The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5 recap: Cordyceps spores in the air

The fifth episode of The Last of Us Season 2 is finally out. Titled "Feel Her Love", episode 5 follows Dina and Ellie through the dangerous streets of Seattle, Washington, to the hospital building where they can find Nora, one of Joel's assailants from the second episode. Danger lurks in every corner in this season 2 episode, but unexpected allies also make their way through.

But most importantly, one of the episode's hyped elements is the introduction of spores. In the games, the virus infects humans through bites and spores in the air; however, the first season changed the spores to cordyceps tendrils. However, "Feel Her Love," the fifth episode of The Last of Us Season 2, reveals that cordyceps in Seattle might have evolved and mutated into the form of spores.

"While the WLF makes a dangerous discovery, Ellie faces a key decision. Later, an unlikely source shares a shocking truth."

SPOILER ALERT: This The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5 recap contains spoilers. Reader discretion advised.

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The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5 recap

Here are some of the important plot points in this episode of The Last of Us Season 2:

• The cold open introduces spores

The episode of The Last of Us Season 2 opens with Alanna Ubach's Hanrahan meeting a visibly shaken WLF sergeant, Elise Park (Hettienne Park). Hanrahan wants to learn why Elise killed some of her men (including her own son) by sealing them inside the basement of the hospital. Elise reveals that those men were infected in the empty basement because of the cordyceps spores in the air.

Elise also reveals that her son revealed that the virus is airborne; thus, she seals the basement from the rest of the hospital for the safety of the others.

• Dina and Ellie encounter the stalkers

Dina and Ellie are out in the open during the night to make their way to the WLF hospital building. They enter an abandoned office, where they choose a particular room. There, the two encounter several stalkers, the smart infected that Ellie encountered in the first episode in Jackson. When all hope seems lost, the two are saved by an unexpected ally from Jackson.

• Jesse comes to the rescue

Jesse rescues Ellie and Dina from the stalker midway through this The Last of Us Season 2 episode. However, there is an unintended side effect. The three have to save themselves from the members of the WLF. They run inside a local park, which the WLF avoids entering. The three mistakenly believe that this place is swarmed with the infected, but that's not the case, as the park is a stronghold of the Seraphites.

After the three witnesses see the Seraphites brutally murdering a WLF soldier, one of the cultists shoots Dina in her leg. Jesse takes Dina to a safe area while Ellie manages to escape to the hospital building to interrogate Nora.

• Ellie finds Nora

The last act of this episode is equally tense as the moments before Joel and Dina are held hostage in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 "Through the Valley". Ellie follows Nora into the basement of the hospital building, which is filled with spores. Nora is infected by the spores, but Ellie's immunity works even against this evolved species of Cordyceps as well.

She begins torturing Nora for information on Abby's whereabouts. As that happens, the screen goes black, revealing a jarring moment.

• An unexpected return

After the screen goes black, the scene cuts to Ellie waking up on her bed in Jackson in the morning. Turns out this scene might be set a few years before the events of The Last of Us Season 2. Pedro Pascal as Joel wakes her up, setting the stage for next week's episode, where Ellie will learn the truth about the season 1 finale, setting Ellie's anger towards Joel in the first episode of this season.

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"Feel Her Love", the fifth episode of The Last of Us Season 2, is currently streaming on Max.