Episode five of The Last Of Us once again featured tons of recognizable filming locations in Alberta.
The fifth episode – "Endure and Survive" – of the hit HBO series was largely filmed in Calgary once again, using a combination of locations downtown and huge purpose-built sets.
In this episode, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are looking to escape Kansas City without drawing more attention to themselves by resistance forces in the city, led by Yellowjacket's star Melanie Lynskey.
As always, there may be spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen the episode, you've been warned!
Centennial Place
Centennial Place in Calgary
Centennial Place, which is right in the heart of Downtown Calgary, was transformed to look like a disused bank in Kansas City.
Last year, Pascal, Ramsey, Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard, who play Henry and Sam, were spotted filming scenes on the street outside. The group enters into the bank to access underground tunnels that will take them out of the city.
Calgary Courts Centre
Calgary Courts Centre.
The fifth episode jumps back in time by a few days in Kansas City, showing how resistance forces violently overthrew the FEDRA (the Federal Disaster Response Agency). Outside of the Calgary Courts Centre was used as the backdrop for this scene.
Kansas City cul-de-sac
Cinematographer for the episode, Eben Bolter shared some behind-the-scenes shots of a huge set which was built for one of the most dramatic sequences in the episode.
A huge back lot on 76 Ave. S.E. near the Calgary Film Centre was transformed into a cul-de-sac in Kansas City, complete with 16 houses. You'd hardly be able to tell it's a set.
In a podcast interview, Craig Mazin, the showrunner for The Last Of Us, said the scene was "a massive undertaking" as it wouldn't work on an actual existing street.
"We needed to control it completely. We needed to be able to do gunfire. We needed to be able to do burns. We needed to do an explosion of a truck. We needed hundreds of extras running around, backlit by fire, lots of stunts, motor vehicles, racing and driving and all of this and it needs to be lit," he explained.
Ranchland Motel
The Ranchland Inn in Nanton.
Once Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam manage to escape Kansas City, they end up in an abandoned motel and despite thinking the group would be safe from this point on, sadly that's not quite the scenario.
The heartbreaking scenes were filmed around Ranchland Inn in Nanton.
