The Last Of Us’ Lamar Johnson Talks Fighting Infected And Gut-Wrenching Scenes

Another The Last of Us episode has debuted and, as such, extra heartbreak has performed out on our televisions. Seemingly every week, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) discover themselves in the course of a devastating scenario and the fifth installment of the HBO sequence’ first season was no different–especially after introducing recreation characters Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard) into the combo.

Warning: The following comprises spoilers for Episode 5 of HBO’s The Last of Us. If you have not watched it but, head over to HBO Max now to catch up.

Henry and Sam have been first launched on the finish of Episode 4, holding Joel and Ellie at gunpoint. In Episode 5, although, the 4 workforce as much as escape Kansas City collectively, bringing down the wrath of Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) and her military of revolutionaries that management town.

Of course, that is The Last of Us, so there’s additionally a unending menace of the contaminated. It appears as soon as upon a time, all the contaminated have been pushed into tunnels underneath town, the place they nonetheless stay to this day–until they do not. While chasing down Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam, Kathleen’s group causes some critical injury, which opens up a gap within the floor, permitting dozens of infected–including the present’s first gigantic bloater–to escape their subterranean jail and assault everybody in sight.

And whereas the bloater itself could also be created utilizing visible results, the scene was slightly intense to movie, in keeping with Johnson. Speaking to GameSpot and TV Guide, the actor defined, “With this show, there were so many practical effects so a lot of what you’re seeing is actually there. they blew up cars, blew up houses, like even when the car sinks, all of that actually happened. When they’re coming out of the floor. there were maybe 70 extras all in make up, that was very much real. Watching all that happen and all the stunts and all this kind choreographing with the cameras running through all this kind of stuff, all the craziness.”

He continued, “You can tell that they really truly cared about the makeup, and these clickers and the infected and the bloater, they really, really cared about these characters and really kind of bringing them to life in such a real way–that it feels very real. So even when we were acting in the scene, we didn’t need to act.”

Of course, as high-impact as that scene might have been, it pales compared to the climax of the episode, through which we study that Sam, Henry’s little brother, has grow to be contaminated. It leaves him with no various however to kill Sam, maintaining him from an eternity as an contaminated monster. Then, although, Henry takes a dire subsequent step and kills himself.

“What motivates him to want to make that decision is Sam is all he lives for,” Johnson stated. “That’s truly the only thing he cares about in this world. And that’s what’s keeping him going, you know, wanting him to survive, he has to be strong for Sam. And when Sam is gone, who does he have to live for? This world is already tough as it is. Losing someone that you’ve fought, you’ve sacrificed so much for, it’s tough to see them gone. I think in that moment, he just would rather not exist in the environment because of how tough it is. He also believes in a higher power, and he believes that, in this moment, he wants to join his brother.”

It’s additionally arduous to disregard Henry seeing what Joel has grow to be within the face of shedding a liked one and eager to keep away from that. “I also commend Joel for being able to stomach literally holding his daughter in his arms[…]It’s very tough,” Johnson added. “And I commend him but you see what that has done to him, right? It’s kind of really hardened him and it’s jaded him in many ways. And I don’t think Henry would want to live his life that way, sort of being emotionless and sort of hardened in a way.”

So what initially regarded like a brand new pair of survivors added to Joel and Ellie’s cross-country tour, has as a substitute spelled out extra dying and unhappiness for our dynamic duo. Based on Ellie’s response to burying Sam, although, this is perhaps the devastation that truly breaks the younger woman. While Joel is bowled over placing the 2 brothers to relaxation, it is Ellie who rapidly tells him it is time for them to maneuver on. It’s almost an entire inverse of the response to Tess’s dying earlier within the season. It stays to be seen precisely how properly (or badly) Ellie will probably be holding up within the subsequent installment, because the duo proceed their seek for Tommy (Gabriel Luna).

The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO.