Wow. Season One is a grim line-up! It’s a dark world out there.
I’ve bolded the episode titles as I work through the Storytelling Enneagram.
When You’re Lost in the Darkness
ONE
This encompasses the first half of the episode, including all of pre-outbreak life. Within here Sarah dies and twenty years pass. We’re also introduced to post-outbreak life under a military government.
Establish Joel and Tess; establish Marlene and Ellie.
TWO
Joel meets Ellie. This Trouble moment looks all the way forward to the final episode. He’s tasked with delivering her to the Fireflies at the Two, and he succeeds at the Eight (although not in the way we expect).
When Ellie discovers the radio code in Joel’s apartment, we also begin to see their dynamics together. We get the hint that their dominating and crusty personalities might be double Eights, and we see which person is going to lead the other. Ellie outsmarts Joel right from the start.
THREE
As Tess, Joel, and Ellie sneak out of the QZ, a guard catches them and tests them for cordyceps. When he reaches for Ellie, she attacks him. Joel’s reaction is the Three. He flashes back to Sarah’s death, takes that pain, and beats the living crap out of the guard. His damaged and wounded hand is shown in future episodes, letting us know that this beat will continue to resonate.
FOUR
We learn, along with Tess and Joel, that Ellie was bitten three weeks ago and hasn’t turned into an infected.
Infected
Ellie explains her immunity, just to make things clear. Joel is grumpy about the situation, but Tess is in charge, and he follows her orders.
We get to know more about the characters and the state of the world. Joel and Ellie aren’t a team yet, which is perfectly proper for a Four.
In the State House, the place that was supposed to have a Firefly base, the trio is attacked and Tess becomes infected. A dead woman walking, she stays behind to clear their escape chance.
Long, Long Time
This is the Bill and Frank episode. It’s a beautiful, complete story within the cordyceps universe.
For the season-wide story, it’s a critical moment. Joel, as per Tess’ instructions, intends to leave Ellie with the men; let them figure out what to do with her. Their death and Bill’s heartfelt letter lead Joel in a different direction. His character’s intention — I want to find Tommy after I pass Ellie onto someone else — fails. There is no one else. Joel must shift: I want to find Tommy, and I’ll bring Ellie along. They’re not a team yet, but they are now officially traveling companions.
Please Hold to My Hand
Put bluntly, this episode continues the character- and world-building. Ellie saves Joel’s life in the laundromat, which shifts their power dynamic. Eventually, Joel will follow her orders. Here is the first trust moment along the way.
Endure and Survive
And more of the same. Inside Joel is a decent man. The bond between Henry and Sam moves him, as does Ellie’s friendship with Sam. Near the end of the episode Joel invites Henry to join them, which he wouldn’t normally choose. Unspoken, he’s following Ellie’s lead, who has made these two part of their family.
The deaths of Sam and Henry hit hard. The sense that the only team possible is Ellie and Joel intensifies.
Kin
They find Tommy. Truths are faced. Joel breaks down, feeling he’s no longer sharp enough to protect Ellie on the road south to the Firefly base. Even though Tommy’s wife is pregnant, he agrees to replace Joel.
SWITCH
Joel’s intention — I want to find Tommy — is solved. Now he needs something new to drive him.
FIVE
Joel decides to give Ellie the choice, and she immediately picks Joel as her escort. That’s it. All reservations are done and this is a solid team, as is proper for a Five. Joel’s new intention — I want to protect Ellie — begins.
When they get to the Firefly base, no one is there but raiders. Joel is stabbed.
Left Behind
This is the Ellie and Riley flashback in the mall. We learn that Ellie won’t give up (although we pretty much already knew that), and she sticks by Joel.
When We Are in Need
This is the gawdawful episode, of which I will speak little. After defeating the villain during much trauma, Ellie walks from the building as Joel comes to find her.
SIX
They hug as father and daughter, and Joel uses his endearment for Sarah, “baby girl,” for Ellie. At the Three, Joel begins the mash-up between his biological daughter and his post-outbreak daughter. Here, the circle is complete.
Look for the Light
We briefly meet Anna, Ellie’s mother, as she gives birth while attacked by an infected.
SEVEN
Marlene decides, per Anna’s instructions, to take the infant and shoot the mother before she can transform.
This may not feel like a choice — who would deny a beloved friend the chance to die with her soul and wits still intact? However, this conundrum comes up repeatedly during the season. Frank chooses his own time of death and Bill follows him. Henry doesn’t choose, he only reacts to Sam’s attack. Afterward, he does choose and shoots himself. Killing his brother has destroyed him. Riley and Ellie choose their way to die until Ellie, to her surprise and horror, must kill Riley in order to survive.
Marlene can technically walk away and lock Anna in behind her. She doesn’t, though. She honors her friend’s choice.
EIGHT
When Joel accepts Ellie as his post-apocalypse daughter, he starts to get weird. He tries to cheer her up with a forced attention. Chef Boyardee, guitar lessons, a request for the pun book. He’s try-hard and she’s distant, still recovering from the evil preacher rape attempt.
As Ellie relaxes (helped by giraffes) Joel opens up about his own failed suicide. (Another choice related to death.) Would our team have returned to an equilibrium? We don’t know because the Fireflies capture them, knocking them unconscious.
Marlene tells Joel when he wakes that Ellie’s in surgery to remove brain cells infiltrated with cordyceps. This will most likely kill her. And Marlene lied to Ellie about the procedure and its outcome.
Marlene, who honored her friend Anna’s ability to choose, denies it for her daughter. She has basically sent Ellie to her death, another casualty of life under cordyceps. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one. In this regard, she chooses by the same principle that villainous Kathleen in KC did.
Of course, Joel attacks and kills everyone in the building. All he cares about is his Ellie-daughter. He even shoots Marlene and lies about it to Ellie. He lies about all of it, telling Ellie a cure is medically impossible and they’re now free to live where they want.
NINE
As Joel and Ellie overlook Tommy’s home of Jackson, she asks point blank if he’s told the truth. Lying, he says yes.
CRITICAL NOTES
Notice that the Firefly motto is broken into episode title bookends. When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light. The light isn’t as promised, though.
I needn’t say that the Enneagram structure of Season One is excellent. The Three/Six, the Two/Eight, the Switch. This is great writing.
The Seven, the notion that people choose to die (or people choose to kill) is utterly fascinating. Except for Bill and Frank, whose death circumstances could’ve taken place during pre-apocalypse times, everyone we see can justify their actions based on cordyceps. It allows for a wide moral latitude, which can cross into a very gray area. Marlene feels absolutely correct in snuffing out a young woman’s life. In taking away Ellie’s free will Marlene, the revolutionary, behaves as her enemy FEDRA might. Both make decisions because they believe cordyceps forces their hand. Ironically, Ellie would probably have chosen to sacrifice herself. It’s Joel Marlene should’ve lied to.
As I mentioned separately, Joel and Ellie are different versions of Enneagram Eights. Both are protagonists, both are hero numbers. This is probably rooted in their origin as game avatars. Everyone wants to play as a badass. To continue that into a structured film story is very interesting, though. Daring. They can have similar reactions to danger, yet still be unique characters.
A show this dark needs a strong structure. They really made an effort to respect the gaming perspective yet bring something actors could dominate. It’s extremely well done. Congratulations to all the showrunners.