The Last of Us ‘Infected’ Review: A new Boston Massacre depicted in staggering fashion

Following in the footsteps of a terrific pilot episode, Infected proves The Last of Us is the definitive video game adaptation. Even if every episode after is awful (unlikely), these two episodes set a new standard for how to adapt any source material not just a video game.

Infected begins with another pre-fungus sequence that shows the first infected person. All hope drains from the Jakarta Mycologist and soldier.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey continue to shine. However, it’s Anna Torv as Tess who blows the doors off of Infected. Ellie represents something that’s been absent from Tess and Joel, hope. Joel doesn’t believe even after Ellie survives the night. Tess is starting to believe. Without having to delve into her backstory, Torv conveys the same type of loss that Joel does. Like Joel, she was a parent and abandoned her hope. Now, she sees a way through. Joel doesn’t see it yet.

If not for Tess, Joel would return Ellie to the quarantine zone. FEDRA would kill Ellie on sight. In spite of Joel’s misgivings, he follows Tess’s lead into Boston, where the real horror begins.

The production design of bombed-out Boston is terrific. The highlights are identical to the game and feature a flooded hotel and a museum.

The Last of Us introduces “Clickers” for the first time in the series. These mutated versions of the Infected with mushroom-like fungi surrounding the heads of their host. These creatures can’t see, but have advanced hearing and are far stronger than humans. Director Neil Druckmann does a great job of generating suspense throughout the episode.

The ending of Infected lands more emphatically than the moment in the game due to the terrific development of Tess. Could I have gone without the infected kiss? Probably, but I completely understand the connective tissue between the fungi Druckman and Craig Mazin are reinforcing.

Other than that one nitpick, Infected is equally as good as the pilot. From production quality and music to performances, television doesn’t get better than The Last of Us.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the stand-out elements in Infected. There may be some minor spoilers. The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

Bomb

Infected begins with a flashback to Jakarta. A woman is whisked away by the military to a facility. She’s a mycologist at the local university and the military has recovered a body with odd bite marks. The scientist, Ibu Ratna reports her findings.

The cordyceps fungus originated from a wheat plant in Jakarta. The military officer wants to know how they can prevent the spread of the fungus. Ibu grabs her mug of tea with trembling hands and tells the officer to bomb the city. Ibu makes one final request. She wants someone to take her home so she can be with her family. Finally, the opening credits begin.

Christine Hakim is sensational. From the subtle facial reactions, while examining the body to her jittery hands as she reveals her findings, this was an unnerving, terrific start to the episode.

Fighting the Infected

Ellie wakes up with Joel and Tess pointing guns at her. Without much prodding, she reveals the secret she agreed to keep for Marlene. Her immunity could be the key to a cure. Tess is convinced to keep going. Joel can’t even bring himself to comprehend anything good.

However, Tess is in control and makes the decision to keep moving forward. Joel, Ellie and Tess walk amongst the ruins of Boston. Joel and Tess slowly reveal that major cities were bombed to prevent the spread. Bombing worked in some cases and failed in others.

As they cross what looks like a walking bridge, they see a bunch of infected beginning to stir down below. The trio enters a flooded hotel where they begin to make their way up flights of stairs.

They eventually encounter a pair of Clickers. These mushroom-headed freaks are more terrifying than in the game. They can’t see but can hear any sound you make. The tensest scene involved Joel trying to load his gun quietly with one hand while a clicker approached. Joel broke his hand when he crushed the FEDRA soldier’s face in the pilot. Joel and Tess are eventually able to kill the Clickers. Tess appears to have a twisted ankle.

There is one crucial difference between the infected in the game and the series. In the game, the fungus could be spread by a bite or by spores in the air. The series takes a more terrifying approach. The fungus can only be spread by fluid transfer (a bite). However, the fungus vines lining the city aren’t mere decorations. All of the infected are connected. Stepping on a live vine sends a signal to all of the infected in the area.

Changing how the infected connect with each other is a frightening change from the game and makes every step a potentially precarious one.

Spark of hope

Joel has heard the fake promises about a cure before and wants to return Ellie to the quarantine zone. Tess is convinced Ellie could be the redemption for all of the horrible things they’ve done.

Ellie was bitten during the skirmish. She makes a snide remark that if it had to be one of them, at least it was her. Joel believes Ellie will die from this 2nd bite. Tess is fed up with Joe’s darkness and tells him to just go and watch Ellie as she wraps up her own ankle.

The trio continues to the museum where most of Marlene’s Firefly comrades are dead. There is one infected still squirming. Joel quickly kills him. Turns out the infected is laying on top of a fungal vine. His death sends a signal out to the infected who are on their way.

Tess reveals she was bitten. Pascal does a great job of processing this info as Joel with even more steeling resolve. Tess tries to persuade Joel to take Ellie out west. Joel still doesn’t want to do it. Tess tells Ellie to remove the bandage. Ellie’s wound is already starting to heal. Tess’s isn’t. She orders Joel and Ellie to leave her behind.

Tess stays behind. The fungus begins to spread through her body to her mind. She’s surrounded by the infected at this point. Tess is trying to get her lighter to flame on, but it just isn’t working. Then as she succumbs to the lips of an infected, the lighter finally ignites and causes an explosion, which kills the infected to essentially end the episode.

Infected final thoughts

Infected features the most powerful beginning and ending scenes I’ve seen in a long time, which takes nothing away from the journey Joel, Tess and Ellie take in this episode.

As a 2nd episode, it just doesn’t get much better than Infected in The Last of Us.

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