Ellie’s first reaction to this news is to snap at Dina for letting the Wolves get away, but then Dina reminds her, “This town was wreckage and funerals for weeks.” Besides, “If you know where they’re going to end up, maybe let them get there.”
Dina also chastises Ellie for thinking she has exclusive rights to loving Joel. This sentiment will come up again, especially from Tommy, who gets annoyed when Ellie suggests that if he really cared about Joel’s memory, he would organize a posse immediately to head to Washington. “Don’t talk to me like I didn’t know him,” Tommy growls. He says his brother would have gone to any extreme to save Tommy’s life, but not to avenge him — not if it was too dangerous.
Ellie though? She is not going to abandon her quest for justice, no matter how foolhardy. She tries first to go through official channels, even taking the time to craft a speech for the town council, arguing that the deep bond among reliable neighbors is what holds Jackson together, “not potluck dinners.”
The council, though, is more persuaded by the people in the crowd who argue that Joel, while special, was not that much more special than all the other people who died that day. Also, sending skilled fighters to Seattle leaves Jackson less protected from the next potential attack.
So … no posse. But when Dina shows up again at Ellie’s house later that night, she already knows her friend is going to ride out anyway. She asks Ellie what route she is planning to take (Ellie: “Northwest?”), whether she has any medical supplies and whether she can make it across the wilderness in Chuck Taylor sneakers. Then she joins Ellie: a posse of two, sharing one horse.
Mazin again compresses time in the latter half of this episode, covering the long ride from Wyoming to Washington in about 10 minutes of screen time. (That trip is around 870 miles long on modern roads. Post-cordyceps, that trail is probably more winding.) These scenes are pleasantly congenial, as these two continue to casually flirt with each other, even as they both agree — out loud, at least — that their New Year’s Eve kiss was a drunken mistake. Dina has long since reconciled with Jesse. But the longing in Ellie’s eyes as she looks at Dina — while sharing close quarters in a tent — suggests Ellie is not over her.
