"When We Are in Need" is the eighth episode of the first season, and the eighth episode overall, of HBO's The Last of Us. The episode was directed by Ali Abbasi and written by series creator Craig Mazin. The episode aired on HBO on March 5, 2023.
Synopsis[]
After crossing paths with a vengeful group of survivors, Ellie's fighting spirit draws unwanted attention from its leader. Still battling for his life, a weakened Joel faces off with a hunting party out for blood.
Cast and characters[]
Main cast
Guest starring
- Scott Shepherd as David
- Troy Baker as James
Co-starring
- Ari Rombough as Joyce
- Sonia Maria Chirila as Hannah
- Nelson Leis as Josiah
- Jason Vaisvila as Marco
- Benjamin Rogers as Timothy
- Erik Lindquist as villager
Plot[]
A bitter winter[]
In the survivor's community of Silver Lake, the leader and pastor David reads from the Book of Revelations to the group. He notices a younger member of the congregation, Hannah, crying as her mother Joyce comforts her. He finishes the sermon directed at her and offers his condolences. Hannah asks when they can bury her father, Alec. After exchanging glances with his lieutenant, James, he claims the ground is too cold and they will wait until spring. Outside, he asks James how much they have left of "venison, elk, and rabbit". James warns they can only last a week on rations, though some scouts spotted deer in the mountains. David asks if James has doubts in his leadership: James pledges his loyalty to David, and they agree to go hunting.
Ellie inspects Joel's recently-stitched wound and tries to give him water and food, but Joel remains unconscious. Hoping to get him some more food, Ellie ventures out into the wild with a rifle. After failing to kill a rabbit, she manages to mortally wound a deer, but it runs away before she can get to it. James and David find the deer's carcass and decide to take it but are stopped by Ellie at gunpoint. David offers to trade all or part of the deer for something from the town – after Ellie asks for medicine, David instructs James to head back to town and retrieve some penicillin and suggests he and Ellie wait in some nearby ruins and start a fire. While they wait for James to come back, David tells Ellie (who refuses to give her name) that prior to the outbreak, he was a math teacher, but he found God and became a preacher. After the Pittsburgh QZ fell in 2017, he and a few others left and met new people along the way. They formed their own community which he now leads. He expresses the viewpoint that everything happens for a reason: he offers proof by revealing some time back he sent a group to scavenge a nearby town, but one of them was killed – Alec, Hannah's father – by a "crazy man" who was traveling with a little girl, revealing to an alarmed Ellie he knows who she is. James, who had just returned with the medicine, overhears this and pulls his gun on Ellie, but David instructs him to stand down and give her the medicine. Ellie takes it and runs off, leaving James incredulous that they are just letting her go knowing she killed Alec. Ellie returns to the house and administers the penicillin to Joel's wound before going to sleep next to him.
Raider revenge[]
In the kitchen at Silver Lake, Joyce helps prepare dinner when a man, Josiah, emerges with some chopped meat that he claims is venison, which Joyce prepares without questioning it. James and David arrive with the deer – David reveals they found the girl who was with the man that killed Alec and declares he will lead a party to find them and bring him to justice. Hannah calls out that he should kill the both of them. David calmly walks over and suddenly slaps her across the face, telling her to show him respect as a father to the community. He then sits down to eat with the rest of the community: most of the community eats it with vigor, while James and some of the other men show reluctance.
The next morning, Ellie administers another dose of penicillin to the still-comatose Joel, before heading outside to feed the horse. Noticing a flock of crows being disturbed in the distance, she spots the search party led by David. David tells James that after dealing with Joel, they will bring Ellie back with them. James questions this, as Ellie could be another mouth to feed. David replies she will die if left in the wild, to which James suggests that it's "God's will". Ellie runs back into the basement and wakes Joel up. She hands him a knife and explains she will lead David's men away, but Joel will have to defend himself if they get to him. Ellie gets on the horse and fires a warning shot at David's men before making a break for it. James manages to kill the horse, sending Ellie flying. James and the other men surround a dazed Ellie, and the others goad James to kill her. They are interrupted by an annoyed David, who instructs James and another to come with him back to the settlement, while the rest can search the houses for Joel. However, Joel manages to recover enough strength to ambush and kill Josiah when he comes into the basement.
Tainted meat[]
Ellie wakes up in a cage back in Silver Lake. David advises her that everyone wants to kill her, but he can protect her, offering her a new beginning with him.
Joel knocks out the other two men, Timothy and Marco, and ties them both up in a house. He brutally tortures Timothy for information, demanding to know the location of both Ellie and the settlement. Timothy eventually reveals it is Silver Lake, a former resort that they have taken over. Joel makes Timothy point out the location on a map, with the threat that Marco will need to point to the same location. Timothy does so, but Joel kills him anyway, frankly remarking to Marco that he believed him before beating Marco to death.
Ellie tries to find a way to get out of her cage but is horrified by something she sees on the floor. David arrives with some food for her, only to notice what she is staring at: a human ear. David admits the town has resorted to cannibalism, although most of the community does not know. He argues he is only doing what he needs to defend his community, the same way Joel tried to defend Ellie, and indeed the same way Cordyceps spreads. He tries to convince Ellie to join him as leader of the settlement, telling her she has a violent heart and thus is his equal. Recognizing something dangerous in what he is saying, Ellie feigns interest, only to break David's finger in an attempt to grab his keys. Suddenly filled with rage, David changes his mind about sparing her, declaring they will instead serve her to the town.
Joel stumbles into Silver Lake. Noticing a trail of blood, he follows it into the town's meat storage, where he finds Ellie's backpack and the remains of their horse. Shining his light through the room, he is horrified to discover human remains hung up like meat. James and David pull Ellie out of the cage and prepare to kill her with a meat cleaver, but Ellie claims she is infected. David puts down the cleaver and discovers the bite on her arm. Using their distraction as they discuss the bite, Ellie grabs the meat cleaver and kills James before narrowly escaping David, but finds the doors out of the building are locked. David takes the cleaver out of James' body and follows Ellie into the dining room. She throws a piece of firewood at him, which narrowly misses and sets a nearby curtain ablaze, which slowly begins to spread across the room as David stalks around, taunting her as his threats grow increasingly disturbing. Ellie stabs him, causing him to drop his cleaver, but he recovers and kicks her while she is on the floor. He holds her down and prepares to sexually assault her, but Ellie manages to grab the cleaver and violently kills him.
Traumatized, Ellie stumbles out of the burning building where she is met by Joel. Joel comforts her, calling her "baby girl", the same name he called Sarah. The two stumble away from Silver Lake, arm in arm.
Reception[]
The eighth episode aired on March 5, 2023 and was watched by 8.1 million viewers in the U.S. overnight.[1]
Critics praised Ramsey's performance especially, with this episode highlighted as her best, most dramatic performance of Ellie in the series. Shepherd's depiction of antagonist David also received acclaim, as did the writing for its willingness to bring to life the darkest elements of the video game, and take it further. The episode also saw a rise in overnight viewership again, the first since episode 5. This episode is publicly rated the second best episode in the series, scoring 9.3 out of 10 on IMDB based on 56,000 reviews.[2]
Transcript[]
- Main article: When We Are in Need/Transcript
Behind the scenes[]
Original score[]
- "They're Still Out There" by Mac Quayle, plays as Ellie flees on horseback from David's hunting party.
Easter eggs and references[]
- David talks about fleeing the Pittsburgh QZ with other members of his group. This is a nod to Pittsburgh's importance as a setting in the original game, replaced by Kansas City in the television series.
Gallery[]
Official stills[]
BTS[]
Video[]
External links[]
Watch "When We Are in Need" on HBO Max- Listen to The Last of Us Official Playlist on Spotify
- "When We Are in Need" at IMDb
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
- ↑ "The Last of Us" episode 8: When We Are in Need, IMDB, (Accessed October 23, 2023).
| 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 | |