In the episode 8, "When We Are In Need," the bond between Ellie and Joel is further strengthened as they face even darker challenges. Moreover, we witness Ellie's ability to take care of herself and protect Joel when the situation demands it.
The episode begins with a man reading from Revelation 21, describing the creation of a new Heaven and Earth after the passing of the first. As the words are recited, we see a desolate town covered in snow, devoid of life. David, who is reading the passage to a group of desperate and weary survivors, is interrupted by a girl's tears. He comforts her by reciting the following lines from the scripture, which promise an end to suffering and pain. The girl finds solace in his words, and David shows her kindness before leaving.
As David steps outside, he assures the other survivors that they will overcome their current plight. He then speaks to James, asking about the food supplies and suggesting they go hunting to stock up. Despite James' doubts and fears, David insists on his commitment to the cause and rallies him to join him on the hunt.
The scene then shifts back to Joel and Ellie, still hiding out in the basement of the house. Joel's injury has worsened, and Ellie tries to alleviate his suffering by giving him water and sharing their remaining food. When Joel remains unresponsive, Ellie decides to go hunting for more food. While in the woods, she comes across a rabbit but fails to catch it. She soon hears a strange noise and discovers a deer, which she manages to hit with her rifle from a distance. However, the deer runs off, and Ellie follows the trail of blood it leaves behind.
Meanwhile, David and James have also found the wounded deer and attempt to claim it for their own group. However, Ellie confronts them, demanding that they drop their rifles. David compliments her stealth but attempts to negotiate, revealing that his group is hungry and offering to trade with Ellie. Ellie lies and claims to be part of a larger group also in need of food, and David suggests a trade. When Ellie asks for medicine for infections, David agrees to the deal but sends James to retrieve it. As James leaves, David stays behind with Ellie in the woods.
While waiting for James to return with the medicine, David makes small talk with Ellie and asks about her gun, wondering if it belongs to her sick father. He suggests starting a fire in a nearby building, and Ellie reluctantly agrees as long as they bring the deer. As they sit by the fire, David shares the story of how his community came to be and his own journey to finding faith after the outbreak. When he mentions a man named Alec who was murdered by a crazy man traveling with a little girl, Ellie realizes that David is talking about Joel and straightens up. James returns with the medicine, and he and Ellie hold their guns at each other until David tells James to throw the medicine to Ellie. Ellie takes the medicine and runs back to Joel, using it to treat his wound.
Upon returning to David's group, we see that supplies are running low in the kitchen. A man presents some meat that appears suspicious, claiming it's venison when asked by the cooks. The meat is added to a pot, and later it is distributed to the group in the steakhouse. As they consume their meager portions, David and James arrive with the deer. David beams with pride as he presents the deer to his group, but their response is lackluster, and he quickly realizes that James has informed them about the girl. David concedes that they did encounter a girl who was with the man responsible for taking Alec from their group. David declares that he will form a team to find the pair and bring the man to justice the next day. Alec's daughter, the one who was crying earlier, suggests that they should kill both the man and the girl. David approaches her, takes off his glove, and strikes her with it. When her mother attempts to intervene, David gestures for her not to do so. He then assists the girl in getting up, saying that even though Alec is gone, she still has a father, and she must show him respect when he speaks. David sits down as a plate of food is brought to him. He leads the group in prayer, and they all begin eating their portions, hungrily consuming their daily rations.
The following morning, Ellie remains at Joel's side and takes his temperature. The wound appears to be improving, so Ellie administers more medicine to it. She steps outside to fetch snow to feed their horse when she notices birds flying away and David's men searching for them. Ellie hides and watches the search from a distance.
Meanwhile, David warns his group about the dangerous man and declares that they must retrieve the girl. James points out that bringing her back will add to their group's food consumption, but David insists that they cannot abandon her to die. James suggests that it may be God's will for her to die, which causes David to pause and realize that he has gone too far. Despite this, the group continues their search.
Ellie returns to the house and urges Joel to wake up, but he can barely stay conscious. She gives him a knife, instructing him to defend himself if anyone comes downstairs, before leaving to lead the men away from him. Ellie encounters the group and shoots at them, but David orders them to capture her instead of killing her. James shoots Ellie's horse, and another man suggests shooting Ellie, but David stops him by firing a shot into the air. David picks up Ellie and instructs some men to carry the horse, while others are told to continue searching for Joel.
As Joel lies in the house, he hears the footsteps of a man entering. He wakes up and waits as the man searches the room. When the man finds Joel's empty, blood-stained mattress, Joel sneaks up behind him and stabs him in the neck. It seems to have taken all of Joel's remaining strength, as he struggles to get back up.
Meanwhile, Ellie is confined in a caged-off section of a kitchen, with David waiting for her to wake up. When she asks why she's in a cage, David tells her that she's dangerous and that he's afraid of her. He lets her know that the others want to kill her, as if it's a favor he's doing her by keeping her alive. David asks for Ellie's name again, and when she responds with a profanity, he tries to convince her that she needs him for protection. He asks about her friend and tries to convince her that her old life is over and that he's offering her a new beginning. But when Ellie shows hesitation, David reminds her that if she can't trust him, she's alone.
David's men persist in their hunt for Joel, and one of them stumbles upon another member unconscious in the snow. As he approaches to investigate, Joel strikes him with the butt of his firearm and knocks him out too. Inside the house, Joel has one man restrained while he savagely beats another in a chair. When the man he's assaulting denies knowledge of a girl, Joel responds by thrusting his knife into the man's knee, threatening to dislocate his kneecap if he doesn't cooperate. The man finally divulges that the girl is being held at a resort named Silverlake nearby. After Joel uses his knife to force the man to point out the location on a map, he kills him with a stab to the heart. The remaining man refuses to reveal anything, but Joel claims to believe him and bludgeons him to death with a pipe. This display of brutality offers a glimpse into Joel's past as a ruthless and dangerous individual, who will do whatever it takes to ensure his survival.
Ellie continues her futile attempt to escape from her cage while David enters with a plate of food. Ellie notices something on the floor outside the cage, which terrifies her. It's a human ear, and David confirms her suspicion. He assures her that the food he brought is just deer meat and denies any intention to chop her up. David asks for Ellie's name once again and says that he would've told her about their cannibalism, which was a last resort to avoid starvation.
David recognizes Ellie's leadership qualities, intelligence, loyalty, and violent nature, which he shares. He confesses that he struggled with his violent heart until the world ended, and cordyceps showed him the truth. David argues that cordyceps aren't evil, but fruitful and protective, ensuring their children's future through violence if necessary, and that it's an act of love. However, Ellie kicks his food, calling him a sick fuck for eating people.
Ellie inquires about David's intentions as he speaks to her. David explains that he confides in Ellie because he believes she can handle the truth better than the others who require faith in God, heaven, and a paternal figure. He desires a companion who is on equal footing with him. David advances towards her enclosure and offers to stop searching for Joel if he leaves them alone, in exchange for Ellie's collaboration. He declares that his group obeys him and would follow them both. He encourages her to imagine the life they could create together as he puts his hand on the cage bar. Ellie hesitantly places her hand on top of his, but then quickly breaks one of his fingers and grabs for the keys. David violently slams her against the bars, causing her nose to bleed. He shows his true colors as he threatens to tell the others what happened. Ellie defiantly reveals her name and how she broke his finger, and David departs, still threatening her.
We return to Joel, who has arrived at Silverlake in search of Ellie. He spots a trail of blood in the snow, leading him to break into a locked door. Inside, he finds Ellie's pack and their horse, as well as three human bodies without heads that are tied up by their ankles. Meanwhile, back with Ellie, David and James arrive to retrieve her. Ellie resists and even bites David. They pin her down on a table, and David raises a butcher knife, declaring that Ellie had her chance. But just before he strikes, Ellie announces that she is infected, causing David to pause upon realizing the consequences of her bite. Ellie tells him to look at her arm, where he sees the bite mark, and she says, "everything happens for a reason, right?" James and David are shocked, and as they discuss the situation, Ellie seizes the butcher knife and stabs James in the throat before fleeing while David fires his gun at her.
Ellie escapes from her confinement and finds herself in the steakhouse from before. She grabs a burning stick from a nearby fire as David carelessly removes the knife from James’ dead body and begins to hunt her down. Ellie hides with the stick, but her attempt to throw it at David fails, catching one of the curtains on fire. David continues his pursuit of Ellie, telling her that she can't be infected because no infected person fights as hard as she does to stay alive. Ellie questions if she's just "that fucking special," as Joel searches for her in the snowstorm.
David claims that neither of them is dying that day and changes his mind about killing Ellie. Instead, he declares that he will be her father and teach her. However, Ellie finds a knife and attacks David, stabbing him in the leg, causing him to knock her to the ground. David straddles her, telling her that he enjoys the fight, and says there's "no fear in love." But Ellie grabs the butcher knife that David dropped and stabs him repeatedly. Blood flies everywhere as Ellie screams and continues to hack at David's body, while the building burns around them.
Ellie escapes from the steakhouse, exhausted from killing David. When Joel finds her, she screams for him to get off of her, not realizing it's him. She fights him when he turns her around, and it takes her a moment to calm down and recognize Joel. He gently holds Ellie's head in his hand, assuring her that it's him, and Ellie is almost speechless as she embraces him, finally feeling safe. In this tender moment, Joel addresses her as "baby girl," the same nickname he used to call his daughter Sarah who passed away in the first episode. Joel assures Ellie that he's got her and offers his jacket to keep her warm as they leave Silverlake, both safe in each other's company once again.
