Henry's three shots hit another peak in "The Last of Us"

I just wrote the article "The Last of Us" S1E3 two weeks ago, but I didn't expect that E5 two weeks later came with another big move - I think I have found the "American drama codeword mode that does not write the review of each episode", that is, I will write which episode directly when I see which episode is explosive enough and touches me more.

In the Kansas City episodes E4 and E5 of "The Last of the Survivors", a pair of excellent supporting characters were once again contributed: Henry and Sam brothers.

There are both similarities and many differences between these two and Joel and Ellie, and the collision of the two creates a huge amount of viewing and layering for this episode.

This article starts with E5. After the Kansas City Resistance overthrew the Countermeasures Bureau, the city fell into a disorderly state of blood and debt, and capturing the traitor Henry became the Resistance's first task.

The horror of the streets and the situation of flight exacerbate the brothers' inner fears, and Henry must force himself to be strong, because his 8-year-old brother Sam can only rely on himself, and he is the only one left with his brother.

I heard that Sam was an ordinary boy in the original game, and he was changed to a deaf and mute in the series, and I have to say that this change is very clever, because it highlights the objective fact that "Sam with physical disabilities has to rely on Henry".

In order to protect his weak brother, Henry will take the initiative to block all adverse external factors for him, and worry, self-blame and even guilt are all carried by himself.

After 10 days in the attic, Henry, who was exhausted, had to prepare to leave, and when Sam learned that his companion Edstin was murderous, he took the initiative to hug Henry.

This is one of the very few times Henry has not (cannot) hide the bad news from his brother, and Sam's embrace out of fear and sympathy further reflects his lack of psychological preparation for this cruel end time and how dependent the brothers are on each other.

Encountering "Crossing the River" Joel and Ellie is a good opportunity for the two brothers to escape the city, and after the two "friendly" sit down to talk, Ellie and Sam quickly get into a fight.

Although the two are 6 years apart (one 14 years old and one 8 years old), they can't stand up to the peers who can't play in this broken world, and looking at Ellie's posture, she is obviously "recognizing sisters and brothers" with Sam - playmates are too important for children, and they lack the kind of defense between adults.

The next day, Henry told Joel: I can show the way, you can open the way, and we can work together to get out of town.

Compared to their two-sentence conversation, the two children quickly became familiar and laughed, and the two adults had different reactions to this situation: Henry saw his brother laughing, and his own joy was overflowing, while Joel, who was heavy in his heart, was still frowning.

In fact, only Joel of the four is always tense.

Of course, this also adds a lot of fun to the increasingly tacit Tsundere between Joel and Ellie.

After sneaking into the underground passage, they find a shelter that has been home to many children, so it is also like a kindergarten, and Ellie and Sam immediately go around having fun like monkeys in the peach orchard, sharing cartoons, high-fives, kicking balls, playing dolls, and having fun.

The cheers and laughter of the two children further relaxed Henry's nerves, and also made the tired Joel decide to rest here for a while, waiting for dark before going on the road.

In this relaxed state, Henry began to communicate with Joel on a larger scale: it was not accurate to say that he had not killed anyone, because he thought he had killed people, and he was still a good person he once respected and was willing to follow for the rest of his life, but in order to cure his brother's leukemia and get medicine from the countermeasures bureau, he betrayed the person.

That man was Mike, the leader of the Kansas City Resistance, and Henry broke and abandoned all other creeds for the sake of "personal affair".

Henry's words and expression are enough to show that he is very disdainful of his actions, and he very clearly identifies himself as a "bad person who has done bad things".

Henry did not make up reasons, nor did he whitewash what he did to excuse himself, he had a clear view of right and wrong, and was willing to be a bad person living in self-blame and pain for his brother's life - in other words, now he only has his brother Sam left in his life.

Being able to accurately betray the leader of the Resistance shows that Henry was once a trusted confidant of the Resistance, which explains why Mike's sister Catherine would pursue a traitor so desperately after becoming the new leader.

It is not difficult to imagine that when Mike was the leader of the resistance, his style and means were mild, and it was precisely after the death of this good man who relied on personal charm to convince everyone that he inspired the ferocity of the rebels to overthrow the countermeasures bureau in one fell swoop, and the "new rebels" led by Catherine would miss Mike's kindness and gentleness, but would not follow his old path.

Speaking of which, it feels a pity, in fact, the brothers and sisters Catherine and Mike can add a set of contrasts on the basis of Joel and Ellie, Henry and Sam, but because the length is not too expanded, otherwise the Kansas City drama will be better.

Having said that, Catherine's questioning and rhetorical questions when she stopped Henry and the others out of town fulfilled her basic mission: Is it worth sacrificing everything for him? Henry sacrificed his shame and faith for his brother, and Catherine did not care about reorganizing the city and restoring order for her dead brother... They are all essentially the same.

I won't say much about the action scenes of a large number of "fungal people" in the back, and it is not the focus of this article... Just one point related to the theme: Ellie saw Henry and Sam attacked, and risked her own safety, and rushed up with a dagger to relieve the siege.

Ellie's success is largely due to Joel's remote support, but with or without Joel, there's no denying that she has treated Sam and them as relatives she can't afford to lose.

After the four escape, Ellie and Sam soon start reading comics like no children, and Joel tells Henry, who is slightly worried, to relax that the two children will be fine, and they are easier than the adults: because no one depends on you, you don't have to be responsible for others, and that's the hardest part.

Joel is half wrong, Ellie is actually responsible for Sam, but the half he says is more critical - Ellie currently only has a vague sense of mission, and does not appreciate the weight of that sense of mission.

In any case, the two sides have a lifelong friendship, Joel accepts Henry and Sam, agrees to let them both go on the road together, and Henry thinks at this time "It's good to let Sam have a friend".

Thinking wholeheartedly about others is indeed a good quality, but excessive attachment can easily go astray, and Henry's mind is unconsciously all hung on his brother, and he has not thought much about himself, let alone the hypothesis of "losing his brother".

On the other hand, the two children are having a final conversation, and when mentioning their respective fears, Ellie is afraid that he will be alone, and Sam is afraid that he will lose himself - Ellie then learns that Sam has been bitten.

Sam has obviously been protected by Henry for a long time and hasn't really realized what the consequences of being bitten are, and of course, it's really hard to get an 8-year-old to make a decision... The older Ellie is also childlike, thinking that wiping her own blood can be used as an "antidote".

However, "childishness" is often the most sincere and fearless, one dares to blow, the other dares to believe, and the two easily conceal hidden dangers that may lead to the destruction of the group (Joel's argument +1).

Ellie promised to stay awake with Sam, and this time, she took the initiative to hug each other, both as Ellie's desire to protect and comfort her brother's courage, and as a disguise to hide her fear of losing her brother.

But Ellie was still a child after all, she couldn't stay up all night like Joel, and when she woke up in her chair at dawn, Sam was no longer the familiar Sam...

The next half minute is the climax of the episode, accompanied by screams and noise, two adults see the corpse Sam pounce on Ellie, Joel wants to take immediate action, but Henry takes the gun first-

With the first shot, Henry hit Joel at the foot and stopped him from stepping forward.

Out of inertia to protect his brother, Henry does not allow any behavior against Sam, which is contrary to Joel's intention to save Ellie.

With the second shot, Henry unmistakably killed his dead brother.

Sam is dead, he is attacking Ellie who is still alive in a posture he has never seen before, and Henry, who holds the power of life and death, has made the right choice.

But as Sam fell to the ground and black blood spread, Henry gradually returned to his senses and began to ask non-stop, "What did I do?" ”...... Then a third shot, Henry committed suicide.

I once thought that Henry was going to personally send his brother to the funeral, but then I thought wrong, in such a short time, so suddenly, Henry had no room to think at all, his gun grabbing and shooting were all subconscious behaviors: the first shot came from the extreme and cherishing of protecting his loved ones, the second shot came from the humanity and kindness of choosing the living, and the third shot came from the collapse and despair of the pillar of life collapsed in an instant.

People with a tendon are prone to extremes, and if they are given a violent, stiff and huge stimulus, it is not surprising that anything happens.

Watching Henry raise a gun to commit suicide, Ellie's face twisted and turned, and she couldn't help but leave tears of horror, frustration, and severe pain (Bella's scene is so good).

Ellie thought that she could be responsible for Sam like Joel protected herself, but she couldn't protect anyone... She finally realized how heavy "responsibility" is.

Afterwards, Joel and Ellie struggled to bury the two brothers, and this experience hit Ellie hard, and after leaving an apology, she turned around and went on her way.

Let's take it to the extreme: no matter how determined the responsibility is, no matter how strong the means to implement it, only by truly experiencing the loss and bearing all the pain and guilt of the breach of the covenant can we fully understand the weight of responsibility.

Only Joel was the only one in the foursome, so he kept smiling, Sam didn't have a chance to understand all this, Henry couldn't resist... Now, it's Ellie's turn.

Joel, who has seen the separation of life and death, should not be so "sentimental", but this time is different, he has already bonded with Ellie, the little girl, he can't bear Ellie to bear the "pain of responsibility" at this age, why is this not another form of guardianship failure?

Ellie's pretense and Joel's lingering form a misplaced contrast, and their relationship has achieved another backfeed and upgrade... It's just a price, and it's really not small.

The deceased is gone, there is still a long way to go for the living, and "The Last of the Survivors" once again proved itself to the audience with an accurate and vivid story.