Its time
This episode really should have been last weeks episode. This is where the inciting incident starts. I would like to address some changes I didn’t really like in this episode just to get it off my chest. When this episode opens its the flashback to Abby finding her dad in the hospital after the “event”, however unlike in the game we see another Abby (probably one from the future) that warns her past self not to go in there. I have a feeling this is going to be a reoccurring flashback just like in the game but the inclusion of other versions of yourself is a weird choice. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe its to show the audience that this is not what is currently happening this is a flashback but there has to be better ways to do this.
Next we open on Ellie being woken up by Jessie just like the game. The only difference is Ellie and Jessie are going on patrol not Dina and Ellie. Ellie even gets into an argument with Jessie about how she not mad at Joel anymore which undermines the whole fight they had in the last episode. Dina and Joel went out on Patrol which is a strange combo. They address last episode that she is his “apprentice”, they did this to give Dina more connection to Joel so that when Ellie goes to seek revenge I guess she would have more of a reason other then supporting Ellie. Maybe the showrunners thought that Dina’s reason for following Ellie in the game was weak. This leaves Tommy completely out of the picture for Joel eventual death. To make Tommy relevant they gave him the whole B plot which they made up just for the TV show.
Abby ditched her crew up at the lodge they were staying at to go grab a patrol so they can tell her where Joel is. She falls down to a sea of infected corpses hiding under the snow. This is a problem that Tommy and the town of Jackson know about but haven’t figured out a way to solve just yet. Abby wakes all of them up creating an avalanche of zombies heading right towards the town. How the newer infected can hibernated under the snow while the more taken over clickers are on top doesn’t make sense to me but Abby ends up getting overwhelmed and saved by Joel ( just like in the game). Joel hasn’t reported in since he and Dina got lost in the blizzard. Once Ellie hears about this she and Jessie blindly try to find them. Meanwhile the town is getting overrun and this is Tommy’s time to shine.
Half of the town go into the basement (bad idea) the other half take pot shots at the zombies on the roof. They throw fire barrels out by there wooden fence to try a cull the numbers but the infected get in taking out a lot of the roof crew. Tommy and his wife save the day. This doesn’t happen in the game, although the whole time playing I definitely thought Jackson was in danger, maybe the showrunners had the same thought. Even though this was a cool fight and all that I feel it took away from the final beat of the episode, Joel’s death.
When Joel and Dina get to Abby’s base they eject Dina with something to make her go to sleep and they take Joel’s weapons away. Abby then gives a big dumb speech (which is mostly for the audience) about how Joel killed her dad and now she wants to kill him. It takes her forever to shoot his knee and start the beating. That’s when Ellie shows up and begging them to stop but one of Abby’s team members (Owen) tells her to finish it. She does and we and Ellie watch them leave as she vows to kill them all. I have no idea what they did to Ellie to make her legs not work because all the saw was them kick her in the face, she doesn’t even go unconscious like in the game. What bugs me is Joel and Dina have there horses there. I don’t understand why Abby’s crew didn’t take all the horses in order to get back to Seattle faster. I also don’t understand why when Jessie comes to get Ellie he only takes two horses and drags Joel’s dead ass body through the snow back to Jackson. Seems a little unnecessary. Also the whole reason Tommy goes to Seattle on a rampage is because he was there and he couldn’t save his bother, is Tommy just not going to Seattle and its going to be Dina followed by Ellie on that rampage? Will have to find out next episode but I do not like the changes they made.
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