The HBO TV adaptation of the hit game series The Last of Us is the gift that keeps on giving! With episode two, “Infected,” we get some clickers, explosions, and a bunch more The Last of Us Easter eggs that you may recognize if you’re a fan of the video game series. Beware, spoilers ahead!
All The Last of Us TV Series Episode 2 Easter Eggs
Ellie’s Infection Origin Story — While Joel, Tess, and Ellie are making their way through the desolate Boston city, Ellie explains to the others that she was bitten sneaking into an off-limits mall in the Boston quarantine zone. Tess asked her if she went in there alone, to which she said she was. However, if you’ve played the expansion content for the first game, The Last of Us: Left Behind, you’d know that she goes into that mall with her best friend Riley where they both get bitten, but Riley died from hers while Ellie did not.
Tess Has a Sweet Lighter — If you’re a fan of playing more titles from Naughty Dog like the Uncharted series, you may have picked up on Tess’s lighter. It’s none other than the lighter of Nathan Drake’s older brother in Uncharted, Sam Drake. It’s very cool to have an Easter egg in episode two that spans not just The Last of Us but across multiple franchises!
The Museum — One of the most action-packed and tense moments is when the trio encounter their first set of clickers while navigating through the museum. This is also an iconic moment in the game where you really learn just how terrifyingly powerful the clickers are. Just as they showed in the TV series, they can take a heck of a lot of damage before they finally go down. Unlike my experience in playing the game, however, Joel didn’t die 20 times while trying to get past them.
Bloaters — While on their journey through Boston, Ellie asks if there are infected that explode fungus spores on people. While Joel and Tess seem to not know of this type of infected yet, players of the game will know that bloaters are the type of infected that do exactly this, and it’s likely we’ll see them later on in the show.
Ellie Can’t Swim — In the games Ellie isn’t able to swim, and this results in a bunch of gameplay helping Ellie get across bodies of water. It was good to see this referenced in the show when Ellie, Joel, and Tess come across some water they need to wade through and Ellie hesitates and tells them she can’t swim.
Hello, Room for Three — When the trio first enter the hotel, Ellie makes her way over to the reception desk, hits the bell, and pretends to be checking them in. This is almost shot for shot a scene from The Last of Us Part I.
Stuffed Giraffe Spotted — In one shot a stuffed giraffe can be spotted during the episode, which fans may recognize from a really feel-good scene in the games.
Up We Go — During the scenes at the Boston hotel, Joel gives Tess a boost to get through a crawlspace. This is a callback to the games where Joel gives Tess and Ellie many a boost up to navigate different areas.
Those are all the Easter eggs that we spotted in episode two of the HBO The Last of Us TV series, “Infected”!
