These Cordyceps [Spoilers Aplenty]

[SPOILERS IN THIS POST.]

I need to talk about cordyceps. 

No, not really. I need to talk about the ending of 'The Last of Us' (Season 1 premiered in January 2023 with nine episodes), the decision that Joel made. So this post is going to be full of spoilers, and probably makes sense to those who have watched the television series. It's adapted from a video game, but to me, it's purely a television drama. 

This must be the most unscary 'zombie' show in the past two years or something. The humans-turned-cordyceps don't appear that often. They don't even look particularly scary. This show doesn't try to hit you on the make-up and the gore. It has stuck to the good old genre of storytelling. It uses a ton of flashbacks to tell you what the characters went through, and it tells us of Ellie's birth circumstances. I don't know if it's necessary, but hell, it makes for good watching. The scriptwriters are damn good.

S1E3's heartbreaking story of gay partners Bill and Frank struck all the right notes for me. It probably shocked the conservative flank. Whatever. This absolutely tragic Episode 3 is all sorts of ground-breaking.

[ALL THE SPOILERS ARE AHEAD.] 

Now. The Ending. 

The Guardian's Andy Welch wrote, 

The way this final showdown was intercut with Ellie waking up on the back seat of the car was fantastic. In fact, the whole shootout was so powerful and shot in such a way as to lessen the impact of what was happening. Joel never became the villain, despite carrying out such a bloody, brutal and sadistic act. He killed Fireflies who had surrendered, he calmly stabbed another when he ran out of bullets. But he did it all for his little girl, the one he could save. He was acting out of love and out of vengeance. This was perhaps what he wished he’d done the night Sarah was killed instead of putting his hands up while a soldier aimed a gun at him and his daughter. He had had 20 years to live with that – there was no way he was going to let it happen again, even if a cure for humanity was on the line.

That moral dilemma. How does Joel choose one life over every other life? Has he damned humanity? Reddit exploded with medical residents commenting on the glaringly obvious medical malpractice in the finale. I had lots of fun going through it. 

Well. I take Joel's stand and perspective. There will be repercussions, but hey, that sets the tone for Season 2! In this post-apocalyptic world, can you blame anyone for being selfish? I don't even know what kind of morals I will hold on to if my world turns upside down into this apocalyptic mess?

My point is CHOICE. Ellie was not told of the consequences of her 'helping' medical science and mankind, or how the surgery would be done. If she had been given the full picture, and she still makes the choice to hand herself over to the medical team, well knowing that she will die, then so be it.

The Fireflies don't seem to have enough data to do such a delicate surgery. Can't they take living tissue samples without doing brain surgery? Do a spinal tap? The science sucks. If the science failed, they would have killed the only person they know of who might be a cure. 

And, that giraffe is real. The set of an abandoned hospital is recreated. But the animal is as real as the come. The production crew and the actors packed up and went to Calgary Zoo to film it on location.