Content Consumed: The Last of Us, Bad Bunny, and The Queen’s Gambit

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In today’s edition, we’re chatting about The Last of Us episode 6, an imagining of the Bieber-Bad Bunny-Kendall Jenner double date night, and a Queen’s Gambit rewatch.

The Last of Us: Episode 6

Will Joel die?! Of course not.

I don’t have a lot of hot takes from this week’s episode of The Last of Us. It wasn’t as good as the previous episode. It probably wouldn’t even rank in my top half. Of course, we touch on fascinating and essential points of this apocalyptic reality.

There are miniature colonies like the one we saw, where Tommy now lives with his wife (and soon, baby). There are people, like the indigenous couple Marlon and Florence, who haven’t actually changed much about their way of life since the whole zombie outbreak thing. Their scene was cute and funny, really a perfect episode opener. Getting peeks into other people’s lives beyond Joel and Ellie has really kept me dialed into the show.

The most important part of this episode is Joel’s monologue to Tommy. He’s old and aching. Can he really provide for Ellie in the way she needs? Probably not (as we soon confirmed). But I was still incredulous that he was immediately willing and passionate about throwing Tommy to the wind as Ellie’s caregiver, to get her to this Fireflies base at a somewhat-nearby university campus. Joel was willing to risk Tommy’s life over his—but also over Ellie’s? The morality of the situation is, obviously, complex.

Joel’s getting old. He’s falling asleep. He’s unable to think as quickly on his feet, like when the dog approaches the infected Ellie and neither of them knows how the dog could react. The dog could tear Ellie to shreds and Joel wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. It’s a lack of power he hasn’t experienced much of—on a personal level, at least. On an industrial, bureaucratic level, things have been out of Joel’s control for a long time now.

I know Ellie will find a way to save Joel. That much is obvious. But now, post-stabbing, he’ll be in an even weaker state.

A treacherous double date: Biebers, Jenners, and Bad Bunny

It happened, folks. Bad Bunny went on a date with Kendall Jenner. Not just any date, but a date with Justin and Hailey Bieber, after supposedly playing tonsil hockey at a club a few nights before.

A list of possible topics the foursome could’ve discussed on their outing at Nobu Malibu:

• Whether or not Bad Bunny is queerbaiting, as another famous ex of Kendall’s, Harry Styles, has been accused of. For the record, Bad Bunny is decidedly not queerbaiting, in my opinion.
• If Kendall might learn Spanish for him…
• Could a Justin Bieber and Bad Bunny collab be in the works? Never say never.
• Does Hailey (founder of Rhode Skin) know about Bad Bunny’s questionable skincare routine? From the man himself: “My skincare routine is I take a shower only on Saturdays. In all honesty, I don’t do anything. I just wash my face with the same body wash I use to wash my ass. I don’t do anything. I’m blessed.”

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Bad Bunny and Kendall Jenner are a hot hook-up and that’s it. Fun, though!! Let people have sloppy club make-outs and testing-the-waters double dates a couple of days later!!

In the end, he’ll marry a sweetie like his last long-term girlfriend (they broke up late last year—Kendall is, by definition, a rebound) and Kendall will find another NBA player or return to Devin Booker.

Rewatch: The Queen’s Gambit

Whew, did you just flash back to the mid-stages of pandemic quarantine? Sorry, sorry.

The Queen’s Gambit was released at the perfect time. That point where we had all pushed past the emotional and bewildering first few months of the pandemic. That point when the weather was turning again, the seasons encouraging further bunkering down. Late October 2020.

Where were you when The Queen’s Gambit dropped?

I was in Portland, in a small but efficient apartment on Third Avenue, shared with my now-fiancé and our pup Pete, a block from Portland’s police headquarters. It had been a long summer of tear gas and protests and brutality. A frigid state blanketed us as the leaves fell. Anya Taylor-Joy’s alien face plastered our Samsung.

62 million households watched it.

Perfectionist obsession, mental health and substance abuse issues. An intense competitive game. Sex and lies. A coming-of-age story. It hits points that mean different things for different people, so of course we could all watch and relate and infuse ourselves into the story. That’s what good TV does. Otherwise, what’s the point of watching?

I’m almost to the end of my The Queen’s Gambit rewatch. I bow to Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance. A masterful breakout.

And that’s it for today! Thanks for reading. Be sure to subscribe to Content Consumed to get all the content your little heart desires. See you tomorrow!

Love,
Casey

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