The last of us episode 8 recap reminds us people are real monsters in the zombie apocalypse

The Last of Us revisited: From Joel to Riley in an abandoned mall, and back again with a touching tale of loss and love

We again interrupt your regularly scheduled zombie drama with a touching love story, this time in the form of an extended flashback during a different phase of life.

“The Last of Us” has two episodes to go in order to deal with Joel’s condition and get back to its ostensible mission to ascertain what makes Ellie special, while its building popularity has fans obsessing over – and occasionally nitpicking – its every wrinkle, down to small details.

The meat of the hour was when she was dragged by her AWOL friend, Riley, to an abandoned mall, which turned out to be not quite as abandoned as advertised.

Riley will be going on the trip to say goodbye as she will be joining the Fireflies. Yet as the hour unfolds, it pretty clearly becomes what amounts to a first date, with Riley exposing the wide-eyed Ellie to a host of wonders – escalators, arcade games, photo booths, a merry-go-round – before a spontaneous kiss that takes their relationship in a new and more romantic direction. Along the way, the show even identified the source of Ellie’s book of stupid jokes.

Nothing good can last for long and a zombie intruded on their moment, wounding both of them. The encounter would lead to Ellie realizing she is immune to zombie plague, Riley’s dire fate giving way to a return of Joel’s situation, and Ellie finding a needle and thread to close his wound.

Although “Left Behind” added a bit to the ongoing Joel-Ellie dynamic, with her refusal to abandon him, its exploration of love and loss in this grim world evoked both the third episode, with its Linda Ronstadt-scored detour involving Frank and Bill; and the fifth, to the extent that during a zombie apocalypse, even the good die young.

“It ends this way for everyone sooner or later, right?” By accepting her cruel fate, Riley said. Even though they are playing younger, both actors are actually 19 and it made their scenes more impactful.

For a moment, though, the series offered a respite from that while depicting the dizzying effects of young love, underscoring how “The Last of Us” keeps defying expectations, and why so many viewers can’t get off this merry-go-round.

The recent episode of “The Last of Us” showed how tough, steely and cunning people can be even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, as demonstrated by the fact that people become the true monsters during a zombie apocalypse.

David was the leader of a starving community that he presides over as its spiritual guide as well as on a basic level, when it was found out by Ellie that there was still illness afflictingJoel (Pedro Pascal).

David was exposed as a different kind of monster after cannibalism, and eventually attempted to sexually assault the teen girl, even though he sounded reasonable at first.

In one of the more horrific images the series has produced, first Ellie and then Joel witnessed the remnants of what David was relying upon for food, with the latter discovering a gruesome locker where bodies were being stored.

The Best TV Series: The Case for a Prompt Final Episode of SUSY’s The Dark Side Of The Exorcising Machine

The series has a final episode that will cement its status as one of the best shows on TV, and it’s also important for it to be seen when the awards season kicks off.

They continue to build upon what already appeared to be a compelling case despite having a rich roster of guest stars.