[WARNING: Spoilers for early levels of The Last of Us Part 2 below.]
Players can spend countless hours exploring in The Last of Us: Part 2 , and one early game location is absolutely packed with tiny secrets. Despite not being open-world, the game has an expansive and free-roam feel thanks to the countless objects and locations players can discover and explore.
One of the coolest scenes from the beginning of the game happens when Dina and Ellie stumble upon a stoner’s paradise while on patrol. One of their friends was keeping a secret bunker room in which he was growing cannabis, clearly enough to fuel the entire village. But since the two girls appear surprised upon their discovery, it seems like this massive load of weed is the village’s best-kept secret.
There are a few key things to explore in The Last of Us 2's weed room, and if players move through the scene too quickly, they’ll likely miss them. So, taking one’s time to properly search and explore is a must when stumbling upon the weed room in The Last of Us Part 2 for the first time.
The Last of Us 2’s Reference To Crash Bandicoot
Perhaps one of the coolest (and first) things Ellie can find in the room is a stack of old adult videotapes. She and Dina read the names of the two titles out together, which included “Dong of the Wolf” and “Smash Brandi’s Cootch.” The first title is a clear referenced to "Song of the Wolf," a story about the struggle of Native Americans in the 1800's. In a vulgar way the title is somewhat fitting, considering Ellie and Joel have been trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland for two decades.
The second video’s title is an even better reference. “Smash Brandi’s Cootch” is a play on the original Naughty Dog title Uncharted 4, for example, players get to play a mini version of the game when protagonist Nathan Drake is enjoying a bit of PlayStation at home in one of the opening scenes. It feels like a fitting nod that Naughty Dog would include this tiny Easter Egg so early on in The Last of Us 2’s story.
Where The Last of Us 2's Gas Mask Bong Is
Another thing Ellie can pick up and observe in The Last of Us 2's weed room is a gas mask bong. If players have her walk past the stack of videotapes, she’ll pick up a makeshift gas mask bong. The bong appears ironic, considering the villagers have to use gas masks all the time to keep from becoming infected from pores in the air. When Ellie looks closer, she realizes the bong is hand-made. “Oh god, he was so smart,” Dina says upon finding the bong, referring to their deceased friend.
Both Ellie and Dina agree they wish they’d been let on in the weed room’s secret location so they could have helped grow the stash and keep it alive. Despite there being countless weed plants around the room, they’re all dead and seemingly unusable. However, luck strikes when the girls find a mason jar packed with ts. The air-tight seal allowed the ts to stay fresh – well, smokable, at least – and Dina then breaks the jar on the floor so the two of them can light up. What proceeds from there happens to be one of the most touching moments of the game – and one in which the player realizes Ellie is officially all grown up.
The weed room is one of The Last of Us 2’s best early-game moments, and with several items and references to discover, it means players will want to take their time exploring it.
