‘The Last of Us’ Episode 5 Introduced the Ultra-Disturbing Child Clicker
The Last of Us Episode 5 introduced one of the most disturbing types of Infected — the child clicker. Sadly children are not immune from the horrific fate that comes from the spread of the cordyceps virus. A monstrous horde of Infected attacks in episode 5, and the child clicker is somehow the most alarming.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 5.]
‘The Last of Us’ Episode 5 shows a monstrous swarm of Infected
In The Last of Us Episode 5, Henry and Sam join forces with Joel and Ellie to try to escape Kansas City. The group is on the run from Kathleen and her group of rebels, who eventually catch up to them on the outskirts of the city. Suddenly a monstrous swarm of Infected burst up from underground.
The horde includes both runners and clickers, as well as a monstrous bloater that rips Perry apart. As fans might imagine, creating the monstrous creatures was no small task.
“For clickers, we had stunt performers who were in pullover masks with these eye socket areas, which were like little plugs that we could put in for any close-ups but remove for any mid to wide shots,” prosthetics designer Barrie Gower told Variety.
A nine-year-old contortionist played the disturbing child clicker
The most disturbing type of Infected in The Last of Us Episode 5 is a child clicker who wriggles into a car and attacks Ellie. The child clicker was portrayed by a nine-year-old girl named Skye, who is a gymnast and contortionist.
“She’s this beautiful little girl, but it’s so creepy how she can move her body like that,” co-showrunner Craig Mazin recalled on The Last of Us official podcast. “It was a combination of her performance and then WETA [visual effects] drafting off of what [prosthetics designer] Barrie Gower created with prosthetics.”
“I insisted that our child clicker wear a Blue’s Clues shirt because I’m really sick,” Mazin joked. “I just love the contrast of innocence and horror.” Clickers have been infected by the cordyceps fungus for at least a year. The fungus grows completely through the front of their face, making them blind.
A child clicker kills Kathleen in ‘The Last of Us’ Episode 5
In The Last of Us Episode 5, a child clicker attacks and kills Kathleen. “It was important for me that Kathleen is killed by a child,” Mazin stated on the podcast, recalling the line where Kathleen tells Henry that kids die all the time.
“The idea that she ultimately is killed by a kid felt sort of like a circular completion of that story. You’re not supposed to feel good. You’re not supposed to feel bad. If people struggle a little bit with how they feel about that moment, then I think we probably did it correctly.”
Importantly, Kathleen also ignored Perry’s warning that the Infected seemed to be moving toward the surface. “She was warned about a danger lurking in the basement, but she turned away from it because she just wanted to chase after Henry and make sure she vengeance,” Kathleen actor Melanie Lynskey said in a video from HBO. “Maybe it’s for the best. I don’t think she’s a person who could have found peace.”
New episodes of The Last of Us drop every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
