‘The Last of Us’ star opens up on preparing for this week’s heartbreaking tragedy

Photo via HBO

Warning: Major spoilers for the fifth episode of The last of us Consequences.

We’ve been treated to an early release of Endure and Survive, the fifth installment of The last of us, as the show aimed to avoid competing with the Super Bowl that Sunday. Considering how events unforgivingly unfolded into the tear ducts, we wonder if this expanded screening has been a blessing or a curse, so to speak.

While there’s no question it’s gotten us just as addicted as every episode up to this point, Endure and Survive is certainly not for the faint of heart. The episode officially introduced us to brothers Henry and Sam, and viewers who are already familiar with the game may have felt a queasy feeling as soon as they got on screen. It was still a good time to keep our fingers crossed for more creative freedom, but it wasn’t to be.

When the pair cross paths with Joel and Ellie, they agree to help each other escape from Kansas City and narrowly escape with their lives after finding both the revolutionaries and some once-sleeping infected on their heels. Later that night, Sam secretly reveals his infection to Ellie, who tries to cure Sam by mixing some of her blood with the wound. However, it was all for naught the next morning when a newly infected Sam attacks Ellie, drawing the attention of Henry, who is forced to shoot his little brother. Unable to bear the psychological damage of all this, Henry takes his own life shortly thereafter.

Watching it all go down with a dry eye wasn’t an easy task, to put it lightly, and according to Lamar Johnson, who portrayed Henry on the show and recently participated in an interview with Collider, it couldn’t have been much easier to seep into, either such a scene, but that made the challenge all the more appealing to him.

“To be honest it was really nerve wracking when I first read it because by that point I had already got the job and I knew in my head what I was getting into. But I also enjoy challenges here. I enjoy things that make me nervous because it means I care if I’m nervous about it.

If showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann somehow manage to deliver another episode as emotionally brutal as Endure and Survive, they might have to brace themselves for a few lawsuits. The hearts of their audiences can only take so much more, and we’re only halfway through the series.

The last of us is available to stream on HBO Max, with new episodes releasing every Sunday until the season ends on March 12. A second season has been announced.