‘The Last Of Us’ Season 1 Episode 6 Non-Spoiler Review – “Kin”

Tonight’s episode of Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s post-apocalyptic drama television program, The Last of Us, begins the three-part winter portion of the series’ first season. Following last weekend’s fifth episode, the series brings us back to Joel Miller’s (Pedro Pascal) younger brother, Tommy Miller (guest star Gabriel Luna).

The sixth episode of the series’ premiere season is titled, “Kin”. It is written for television by Mazin and directed by Jasmila Žbanić.

In this review, I will be discussing The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 6. There will be no spoilers present, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion as I will discuss some character developments and some references to the source material, i.e., the 2013 video game.

Please note that I have seen all nine episodes of this first season ahead of the season’s release.

The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 6 Synopsis

According to WarnerBrothers Discovery, here is the synopsis for The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 6–“Kin”.

TBA

Discussion

With about 59 minutes’ worth of runtime, there are sufficient notes to make about this week’s episode of The Last of Us. “Kin” primarily focuses on Mazin’s screenwriting, adapting the beginning of the winter season portion of the video game, beginning with Joel (Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) arrival at Jackson Wyoming. Aside from that, the best elements of this episode have to be Paino’s production designs, Maier’s shots of the snowy environment, and Summers’ winter clothing for the series’ characters.

The set pieces consist of the Native couple Marlon (Graham Greene) and Florence’s (Elaine Miles) home and its surroundings, Tommy (Luna) and Maria’s (guest star Rutina Wesley) Jackson settlement, and the little infamous university location. The Jackson set piece is my favorite of the episode, as it shows viewers and long-time fans how much shelter there is for the families in the town. The only thing that can top this in Season 2 as a form of juxtaposition would be the Washington Liberation Front, a base for former members of the Fireflies, including the character Abby.

My main concern about the last set piece is how long it lasts on-screen. In the 2013 video game, it took a little while to traverse the campus. Eventually, this led to Joel getting into a fight with a few men, resulting in him landing on and being impaled by a piece of metal on the ground. However, in this episode, there is not much of a journey. Instead, Joel and Ellie easily walk in and go upstairs to find a clue to their next destination.

Jackson

The Wyoming settlement is not too far from what we had in the video game. During a tour guide, Tommy and Maria take Joel and Ellie through the town, where children play and families celebrate Christmas. They are taken through what seems to be a pen full of sheep and a stable for the horses. We also see Tommy and Maria’s household along with the home in which Joel and Ellie would be staying. Ellie’s bedroom is one that is part of another household outside of Jackson in the video–a journey that started due to Ellie running away. However, in this episode, the journey never happens, much like that in Episode 3.

For the most part, Jackson is a quiet and simple town. The residents watch movies– children would sit in chairs while the adults stand off to the side. The episode does tease what Ellie is to become in Season 2, like The Last of Us Part II‘s version of the character. Perhaps, the only thing that could disturb the peace is a quarrel amongst the residents like Part II did. Although, we probably will not get that until next season.

What is particularly interesting about the appearance of sheep is the three times it is brought up. At the beginning of the episode, Joel tells Ellie what he plans to do after they meet the Fireflies out West and make a cure out of the latter’s immunity. His aspirations involve sheep, but he later tells Ellie that he also wants to be a singer. The university campus’s mascot is the “Big Horns”, which Joel says are akin to sheep. These could signal that Joel’s dreams could be fulfilled, or that maybe there is more out there in the world for him. Nonetheless, it seems that his mission is for Ellie’s dreams to come to fruition instead.

Easter Eggs and References

The callbacks in this episode of The Last of Us are excellent in Ellie’s development as a character. The first one involves Ellie’s aspiration to become an astronaut and travel into outer space. This could be because of her readings of the Savage Starlight graphic novels. Although, the episode does at least confirm it is because of how much she read into the line of work, studying the likes of figures, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, and her favorite, Sally Ride. Ellie’s dream is a huge development as it further allows Joel to find ways to keep her happy in this dark, cruel world. In the Part II video game, the two go to a science museum in celebration of Ellie’s birthday. Here, they see dinosaurs and spaceships, and Ellie has the happiest days of her life.

The pilot episode‘s inclusion of dogs–the Millers’ next-door neighbor’s pet, Mercy–confirms how potent and useful canines are in detecting who may be Infected. Such was the case with the family’s elderly neighbor as the dog just sat and watched. In this week’s episode, the Jackson residents use dogs to track down the scents of possible Infected individuals. This does not become an element until the second video game, where the writers decided to crank up the stakes.

The horse, Shimmer, makes an introduction as an infant horse in a stable. Shimmer is the horse whom–five years later in Part II–Ellie and a companion rode on to search for an enemy figure, Abby Anderson.

The Smaller Details

Maria further helps Ellie with her womanly matters by placing a menstrual cup on the girl’s bed. This specific element of Ellie learning to grow as a woman continues on from the beginning of the third episode, where she had found a box of tampons and her face lights up with curiosity. Maybe, they do not teach everything in FEDRA military school…

At the college campus, there are no voice recordings like the first game had. Instead, there is a map with pins tacked onto it, revealing Joel and Ellie’s next destination: Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Crew Behind The Last of Us

The Last of Us is created for television by Mazin and Druckmann.

Greg Spence and Cecil O’Connor serve as the producers of the series. Jacqueline Lesko is the co-executive producer. Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, Evan Wells (Naughty Dog), Rose Lam (Schmigadoon!), Carolyn Strauss, Druckmann, and Mazin are the executive producers.

Christine A. Maier serves as the cinematographer for the episode. Roger Vernon, Franco Tata, Adam Wallensten, and Eben Bolter do additional photography.

Timothy A. Good and Emily Mendez are the editors. Mark Hartzell and Cindy Mollo do additional editing. Timothy A. Kuper, Ben Cook, and Andrew McGivney are the assistant editors.

Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain) scores the music for the episode, with David Fleming doing additional scoring. Jake Staley and Juan Luqui do additional music for the episode. Michael J. Benavente is the supervising sound supervisor. Christopher Battaglia and Chris Terhune serve as sound designers.

Evyen J. Klean (Game of Thrones, Watchmen, Euphoria, Scenes from a Marriage, Peacemaker, House of the Dragon) and Ian Broucek (Peacemaker, Orphan: First Kill) are the music supervisors. Maarten Hofmeijer serves as the music editor. From PlayStation Studios, Scott Hanau serves as the score supervisor. Andrew Buresh, Anthony Caruso, and Scott Bergstrom do the music engineering and editing. Evan M. Greenspan does the music licensing for the show.

Victoria Thomas is the casting director for the episode. Corinne Clark and Jennifer Page are the Canadian casting directors for the episode. Megan Bayliss serves as the Canadian casting associate. Elizabeth Brown is a casting associate. Alyson Lockwood is the extras casting director. Isabel Barker is the cast assistant.

Denton Edge and Tommy Clarke serve as the stunt doubles for Joel.

Taryn Roberts and Maria Robinson are the stunt doubles for Ellie.

Aesthetics

John Paino serves as the production designer. Don Macaulay is the supervising art director.

Callum Webster and Stevo Bedford are the art directors for the episode. Hitoshi Okamoto, Nathan Blackie, Matt Vest, Oshy Parasol, and Marie Massolin serve as the assistant art directors. Paul Healy is the set decorator. Alan McCullagh, Alexandra M. Lingnau, and Jason Coxworthy are the assistant set decorators.

Cynthia Ann Summers is the costume designer for the series. Kelsey Chobotar and Rebecca Toon are the assistant costume designers.

Chris Glimsdale is the head of the hair department. Penny Lea Thompson serves as the key hairstylist. Courtney Ullrich is Pedro Pascal’s personal hairstylist.

Connie Parker is the head of the makeup department. Joanna Mireau (Peacemaker) is the key makeup artist.

Joel Whist is the special effects supervisor. Alex Wang is the visual effects supervisor. Sean Nowlan is the VFX producer. Luke Botteron is the VFX editor. Baljot Bhatti and Ryan Faulkner are the VFX assistant editors.

The Cast of The Last of Us

Bella Ramsey portrays Ellie, the female protagonist of the series. Pedro Pascal portrays Joel Miller, a survivor of the Cordyceps outbreak and the main male protagonist.

Lamar Johnson guest stars as Henry, an ally of Ellie and Joel’s in Kansas City.

Rutina Wesley portrays Maria, Tommy’s wife. Nico Parker appears as Sarah Miller, Joel’s late daughter.

Graham Greene and Elaine Miles portray Marlon and Florence, two Native Americans living a secluded life in Wyoming, respectively. Gabriel Luna portrays Tommy Miller, Joel’s younger brother.

Toby Levins plays a man on a horse. Miël Logan plays a little girl, while Paolina Van Kleef appears as staring girl.

Tiahra Allen plays Sarah Miller at 9 years old.

Performances and Character Developments

The flourishing dynamic between Joel and Ellie gets heavier with progression. More than their time with Tommy and Maria, I am delighted to see the characters interacting with Natives–Marlon and Florence–the nicest characters in the series thus far. Joel questioning the couple is an interesting foreshadowing for those who have played the first video game. The way he speaks to them–what he says and how he says it–teases and parallels a similar dialogue that he has with bad people, so I like the linguistic juxtaposition being established here.

The episode showcases more of Joel’s post-traumatic stress and the sort of panic attacks that come with it. Pascal delivers one of the strongest performances here as Joel in a scene with Tommy that takes place in a workshop. The character confesses his flaws to his brother that prevent him from moving forward and give him what he feels to be a weakness, thus his inability to protect Ellie from the world. This further convinces me that Joel’s fate in the post-apocalypse will be one full of meaning, and fans will cry when it happens, but not today.

Maria Miller

Wesley is a splendid addition to the episode as Maria. Given her background, it is important to note how important the character is as the voice of reason to Ellie–so the girl does not end up like her companion and father figure–as well as to Tommy–the husband who makes rash choices in the future. I am curious to know how the writers deal with her in the series’ second season and how large of a role she will play. It is not that the character dies in any way, but it would be interesting to see how other characters’ decisions impact her as a member of the Miller family.

Final Thoughts on The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 6

“Kin” is a good episode of The Last of Us with some inspiring moments, many heartfelt ones, and a few heartbreaking ones. Some parts of the video game’s journey were truncated for this episode and for a risky reason. I do think that what becomes of Joel at the end of this episode was not as done well as in the video game. Everything that led up to that point was excellent, and I just felt that there could have been something more impactful.

In terms of the bigger picture, the episode confronts morality and mortality as Joel and Ellie engage in a conversation about trust and togetherness. I did love the scene in Ellie’s bedroom where she tells Joel about her biggest fear–which she revealed to Sam in the previous episode. One specific detail about the episode that I love the most is the one or two girls that get Ellie’s attraction, which may tease her relationship with Dina in the second season, as it was in the second video game. Next week’s episode finds our characters at an interlude, and we learn more about Ellie through a flashback narrative. Although, as always, we will get there when we get there.

The Last of Us is now airing on HBO and streaming via HBO Max!

Have you played The Last of Us or its sequel? If so, what are your thoughts? Let us know! For more drama, horror and science-fiction-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Also, if you want a closer look at Ellie, Joel, and the Infected, then you might want to purchase the Artwork of The Last of Us (2013) via Amazon!