The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: Timeline Explained!

The Last of Us is among the most well-liked video games ever, making HBO‘s adaptation of this tale one of the most eagerly awaited video game adaptations in recent times. The first episode of “When You’re Lost in the Darkness,” attempts to do honor to the introductory chapter of this story, which for longtime fans of the franchise is one of the most painful stories ever told in a video game. Additionally, this episode does a fantastic job of establishing our major characters and delving into their past, present, and upcoming future. This adventure needs an introduction, but Mazin and Druckmann get the story off to a great start. If you’re seeking explanations of the first episode of the first season of ‘The Last of Us’ tvacute.com provides everything you need to know!

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The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: 1968

The Last of Us begins with a 1968 chat show. Two epidemiologists discuss pandemics in the show. Dr. Newman worries about fungal infections as they consider a viral epidemic. Newman says fungi could change our thinking like they do when they infect ants, eating them from the inside and preventing disintegration. Newman claims that if the planet warms, the fungi could mutate to infect people, taking over billions and transmitting the infection to all living beings with no treatment. The narrative shifts to 2003 after the very fungus-filled opening credits.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: 2003

To celebrate her father’s 36th birthday, a teenage girl in 2003 woke up at home in Austin, Texas, and serves him breakfast. Sarah (played by Nico Parker) and Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) are pretty much all that each other has, with the exception of Tommy (Gabriel Luna), Joel’s brother, who drops by that morning. Sarah bemoans the fact that her father will work a double construction shift on his birthday as a radio report in the distance suggests that unrest may be brewing in Jakarta.   Sarah sneaks into Joel’s room just before she heads off to school and takes his watch and some money. An on-screen image informs us that it is September 26. Sarah rides the bus to a watch repair business later to get the watch fixed. Police, fire, and SWAT vehicles roar by as fear begins to increase. Then, a worried-looking woman emerges from the store’s back and informs Sarah that they are shutting immediately and urges her to head home immediately.

Sarah eventually finds herself completing homework, baking cookies, and visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Adler and their cousin who is suffering from dementia at their residence. Everything appears to be normal until the elderly woman begins to spasm in a manner reminiscent of a horror film while Sarah is distracted choosing a DVD. But by the time unaware Sarah turns away from the rack, the woman seems to be back to normal. A fighter plane flies low above Sarah as she bids them farewell and makes her way home.  Sarah offers her father the fixed watch that evening. She borrows a DVD from the Adlers, and they sit in to watch it, but she nods off.  Later that evening, Tommy calls Joel and asks him to post bail for him because he is in jail following a bar fight.. Joel puts Sarah to sleep and then goes to clean up his brother’s messes.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: 2003: The outbreak of the Cordyceps infection

Sarah awakens to the sound of passing helicopters. She quickly notices that Joel isn’t there, switches on the TV to see that every channel is displaying the national warning system, and exits the house to investigate the source of the Adlers’ dog’s barking. She brings the dog back to its house, but it refuses to enter. And as Sarah opens the door after hearing the glass shatter, she almost trips over the pool of blood on the floor. At the back door, Mr. Adler is harmed. Astounded, Sarah approaches him. and at that moment she notices the elderly woman feasting on Mrs. Adler with dreadful tube-like suckers sticking out of her lips. Sarah is pursued by her as she runs away. Thank goodness Tommy and Joel arrived at that exact moment. Joel kills the woman with a wrench as she charges him with a wrench. Joel, Sarah, and Tommy board a car to head for safety. Tommy destroys anyone who stands in his way. Joel decides that they won’t stop and offer a lift to a couple in need. Traffic has totally jammed the highway out of town. And at some point, Joel and the company encounter a military blockade. Joel comes up with a quick solution to get past it and travel to Mexico.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: The world turns dark

When Sarah awakens, she stares out the window and observes each of the infected devouring another person. Joel manages to get her out of the car, but her foot is damaged. A police car collides with their truck while he is trying to come up with a fresh strategy, and then there is an immediate explosion of fire. Tommy shouts that he’ll join them at the river even though he’s trapped on the opposite side of the debris and is unharmed. Sarah is taken by Joel, who instructs her to focus on him as they move on. They go by an alleyway where diseased people are breeding more infected. A very quickly infected man pursues Joel as he stops too long to stare in terror. When a SWAT shoots the sick man, the chase comes to an end. While he radios into headquarters and takes orders, the soldier ignores Joel’s yells that he and Sarah are not ill. When the soldier opens fire on them, Joel is still yelling that they are not ill. When Tommy shoots the SWAT just as he prepares to shoot Joel. Joel and Sarah fall to the ground, and they come a moment later. The very horrible news is that Sarah was shot in the abdomen and passed away.  Joel sobs while hugging her close to him.  As the episode turns black, we can feel the agony and unfathomable loss in Joel’s eyes as he has lost the thing that matters most to him.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: 20 Years Later [2023] Boston Quarantine Zone

In Boston, The FEDRA is in control of the quarantine zone, which is the region where survivors live and are surrounded by heavily guarded barriers. A severe curfew is in place. The structures inside the QZ are in disrepair. Ration cards are used as money. Public hanging is the punishment for unauthorized admission or leaves from the QZ. We can see from the warnings on the walls that symptoms of a cordyceps infection include coughing, impaired speech, muscle cramps, and mood swings. Where on the body you are bitten determines how long it takes to become fully infected.  one day to organize your affairs. head, neck, or face? maximum of fifteen minutes.

A young youngster stumbles through damaged on his way to the quarantine area of that city, but before he reaches the gates, he faints. The young child is taken inside and asked several questions, but he chooses not to respond. His leg appears to have a cut, so when a machine is used to “test” him, it becomes red. After receiving some medication, one of the guards claims that he will be granted access to his favorite foods, some new outfits, and as many toys as they desire. After receiving a shot, he is assured of his safety. The Boston quarantine area, where bodies are being burnt on the roads.

Bite victims are killed and their remains are burned. And when we witness this procedure in reality, we understand that Joel is one of the individuals performing the cremation. It appears that Sarah’s father also conducts business on the QZ’s black market, as evidenced by the fact that he looks older. The FEDRA soldier tells him to keep off the streets for a few days since a resistance organization known as the Fireflies has been blowing things up and everyone is on edge as he exchanges some medications for a stack of ration cards. Later, we notice the graffiti by Fireflies that reads, “When you’re in the dark, look for the light.”

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: Meet Tess (played by Anna Torv)

Next, we encounter Tess (played by Anna Torv), who is being beaten senseless by two thugs. It sounds like their arrangement for a truck battery fell through based on their conversation. But before we get too far into the details, there is an explosion that destroys one of the room’s walls. When Tess stands up, one of the men holding her hostage is already dead. FEDRA soldiers are rushing to the area after hearing the blast caused by a device planted in a nearby jeep. ‘I’m not a Firefly. ‘she screams and raises her hands in surrender.  While that is happening, Joel is concerned for Tommy: It’s concerning that he hasn’t received from his brother in  20 days because he usually responds within a day.

Tommy is most likely in Wyoming, which is right in the center of a bunch of pretty nasty stuff like infected, raiders, slavers, and the like. He receives information to this effect. Joel gets a few drinks, takes some pills, and then collapses into bed at his flat. Although the watch Sarah restored is in poor condition, Joel is still wearing it. Tess eventually returns home and climbs into bed with him. She is cooking when he awakens. He doesn’t like the fact that she was injured or that she spent the entire day in FEDRA prison, and he gets very angry when he learns that the person from whom they were trying to get the battery bought it to someone else. He reminds her that they need the battery to get where they need to go in order to get Tommy, but she assures him to relax; they’ll figure something other out.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: Meet Ellie (Bella Ramsey)

A teenage girl is imprisoned in a chamber in the neighborhood Fireflies sanctuary at another location. Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey from Game of Thrones, is the one who will cause every Firefly in the Boston QZ to escape that evening. They intend to take the girl west, and they’re led by a woman by the name of Marlene (Merle Dandridge, who provided the voice for the character in the game). We learn that Ellie was enrolled in a FEDRA military school as a child when Marlene visits Ellie. Marlene reveals to Ellie that she was in charge of that choice. Then she gives the girl some crucial information.  Joel and Tess leave the QZ to retrieve their battery. On the way, they stumble upon a deceased man whose fungus infestation had advanced to the point where it had effectively adhered him to the wall. It turns out that the person who lied to them about the batteries also lied to Marlene and the Fireflies, and there was a shooting that left a number of people dead and Marlene wounded. There are more bodies laying dead in the hallway, indicating that there was a shootout. Ellie emerges from a door and tries to attack Joel when Joel and Tess hear Marlene and Kim at the other end of the hallway, but Joel easily knocks Ellie to the ground.

Joel and Marlene have a strained relationship because he believes she and the Fireflies turned Tommy against him. But before FEDRA arrives, they have a matter to settle, therefore Marlene wants Joel to go past that quickly: She lacks the personnel or means of conveyance to reach the State House, where a group of Fireflies is waiting. Marlene proposes a trade. Tess and Joel will receive the necessary transportation if they can get Ellie to the State House. Joel and Tess eventually come to an agreement. When they arrive at the flat, Ellie deciphers the code used by Joel and his friends to communicate through songs on the radio (short version: ’80s music). In just a few minutes, she also gets to annoy Joel, despite his tough exterior.

The Last of Us Episode 1 Recap: Ending Explained!

And all goes smoothly until the same officer who Joel earlier in the show supplied narcotics to catches them close to the wall. Ellie goes crazy as the soldier tries to scan her to check if she is infected. Joel steps in between them, remembers the night Sarah passed away, and loses all control of himself around the man. Tess discovers Ellie’s meter is red, showing she is infected after Joel has turned the FEDRA guy’s face into a paste. Tess demands to kill the child right away, but Ellie objects, saying it’s been three weeks since she was bitten on the arm and she hasn’t turned.  Joel snatches the security guard’s revolver and chases the women through a gap in a wire fence. Do not enter the biological containment area, according to a notice on the fence. The radio starts playing in Joel’s empty flat. The song “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode is playing: ’80s music portends awful things. We see Tess, Ellie, and Joel enter the wreckage of downtown Boston as the episode comes to a close.