The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 6 Recap: Ellie & Joel Arrive In Jackson, Tommy Reunites With His Brother

In The Last of Us season 1, episode 6, "Kin", Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finally find peace and sanctuary in the American West, but with that quietude comes time for Joel to consider if he's growing too close to his ward. The sixth episode of The Last of Us takes place three months after the tragic events in Kansas City, which includes two of the most impactful deaths in the series. The show looks different now, as Joel and Ellie emerge from the fire and chaos of the Eastern US, into the snowy tranquility of the West.

"Kin" is where The Last of Us makes a switch. This is the first episode where Joel and Ellie have a chance to gather themselves, after a journey that's taken them from tragic horror to tragic horror, barely escaping with their lives. Now, as they reach their goal, it's not external conflicts that get in their way, but internal challenges. The Ellie and Joel dynamic in the first half of The Last of Us was based on a job. Starting with season 1, episode 6, the pair begin to realize, and fear, the familial love that's developed between them.

Ellie And Joel Meet Some Strangers On The Frontier

Florence And Marlon Welcome Joel And Ellie To Their Home

The Last of Us season 1, episode 6, picks up 3 months after the events in Kansas City, and Joel and Ellie have gotten so used to not seeing infected or people, they've begun to let their guard down. They're not totally naive though, so when they stumble across a cabin in the middle of nowhere, guns are drawn. Inside, they find an elderly woman, Florence (Elaine Miles), who is soon joined by her husband, Marlon (Graham Greene), and these characters, who are new to The Last of Us universe, prove honest enough that eventually weapons are lowered.

Joel and Ellie have soup with their new friends and the couple tell the travelers that there have been no sightings of infected or marauders anywhere near their lands. However, they mention the "River of Death". They don't know why, but the edge of the river on the opposite side is lined with bodies. Naturally, that's just the direction Joel and Ellie are going.

Florence and Marlon show a different side of life in The Last of Us. Since the start of the show, everything Ellie has seen has been touched by the Infected. Florence and Marlon reveal that there are still pockets of the world that have more or less remained unchanged. It's a scene like this one that shows the next few episodes of The Last of Us will not be the same brand of excitement and terror that has come previously.

Joel Is Reunited With His Brother Tommy In Jackson, Wyoming

Tommy And Maria Are Married And Having A Baby

After Joel and Ellie cross the River of Death, they're confronted by the people who are supposedly responsible for all the bodies on the shore. The pair is surrounded by an armed band all on horseback, led by a masked woman. Joel tells them his name, which somehow gains him and Ellie access to the armed group's compound: the fortified city of Jackson, Wyoming. There, the masked woman reveals herself as Maria (Rutina Wesley), and the reason she knows who Joel is, is because she's married to Tommy (Gabriel Luna), Joel's presumed dead brother.

Tommy and Joel's reunion is heartwarming as the brothers tearfully embrace, both believing the other to have died. Tommy shows Joel and Ellie around Jackson and brings him to a bar, a rare luxury in a post-infected America. There Tommy and Joel reveal a bit more about their backstory. They discuss the terrible actions of their past, murder among the worst of them. While Joel says they did what they needed to survive, Tommy doesn't so easily forgive himself and says there were other ways to survive. The success of the peaceful Jackson serving as evidence.

Tommy's revelation that he and Maria are having a baby is enough to send Joel into a panic attack, his second of the episode, perhaps a subconscious effect on him is growing to view Ellie as a daughter, and what that could mean for him. Later, Joel admits his fears to his brother. He tells Tommy he's not as sharp as he once was, and he fears again, which he thinks puts him in danger, which puts Ellie in danger.

Ellie Settles Into Life In Jackson

Maria Tells Ellie About Joel's Daughter, Sarah

As Joel has his heart-to-heart with Tommy, Ellie tours Jackson, marveling at what a normal city looks like. She's only known Boston, Kansas City, and the small communities in between. Never before has she seen a functioning, safe society. She can't help but be amazed at what teens and kids used to worry about before the Cordyceps infection began. Looking at a room filled with t-shirts, movie posters, and pictures of boys, Ellie can't believe the trivial things she would have had to bother with had she been born a few decades earlier.

She visits Maria, and Maria gives Ellie a bit more information about her guardian, information that also explains Maria's chilly reception of Joel. Maria reveals that Joel had a daughter, Sarah, who was killed, which Ellie says explains a lot. Then Maria gets serious and warns her about Joel. From her point of view, it was Joel who forced Tommy into leading a criminal and violent life, and he's still the same man he once was. Her warning is clear, Ellie needs to watch out for him, telling her, "The only people who can betray us are the ones we trust."

Joel Debates Leaving Ellie Behind

Ellie Says She Only Feels Safe With Joel

With his increasing fear of losing someone he's slowly coming to admit he loves, and seeing the safety of Jackson, Joel resolves to leave Ellie behind. He tries to scare her away, coldly telling her he's not her father, and she's not his daughter, but Ellie sees right through him. She calls his bluff, saying they both know she would only be safe with Joel. Joel prepares to head out the next morning alone, but then he waits. After only a few minutes, Ellie comes out and hops on his horse, the unspoken bond between the two stronger than ever.

Ellie And Joel Find The University Of Eastern Colorado Abandoned

Joel Is Stabbed And Ellie Prepares To Care For Him

As they travel together to meet the Fireflies at the University of Eastern Colorado, the pair drop whatever barriers had remained between them, and for the first time, they're a team, and they admit as much. Joel teaches Ellie the finer points of football and shooting, and Ellie asks all the questions she wants, getting answers from Joel now. When they finally reach the campus, however, they find it abandoned. The lab's apes seem to be the only living things around.

As they slowly search the area, a band of brigands arrives unexpectedly. Joel easily dispatches them but receives a knife wound in the process. It's not some shallow cut, that could be it for Joel. As he passes in and out of consciousness, Ellie promises to take care of him, and it's hard to be skeptical of her resolve after everything that has happened in The Last of Us season 1, episode 6, "Kin".