Season 2 renewal.
The third episode pulled in 6.4 million viewers with 7.5 million viewers for the fourth episode, reaching a series high despite airing alongside the Grammy Awards.
The show took its first ratings hit, of sorts, in the fifth episode, which debuted two days early on HBO Max to avoid clashing with the Super Bowl that night.
While the ratings dipped in the fifth episode, they continued to rebound in the sixth and seventh episodes, with the seventh episode topping 1 million viewers for only the linear HBO broadcast for the first time.
It’s possible that next week’s Season 1 finale may suffer a loss in viewership since it is going up against the Oscar awards on ABC, though it didn’t take a hit from the Grammys last month.
The Last of Us is based on the video game of the same name created by Neil Druckmann that debuted on PlayStation 3 in 2013.
The series is set in an America that has been ravaged by a mutated cordyceps fungus that turns humans into terrifying creatures and has wiped out most of humanity.
Finale: The series is set in an America that has been ravaged by a mutated cordyceps fungus that turns humans into terrifying creatures and has wiped out most of humanity
Source: Read Full Article