Promise me I’m as safe as houses.

We take stock this week, moving into the second half of this series. We catch up with Joel and Ellie three months after the horrors of Kansas City, in a wild and wintry landscape of forests, mountains… and a river of death.

There seems to be something amiss with the irrepressible Joel this week – could it be heart problems? Of a sort, yes. He and Ellie seem more amiable with each other, but it doesn’t run too deep as yet – all these weeks later and they still haven’t fully clicked, stepping around each other’s insecurities as carefully as they step through the snowy terrain.

The title hints at the familial theme as Joel finally finds Tommy – the completion of his main mission, as he finds much more than his brother in Wyoming. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the script that made Pedro Pascal want to play Joel, and it’s a deeply moving and powerful performance laced with grief and fear. It’s completely heart breaking. After lying to his own kin, Joel’s fear finally breaks him and he lets Tommy in, begging him to take over as Ellie’s protector, terrified that he will let her down and fail her in his weakness. Physical or mental? How about emotional? Meanwhile, Ellie learns that Joel had a daughter and lost her – does she feel differently about him as a result? My guess is it only strengthens her bond with him.

It’s too late for Joel too – he betrays his fatherly love for Ellie even as he tries to push her away. All this with the backdrop of his guilt at failing his own daughter, Sarah, all those long years ago – guilt that haunts his dreams – is that what Ellie heard him mumbling as he failed to stay awake on his watch?

Joel recovers enough in the light of a new day to offer Ellie a choice as to her next steps. That choice takes them both to a dangerous new city, right into Joel’s worst nightmare.

Verdict: I hope he never lets me down again. Oh Joel. 10/10

Claire Smith