The final action scene didn't really do much for me. I mean, it escalated quickly and looked nice, but also felt a bit too fan-service when they showcase the bloater.
There's a lot of moments that feel too much like explicit fan-service across the whole series. But I'm not sure how you do showcase that without it feeling like that.
I'm not sure you can, without being too subtle that you don't even notice it.
The one subtle nod I kind of liked was the bloater ripping Perry's head off in a death sequence very similar to the one in the game when you get killed by bloaters.
Also, the small twist I mentioned, where Ellie realizes that Sam was infected, I liked the idea of Ellie faking that she believes her blood will fix Sam, to at least make his last moments peaceful and not scared of dying. But then I would've expected her to somehow alert Joel and Henry that he was bit, after Sam falls asleep. That probably would've led to Henry reacting in some other way.
By just sleeping beside him, she either shows she really believed there was a chance her blood could fix it, which is very naive (not sure you can pull that since Ellie really isn't that young). Or maybe you could say she just fell asleep without wanting to?
In the game Sam keeps it to himself that he was infected. It's much more bleak the way they did it in the game, to think Sam was alone in his last moments. But that is also a bit too convenient that a kid of Sam's age would keep that to himself. But I think he was a bit older in the game than in the series.
Anyway, maybe I'm just nitpicking. It was an alright episode, but aside from the final scene involving Sam and Henry, it didn't really have anything remarkable.
).
