"Kin" is the sixth episode of the first season, and the sixth episode overall, of HBO's The Last of Us. The episode was directed by Jasmila Žbanić and written by series creator Craig Mazin. The episode aired on HBO on February 19, 2023.
Synopsis[]
After months of traveling, Joel and Ellie receive a grave warning about what lies ahead. Later, Ellie learns more about Joel's past—while Joel tries his best to forget.
Cast and characters[]
Main cast
Guest starring
- Lamar Johnson as Henry Burrell
- Rutina Wesley as Maria Miller
- Nico Parker as Sarah Miller
- Graham Greene as Marlon
- Elaine Miles as Florence
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller
Co-starring
- Toby Levins as man on horse
- Miël Logan as little girl
- Paolina van Kleef as staring girl
- Tiahra Allen as 9-year-old Sarah Miller
Plot[]
Winter in Wyoming[]
Three months have passed since the deaths of Henry and Sam. An elderly Native American man, Marlon, returns to his remote cabin in Wyoming to find his wife Florence being held at gunpoint by Joel. The couple nonchalantly brush off Joel's threatening attitude, made all the more absurd due to Florence having offered him and Ellie soup in Marlon's absence. After determining where they are in Wyoming, Joel lowers his weapon and asks for directions for how best to head west, explaining they have been wandering around Wyoming for months after failing to find Tommy in Cody, which is overrun with infected. Marlon and Florence discourage him, as to go west means crossing a portion of the Yellowstone River they call the "River of Death", where they often find bodies of both people and infected that have been killed by whatever is on the other side. Joel is left more concerned than Ellie by what the couple said, and has a brief panic attack on their way off the property, although he manages to wave it off.
The pair continue on their route, camping out in a cave next to a river. While Joel tapes his boot, Ellie observes the Northern Lights in the sky from a nearby rock, prompting Joel to tell her to come down. As they sit by the fire, Ellie asks what Joel would do if the cure from her blood worked and the world went back to normal. Joel replies he would find an old farmhouse and raise sheep, joking that at least sheep do what they are told. Ellie reveals she has always wanted to be an astronaut, having read about space travel at the library; Joel correctly guesses her favorite astronaut is Sally Ride. The mood turns somber as Ellie questions if the vaccine would actually work, admitting to what happened with Sam. Joel assures her that the cure is probably more complicated, and that Marlene knows what she is doing. Joel then tells Ellie to go to sleep while he keeps watch all night.
Joel awakens in the morning to find Ellie keeping guard, having taken over when she woke up to find him asleep. Joel scolds her for not waking him up, but Ellie retorts she did everything necessary for keeping watch before giving him back his gun. They continue trekking through the snow, crossing a bridge over what they assume is the "River of Death". At first, their journey continues uninterrupted as they encounter no dangers. As they trek along the riverbank, Ellie tries to learn how to whistle like Joel, to no avail, and asks that he teach her how to hunt at some point. They come across a hydroelectric dam, which Joel explains is how people used to get electricity. As they continue however, Ellie questions if the "River of Death" was referring to the location near the dam. They are soon interrupted by a party of armed survivors on horseback, who demand they drop their weapons. As their leader looks on, one of the men asks if they have been near any infected, before sending a dog to check for any signs of infection. The dog ignores Joel, but it is then sent to inspect Ellie. Joel finds himself overcome with terror at the prospect of Ellie getting shot, but thankfully the dog seems more interested in playing with her. Having confirmed they are not infected, Joel explains he is looking for his brother; hearing this, the leader of the group suddenly steps forward and asks for his name.
Arrival in Jackson[]
Joel and Ellie are escorted by the party to the gated community of Jackson, where the two are stunned to find a thriving town full of families preparing to celebrate Christmas. Joel soon spots Tommy working on an outdoor construction project, and the two brothers emotionally reunite. Tommy and the leader of the group, Maria, take Joel and Ellie into a cafeteria to have food, the first real meal the two have had in months. Joel urges Ellie to be polite to their hosts, which she attempts to do, though not before shouting at a shy girl she spots staring at her from across the room. Tommy and Maria apologize for getting off on the wrong foot, explaining they have to take extra precautions to protect Jackson from any dangers, revealing the bodies Marlon and Florence discovered were examples of such dangers. Joel suggests they have a private talk "between family," but Tommy reveals that Maria is actually his wife—Ellie forces Joel to (awkwardly) congratulate them.
Tommy and Maria take them on a tour of the town, explaining Jackson was an abandoned gated community Maria and her crew found seven years ago and turned into a commune. They keep most dangers away by not advertising their location and staying off the radio, hence why Tommy stopped contacting Joel. The town draws power from the dam that Joel and Ellie saw, and has a population of 300 led by a council on which Maria serves. They even have a farm full of animals, including a stable with a foal named Shimmer whom Ellie quickly befriends. Tommy takes Joel aside as they have a drink in one of the town’s bars. Tommy asks how Tess is doing, to which Joel lies that she is fine and he is taking Ellie across the country to find her family among the Fireflies. Tommy explains the Fireflies have a base at the University of Eastern Colorado that is about a week away on horseback, but he would likely encounter raiders and infected. Joel tries to get Tommy to join them, but Tommy turns him down, revealing that Maria is pregnant and he has chosen to change his ways. Joel lashes out at him, questioning if Tommy would even be a good father. Tommy angrily tells Joel that just because life "stopped for [him], doesn’t mean it stopped for [Tommy]." Joel storms out after declaring they will leave him in the morning. As Joel heads out to the town square, he suffers another panic attack, only for it to fade away when he notices a woman in the crowd singing Christmas carols who reminds him of Sarah. He briefly watches as she plays with her daughter.
After showering and receiving new clothes and a menstrual cup that Maria had left for her, Ellie heads over to Maria and Tommy's house. Above the fireplace, she finds a sign memorializing two children, "Kevin" and "Sarah". Maria arrives with a new winter coat for her and insists on giving her a haircut. While trimming Ellie's hair, Maria makes small talk, explaining she used to be an Assistant District Attorney, and asks if Ellie noticed Tommy's memorial above the fireplace. Ellie expresses condolences for Maria's children, but Maria reveals she only had one child, Kevin: "Sarah" was Joel's daughter. Maria quickly realizes Ellie did not know Joel had a daughter and apologizes, but Ellie admits it explains some things about him. Maria warns Ellie that she does not really know Joel and offers the advice that she should be careful of who she puts faith in, because the only people who can betray her are the people she trusts.
Loss[]
While Ellie attends the town's movie night, Tommy sneaks out and finds Joel trying to fix his boot in a cobbler's workshop. Tommy apologizes for being rude earlier and tells Joel the path to the University is nothing he cannot handle. Joel reveals that Ellie is immune and tells Tommy about their journey, recalling Tess's death and the events in Kansas City. He expresses terror over Ellie's safety, opining he is too weak now to protect her and expressing that he dreams that he is going to get her killed. He declares he has to leave her and begs Tommy to take her to the Fireflies in his stead. Tommy reluctantly agrees.
Joel returns to the house that Maria and Tommy set aside for him to find Ellie reading the diary of the previous inhabitants, expressing disgust at the frivolous desires of teenage girls back then. Joel figures out she overheard his and Tommy's conversation. Ellie angrily confronts him, accusing him of trying to be too protective, pointedly telling him she is not Sarah. Joel tells her she does not understand loss, to which Ellie angrily points out everyone she has ever cared for has either died or left, all except Joel, and that she would be worse off without him. Joel quietly reiterates that she is not his daughter, and he is not her father, declaring they will go their separate ways in the morning. Leaving Ellie in her room, he tearfully thinks about Sarah and his memories of raising her.
Tommy arrives in the morning and takes Ellie to the stables, where they are surprised to find Joel trying to steal one of the horses. Joel admits Ellie deserves a choice of who she goes with, but he barely gets a word out before Ellie resolves to go with him. As they prepare to depart, Joel bids goodbye to Tommy, who reminds the two that there is always a place for them in Jackson.
As Joel and Ellie make their way to Colorado, they continue to bond, with Joel teaching Ellie how to shoot with the scoped rifle, telling her about his life as a contractor before the outbreak, and explaining the rules of football. As they enter the university campus, Joel admits he would like to change his answer from before: when he was a kid, he wanted to be a singer. Ellie finds this amusing and tells him he will have to sing for her later in return for her saving the world. They find some escaped monkeys on the campus and signs of Firefly presence, but no actual Fireflies—they learn the Fireflies abruptly packed up and moved to Salt Lake City. They are interrupted by the arrival of some raiders and try to make their escape. While trying to get on the horse, Joel is ambushed by one of the raiders, whom he kills, only to realize he stabbed him. They manage to escape on the horse, but as they reach a set of railroad tracks, Joel falls off and loses consciousness as a panicked Ellie frantically tries to wake him up.
Reception[]
The sixth episode aired on February 19, 2023 and was watched by 7.8 million viewers in the U.S. overnight.[1] However, this marks a drop of nearly 4 million viewers tuning in to the episode compared with the prior episode's ratings, displaying the first and biggest decline in overnight viewership for the series. Despite this decline, viewership is on par with the first four episodes of the series.[2]
Positives for this episode centred on the attention to Ellie and Joel's relationship, with the episode serving as a narrative climax for their relationship. Critical acclaim was especially given to Pascal's performance in the episode, notably in his confessional speech to Tommy. Some criticism was given for the episode's lack of action, with the ending feeling rushed as it crammed in the progression of the duo's adventure after having spent the majority of the episode stagnant in Jackson. The episode holds an 8.8 out of 10 based on 56,000 reviews on IMDB.[3]
Transcript[]
- Main article: Kin/Transcript
Behind the scenes[]
Featured music[]
- "Never Let Me Down Again" by Jessica Mazin, plays as Ellie tries to rouse an unconscious Joel following his injury at the university. Mazin's version is an acoustic cover of the original by Depeche Mode, which played at the end of "When You're Lost in the Darkness". Series co-creator Craig Mazin wanted to use a female voice to reflect Ellie, and appreciated that the moment involved Jessica, his daughter, and Bella Ramsey, whom he considers like an adopted daughter.[4]
Original score[]
- "All Gone" by Gustavo Santaolalla
- "The Path" by Gustavo Santaolalla, plays during the montage as Joel and Ellie travel to the university.
Production[]
- This episode vastly expands upon Joel and Ellie's visit to Jackson, which occurred offscreen in the original game due to time and budget constraints.[4]
- The production made a conscious choice that the overall series was not beholden to the game's direction, prioritizing using framing and performances unique for the show. One of the rare exceptions was the scene where Ellie confronts Joel: Mazin felt the game's approach was so impactful that the show should match it almost exactly, right down to the blocking and set design.[4]
- In the game, Joel's injury is caused by falling on a strand of rebar from a second floor balcony. This was changed due to the show's more grounded approach to violence.[4]
Easter eggs and references[]
- Ellie comments that her favorite astronaut is Sally Ride. Ride, who holds the distinction of having been the first American woman in space, was gay. Although it is unlikely Joel and Ellie would have known, as in the real world this was not public knowledge until Ride's death in 2012, the reference to Ride is an intentional allusion to Ellie's sexuality. Craig Mazin opines that Joel has unconsciously figured out that Ellie is gay, hence why he was able to guess why she liked Sally Ride.[4]
- The fact that dogs can sense Cordyceps in humans was set up in the series premiere, when Mercy seemed to notice Nana was infected.
- Ellie yells at a girl she spots staring at her from across the food hall. The scene is a reference to Dina's story from The Last of Us Part II of when she first saw Ellie, though co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann remain coy on whether or not the character is canonically a young Dina.[4]
- Shimmer, Ellie's horse from The Last of Us Part II, makes a cameo.
- When Joel thinks he sees Sarah in the crowd, "All Gone (Seasons)" from the first game plays.
- The movie that the town watches is called The Goodbye Girl, which was released in 1977.[5]
Mistakes[]
- In a wide-angle shot of Joel and Ellie crossing the snowy bridge, the production crew can be seen briefly standing along the tree line in the bottom left corner of the frame.
- When Ellie first meets Shimmer, the hand of the horse's handler can be seen beneath it.
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
Official stills[]
Behind the scenes[]
Videos[]
External links[]
Listen to References[]
- ↑ Hailu, Selome (March 6, 2023). "'The Last of Us' Episode 8 Hits Series High of 8.1 Million Viewers, Up 74% From Season Premiere" Variety
- ↑ Hailu, Selome (March 6, 2023). "'The Last of Us' Episode 8 Hits Series High of 8.1 Million Viewers, Up 74% From Season Premiere" Variety
- ↑ "The Last of Us" episode 6: Kin, IMDB, (Accessed October 23, 2023).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 HBO's The Last of Us Podcast episode 6: "Kin"
- ↑ Naughty Dog World Feb. 21, 2023 Tweet - Twitter
| Season 1 | "When You're Lost in the Darkness" · "Infected" · "Long, Long Time" · "Please Hold to My Hand" · "Endure and Survive" · "Kin" · "Left Behind" · "When We Are in Need" · "Look for the Light" |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | TBA |