The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 tells the story of Henry and Sam, which will lead newcomers on a wild and emotional journey.
After the ending of the previous episode, video game players knew exactly what was in story for The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5. Newcomers to the series, who know nothing about the games, will go on a wild and emotional journey as the story of Henry and Sam, and their time with Joel and Ellie, plays out. This episode also gives viewers some incredible action, and more scenes that feel ripped right from the TLOU video game.
Here is our recap and review of The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5, which clocks in at 59 minutes. Be warned, there are massive spoilers ahead.
Warning: Spoilers for The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 Ahead
The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 kicks off with the riots showing when Kathleen’s group overthrew the government of the Kansas City quarantine zone and took over. Here, we also see Sam and Henry together, trying to escape the craziness. Viewers will learn that Sam is deaf, as the two are using sign language to communicate.
Kathleen is seen questioning a large group of prisoners about Henry and Sam. She threatens to kill them until they give up someone called Edelstein. She tells these people that things are going great, Kansas city is free. As she leaves she tells one of her people to kill them all and burn the bodies.
We then see Henry and Sam meet up with Edelstein, who shows them an attic room they can hide in — this is where we saw all of the superhero drawings last episode. Henry mentions that they have 11 days of food and Edelstein says he will return with a plan. It them jumps forward to 10 days later.
This is when Henry realizes that the man who was helping them is not coming back and he tells Sam, who gets visibly upset after asking if he was killed and Henry answers probably. Henry then says it is time for them to go. They need food and have to get away. Sam is very clearly worried and in order to make him feel brave, Henry paints Sam’s face with a superhero mask.
Just as they are about to leave the house, Henry hears shooting outside and stops. This is Joel and Ellie having that altercation from the previous episode. Henry tells Sam they have a change of plans after he witnesses Joel and Ellie entering the building they are hiding in. They find them and it picks up where The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 4 left off — with Sam pointing a gun at Ellie, and Henry pointing one at Joel.
Sam and Henry’s Story
As The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 continues, Henry explains who they are to Joel and Ellie. He says he is the most wanted man in Kansas City, and that now it seems Joel is a close second. he admits that he is a collaborator, to which Joel replies he does not work with rats. However, it would make sense to team up. Henry knows where to go, but doesn’t want to kill in order to get out. Joel can clearly handle that department so Henry suggests he will show the way and Joel will clear the way.
When Joel sees Ellie and Sam having fun and laughing together with the pun book, he agrees to help. Henry draws a map and explains there are infected below the city, but that the tunnel is empty. He was told it was cleared out 3 years ago and he’s impressed that Ellie and Joel survived two clickers. That just proves they are the right people to do the clearing. They are cautious about it, saying it could have been re-infected, but they don’t seem to have much of a choice.
In the tunnels, which appear to be cleaned out, they discover a room filled with toys and games, including a soccer ball and a painted goal on the wall. This is a nod to the video games — especially where Sam and Ellie play soccer in the series. This community must have disobeyed the rules and ended up infected. There are kids drawings and it is clear they had a nice thing going for a little while.
It is here the Ellie and Sam find a comic book, which is something that Ellie collects in the games. Another great The Last Of Us game Easter Egg in the series.
This is where Henry explains the situation to Joel. Sam got leukemia and there is only one drug that would help him, but there wasn’t much left of it in the world. Fedra could get for them but in exchange, he needed to give up Kathleen’s brother. He admits he was a good man, and the leader of resistance in Kansas City. A man named Michael. Henry says that Joel might not be Ellie’s father but it is clear to him that he was someone’s. So he figures Joel understands why he did what he did.
When they get outside, they end up walking up a hill to a house, but are fired on from someone inside. Ellie, Sam, and Henry hide behind a car while Joel goes around. This is very much a scene ripped right from the video games again, and one that fans will really appreciate.
Joel discovers an old man with sniper rifle at the window and is forced to kill him after giving the man a chance to hand over his gun. That is when a bunch of trucks and people, led by Kathleen, show up and Joel has to shoot them from window as Henry, Ellie, and Sam run from them. Something very similar happens in the TLOU game, which Joel shooting out this window and stopping the attackers. Fans will be thrilled about the inclusion of this moment.
Henry tells Ellie to take Sam before he stands up to face Kathleen, seemingly ready to die. She is going to kill Henry but her plans are foiled when a truck falls into ground and opens up a massive hole for the infected, who Henry said live under the city, to swarm them all.
This turns into an epic fight, with infected and people going toe to toe — although the infected are certainly winning. That is when a massive bloater climbs out of the hole, and joins the fight. Ellie sees Henry and Sam hiding under car with clickers trying to get to them. She knows that she must help them and she trusts Joel to be able to protect her from the window as she runs towards them. Joel does just that, and she saves them.
As the three are about to make it to Joel, leaving Kathleen and her people with the infected, Kathleen appears. She is about to kill them when a clicker jumps her and kills her, allowing Sam, Ellie, and Henry to make it to safety.
Joel invites them to come with them to Wyoming, and Henry says yes. They agree it will be nice for Sam and Ellie to have each other, who are seen reading a comic book in the bedroom. They are told it is time for lights out and to get some rest, but Ellie almost immediately tells Sam to get up and the continue to read the comic. Sam stops, however, and pulls out his pad that he uses for communication.
Sam asks Ellie if she is scared, to which she replies all the time. He then asks if you turn into a monster, is it still you inside and shows her that he was bit. Ellie immediately is upset, because she has grown to really like Sam. She shows him her bite scar and explains that her blood is medicine and she is immune. She then cuts her hand and rubs the blood into his bite. She tells him to stay awake with her, and then promises everything will be ok.
In the morning Ellie wakes up and sees Sam sitting on the edge of the bed staring out the window. When she puts her hand on him, he attacks her, and shows that he is infected. Henry and Joel burst in and Henry shoots Sam in the head, killing him. He points the gun at Joel, not sure what to do, and then starts crying. Henry then shoots himself in the head, committing suicide.
The final moments of The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 shows Ellie and Joel burying Sam and Henry. Ellie takes Sam’s pad and writes I’m Sorry on it, before placing it on his grave. They then leave, heading west.
Overall Thoughts
The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 5 will send those who don’t know the story on an emotional roller coaster, and will have those who do dreading the outcome, but excited to see it play out. This episode focuses heavily on Henry and Sam, who are an important part of Ellie and Joel’s journey.
Seeing so much of the video game come to life in this episode, plus giving viewers a massive fight between humans and infected, makes it one of the best episodes yet, if not the best.
Rating: 5 out of 5
NEXT: The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 4 Recap and Review
About The Last Of Us
THE LAST OF US story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The Last Of Us season 1 episode 5 is now streaming on HBO Max.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.