The Last of Us Episode 6, “Kin” was a quieter episode, relatively, but had perhaps the most number of references, easter eggs, and secrets. The episode was a rather contained affair, with the majority of it taking place in Maria and Tommy’s town in Jackson.
As is the case with all media that are adaptations, there will be potential spoilers for Season 2. One of the coolest things the show is able to accomplish is carefully straddling the line between the original Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. The show occasionally draws from the sequel to flesh out important details that weren’t revealed in the original game from 2013.
Here, we take a look at some of the finer details and references that were hidden in plain sight for eagle-eyed fans.
See More: Biggest moments from The Last of Us Episode 6, “Kin”
Joel’s interrogation technique
We are given hints about Joel’s extremely murky past when the pair come across the couple in the wilderness and inquire about their location on the map. We are clued into Joel’s extremely effective interrogation style.
While Joel didn’t need to resort to violence with the couple, we see that he tells his wife to point out their location and cross-references it with the husband without telling either one what the other said. This is lifted right out of the game as he has been known to do this quite frequently.
This only goes on to illustrate that Joel has been an extremely dangerous man and it is no surprise that he has made it 25 years into the apocalypse as a smuggler.
Jackson in its full glory
[Potential Spoilers]
When the pair finally arrive in Jackson, they witness the bustling town and how incredibly self-sufficient it is. In the 2013 game, we were told about Jackson and saw surrounding areas, but never actually got to see the town itself. Neil Druckmann, director of the game and co-showrunner on The Last of Us, explained that Jackson was to make an appearance in the game, but was later pulled due to budget and scoping restrictions.
The town has been recreated with great detail and care, just as we remember from The Last of Us Part II. We see familiar locations from the game as we bear witness to perhaps one of the best adaptations in recent memory.
Related: The Last of Us episode 6 committed an error reminiscent of a Game of Thrones coffee cup incident
A familiar face, maybe?
In a bid to avoid potential spoilers for the second season of The Last of Us, we shall be extremely vague about this one. As Ellie and Joel eat in the hall, Ellie throws expletives at an onlooking girl. While this could have been complete throwaway moment, it might have caught the attention of fans of The Last of Us Part II.
While it hasn’t outright been confirmed, the girl looked suspiciously similar to the character design of Dina, one of the most important characters from the game. The actress clothing and general character design resembled that of Dina from the second game. The character was played by Shannon Woodward in the game.
Tommy’s sniper rifle
The first episode and a few others included references to Tommy’s military past and we see him sport a rather menacing-looking sniper rifle. Again, in a bid to avoid spoilers, we are likely to see more sniper rifle action in the second season of the show.
Tommy is a trained soldier and one of the deadliest characters in the show. We might not have seen Tommy in action just yet, but rest assured, fans of the game know just how incredibly lethal and menacing the man is. No one is quite sure what The Last of Us Season 2 looks like or if it will follow the storyline from the game, but rest assured, keep an eye out for the gun.
