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When You're Lost in the Darkness
- As terrifyingly intense as it was, the escape as Joel, Tommy, and Sarah attempt to avoid Infected and the military as everything, and we mean everything, around them descends into chaos.
- A small one but Ellie using a simple bit of Batman Gambit combined with Something Only They Would Say to crack Joel's radio code for 80s music means by claiming "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" came on while he was sleeping.
- Joel tackling Lee and killing him with his bare hands after Lee threatened to shoot Ellie.
Infected
- The Reveal of how Ellie got infected: by exploring an abandoned mall known to be full of Infected. While Ellie claims she was alone (though players of the game knows she wasn't), the audience agrees with Tess that the girl has some brass balls. Especially as the end of the episode shows just how dangerous the Infected can be against Badass Normals like Joel and Tess.
- Joel, Tess, and Ellie vs the first live-action Clickers. The whole scene.
- After being infected, Tess pulls a Dying Moment of Awesome by sacrificing herself to blow up an entire room full of Infected, buying Joel and Ellie time to escape in the process.
Long, Long Time
- The very fact that Bill and Frank survived twenty years on their own living in their little paradise village together (with some help from Joel and Tess) in a post-apocalyptic world where everywhere else turns into a hellhole. They have occasional problems with the Infected and Raiders, yes, but they persevered through it all. It was only due to Frank contracting a terminal disease and the couple deciding to go out on their own terms that killed them. If it wasn't for that, they would've been still alive by the time Joel and Ellie got there.
- Many people assume stockpiling guns, ammo, and canned food is the peak of survivalism. Bill clearly spent years planning out every need and eventuality, from breaking into the local power station to ensure his gas supply, maintaining a heavy-duty electric generator, collecting a massive supply of gasoline on the first day... and that's not mentioning all the defensive traps and barriers he sets up, much of which seems to be wireless (and due to the Setting Update, these are all done with early 2000s technology and not the 2010s). The level of expertise one would need in multiple fields speaks of nigh-on a lifetime of discipline and, well, prepping.
- Not to mention the montage of how he got everything together shows him focusing on expending resources he can't replace in order to acquire items and equipment he can't replace as quickly as possible, knowing he has a limited amount of time and energy before he is unable to secure his position, which is a fairly realistic portrayal of what to do in such an apocalyptic scenario than the aforementioned gun hoarding.
- When Joel and Tess visit the compound the first time, Joel warns that the defenses won't hold out forever and that against an organized raider attack they'll be especially vulnerable. A few years pass and this exact prediction comes true. Frank hears shooting in the middle of the night and runs downstairs to look for Bill, who is nowhere to be found. Outside there are sounds of shouting and fire lights, making it seem that the worst has come to pass. Only when Frank leaves the house do we see what's really happening: the gate is sealed, the fires are from Bill's flamethrower traps, and the shouting is actually screaming coming from the would-be raiders. Out in the center of it all is Bill, brandishing a hunting rifle and taking pot shots at anyone dumb enough to get up to the gate. While Bill does get shot during this fight, Frank reassures him that the defenses will hold out and he can step away to get treatment, and the fact that the next flashback is a decade later proves the point.
Please Hold to My Hand
- Just as in the game, Joel immediately recognizes that an apparently wounded survivor they encountered in Kansas City is faking it and that he's part of an ambush. He tells Ellie to put her seatbelt on and floors it. Though they don't manage to get away, Joel and Ellie weren't caught by surprise and already prepared themselves to engage the Hunters.
- Joel takes down two hunters by himself with a rifle and only struggles to fight against the third hunter, Bryan, who's a much younger man that ambushes him from behind. As he's pinned down towards the end, Ellie comes out of hiding and shoots Bryan from the back, wounding him and allowing Joel to finish him off with a knife.
Endure and Survive
- Joel becomes deadly with a sniper rifle, first killing the driver of a plow that was about to run over Ellie, Henry, and Sam, then taking out any Infected getting too close to Ellie.
- After having just escaped from a terrifying close encounter with a Clicker, Ellie sees Henry and Sam trapped under a car with two Infected about to pull them out. With one quick look of agreement with Joel, Ellie rushes to save them while he covers her, and she efficiently knives the Infected and kills them.
- An awesome moment for the infected, too. They announce their imminent arriving by pulling an entire military truck/dozer into a massive sinkhole, before dozens of them come pouring out of the sinkhole like a flood, immediately overwhelming the Kansas City Revolutionaries even though they’re all armed to the teeth, and that’s even before the Bloater arrives. It’s heralded by a chilling roar as it slowly climbs out of the sinkhole and then starts throwing No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on nearby humans, completely shrugging off bullets from an automatic rifle fired by Perry, and culminating in him enacting the iconic signature jawbreaker kill on the poor guy in a moment that’s a complete treat for video game players. The whole sequence effectively displays why the infected managed to bring the entire human civilization to its knees in the first place, and now the rest of Kansas City survivors have become their latest victims.
Kin
- The citizens of Jackson, Wyoming have created a safe haven in the middle of the apocalypse, working on a model of communal care and solidarity. They even have properly functioning amenities due to fixing the nearby dam, allowing three hundred people to live rather than simply survive.
Left Behind
- When Ellie and Riley are attacked by a stalker in the mall, it eventually pins Riley against a shelf in an attempt to maul her. Ellie sees her best friend in danger and angrily charges headlong at the monster, jamming her switchblade deep into its skull and killing it. While their victory is ruined by the revelation that they were both bitten, it's still a small moment of awesome for Ellie.
When We Are In Need
- With Ellie in danger, Joel manages to overcome his injuries and go full Papa Wolf on David's men.Marco: I ain't telling you shit!Joel: (picking up a length of pipe) It's okay... I believe him.
- Even as a prisoner, Ellie remains defiant. When David propositions her, she pretends to go along with it until his guard is down and then breaks his finger.Ellie: Tell them that Ellie is the little girl who broke your fucking finger!
- Though horrifying, it is also immensely satisfying to watch Ellie kill David after all the trauma he put her through.
Look for the Light
- Anna, Ellie's mother, goes into labor while being chased by an Infected and still manages to kill it with nothing but her switchblade while delivering the baby at the same time. Sadly, she is bitten in the process, but it doesn't take away the fact that Anna's sheer determination in the face of impossible odds means Ellie gets to be born into the world as the first known person with immunity to the cordyceps infection and a possible hope for the future of humanity.
- Joel's One-Man Army rampage through the Firefly hospital to rescue Ellie is both this and Nightmare Fuel. Rather than let Ellie die to make a cure, Joel overpowers the armed guards escorting him and proceeds to slaughter his way through the hospital, effortlessly killing any Firefly dumb enough to stand in his way. And when he runs out of bullets, he simply picks up another gun and carries on going, dead set on rescuing the girl he has come to view as a daughter. It only crosses over into nightmare fuel territory when he also begins to mercilessly execute those who surrender or are wounded and helpless.
