The Last of Us ‘Endure and Survive’ Review: Killa City, indeed

Endure and Survive continues, reexamines and caps off the Kansas City arc in another masterful episode of The Last of Us.

Henry and Sam are two brothers trying to avoid Kathleen’s group. They eventually get the drop on Joel and Ellie which was revealed in the last episode. Endure and Survive continues from that point. However, Craig Mazin’s screenplay uses great flashback sequences that recontextualize Joel and Ellie’s actions in Please Hold to my Hand.

Mazin also does a great job of fleshing out Kathleen and Perry’s motivation as the leaders of the resistance group that overthrew FEDRA. Melanie Lynskey strikes an interesting balance as Kathleen. You can sympathize with her commitment to avenging her brother’s death. However, her cold rebuke of Henry’s reasoning is evil personified.

Endure and Survive is the first episode to feature a major action setpiece since the pilot. Director Jeremy Webb does a great job of staging the chaotic setpiece.

Mazin and Webb succeed in bonding Sam and Henry with Ellie and Joel. Like Joel, Henry is Sam’s protector. However, Endure and Survive also shows Ellie as a protector of Sam.

The devastating ending delivers another emotional gut punch and once again demonstrates the similarities between Joel and Ellie as their journey continues.

From an execution and emotional standpoint, Endure and Survive measures up to Long, Long Time and delivers a perfect episode of premium television.

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

Brother’s Keeper

Endure and Survive begins by flashing back 10 days. Kathleen is interrogating FEDRA sympathizers over Henry’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, the doctor from the last episode is helping keep Henry and Sam safe.

The episode moves ahead to when Joel and Ellie crash the truck. Henry watches Joel take out Kathleen’s men. Henry changes his approach and decides to track down Joel and Ellie.

Later in the episode, Kathleen is taking some time for herself in a small room. The room is her former childhood home. She explains to Perry and the audience how merciful her brother was. Kathleen makes it clear she doesn’t possess her brother’s genial approach. Perry pledges his support.

Kudos to Mazin and Neil Druckmann for having the courage to focus on guest characters. The opening 20 minutes or so of Endure and Survive almost completely revolves around Henry, Sam and Kathleen. By the time Sam and Henry reach Joel and Ellie, the bond between the brothers is easy to understand. Without having a single conversation between Joel and Henry, the similarities and differences between the two protectors are also clear. Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard are terrific as Henry and Sam.

Mission: Endure and Survive

Eventually, Henry and Sam find Joel and Ellie. After a tense introduction, Henry suggests a team-up with Joel and Ellie. Henry is a pretty passive figure compared to Joel. He’s never killed anyone and needs Joel’s help to survive his plan.

Henry and Joel make a deal. Henry and Sam will show Joel and Ellie the path out of town. Joel will clear out any obstacles on their journey.

Then we get one of the two most emotional scenes of the episode. Joel leads Henry, Sam and Ellie through the maintenance tunnels. Surprisingly, the tunnels are infected-free zones. They decide to hole up in an old daycare.

Ellie and Sam connect over their shared love of comic books. Joel and Sam connect over their roles as protectors. Henry turned Kathleen’s brother into FEDRA for medicine. It’s a powerful scene where Joel’s understanding of Henry’s choice brings out Joel’s humanity. Henry also recognizes Joel was a father for the first time.

Finally, the foursome makes their way to the suburbs where all the hell is about to break loose.

The similarities between Joel and Henry as well as Ellie and Sam are fleshed out nicely in this section of Endure and Survive. The laughter shared between Ellie and Sam works as a sharp contrast to the episode’s dark ending. Pedro Pascal is sensational with Joel’s small reactions. His quiet recognition of Ellie’s laugh is wonderful as is the way Joel softens when Henry mentions Joel’s past as a father.

Goodbye Kansas City

Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam reach a suburban neighborhood. The peaceful night is punctured by sniper fire. Joel recognizes the shooter is a bad shot and sneaks around back. He finds an old man with a sniper rifle. He tries to persuade the man to put the gun down. The old man aims his weapon. Joel has no choice but to take him out. Turns out the man is works for Kathleen and she’s on her way with troops.

A bulldozer clears out the cars. Joel finally derails the car with a well-timed shot. The bulldozer crashes into a home. Kathleen steps out and asks Henry to surrender. Kathleen says Henry messed with fate and should have let his brother die. Henry eventually agrees. Before Kathleen can kill Henry, a sinkhole drags the bulldozer into an abyss.

Suddenly, Infected, Clickers and finally a Bloater emerge out of the hole at a breakneck pace. Joel is safe and picks off the infected as they get close to Ellie. The Bloater kills Perry. Kathleen avoids the Bloater and confronts Henry, Sam and Ellie. Kathleen is taken out by the infected which allows the trio and Joel to escape.

While Joel makes an offer for Henry and Sam to join him and Ellie in Wyoming, Ellie and Sam share a room. Sam was bitten by one of the infected. Ellie tries to heal the wound with her blood.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. Sam attacks Ellie the next morning. In a heart-wrenching moment, Henry is forced to kill his brother and then turns the guns on himself. Bella Ramsey‘s yelp after Henry kills himself was excruciating.

After burying the bodies, Ellie takes after Joel and buries her grief. She asks which way is west and begins heading that way. Joel follows after her.

The ending of Endure and Survive is just as powerful as the deaths Bill and Frank in Long, Long Time. However, Sam and Henry’s deaths are more tragic and present a mirror of sorts for Joel and Ellie.

Endure and Survive final thoughts

The Last of Us continues to cause emotional damage with Endure and Survive. The harrowing hour-plus gives Ellie and Joel an opportunity to see a similar dynamic to their own. Mazin’s decision to use Endure and Survive to look back at the last episode from Henry’s perspective is brilliant.

The terrific performances by Pascal, Ramsey, Lynskey, Johnson and Woodard serve as a terrific appetizer for the chaotic action setpiece. Johnson’s performance as Henry is the standout in this episode. Henry’s final moments where he processes his actions are powerful.

Endure and Survive is as good of an episode as Long, Long Time, which I didn’t think was possible.