In A bittersweet The Last Of Us, Ellie Gets A Fleeting Taste Of Normal Teen Life

“Do you trust me with your life?” If someone asks that in The Last Of Us, as Riley (Storm Reid) does of Ellie (Bella Ramsey), it conveys a double message. It means, I will always protect you and also If you get infected, I will kill you. Both senses were acutely present in “Left Behind.” Not many episodes (or series) would evoke such different cultural touchstones for your humble Gen X recapper: the Richard Peck YA novel Secrets Of The Shopping Mall and George Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead (both 1979). In the book, two kids hide out in a shopping center at night, whereas the classic movie depicts zombies swarming a mall.

Being a survival horror story, the Last Of Us resting vibe is fear, anger, and numb perseverance. However, its emotional stealth tactic is taking viewers very, very high in order to plunge them into the depths. Prime example being the arc of romantic joy to heart-rending sorrow that made “Long Long Time” so intense. “Left Behind” showed pre-Joel Ellie getting a fleeting taste of normal teen life—flirting, freedom, games—only to have it torn away by a clicker and the specter of death.