This post contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" episode 8, "When We Are in Need."

I can only assume that when Craig Mazin sat down to write the penultimate episode of "The Last Of Us" season 1, his primary goal was to traumatize the audience. If so, then that mission was 100% accomplished. "When We Are in Need" adapts the most harrowing portion of the Naughty Dog game, bringing us face to face with Public Enemy #1, David (Scott Shepherd), a literal cannibal who takes an unsettling interest in Ellie (Bella Ramsey). But before he crosses paths with the main duo, traumatizes Ellie beyond belief, and earns my undying hatred, David reads some bible verses!

Keeping up its habit of making clever changes to deepen the story and flesh out its peripheral characters, "The Last Of Us" offers a glimpse into David's role as the leader of the Silver Lake community — a large religious group of (mostly) unwilling cannibals who have no idea that they're being fed human meat. Awful as that sounds, I'd argue that it's not the worst thing we're forced to endure in this extremely upsetting episode. In a 50-minute painfest that features torture, cannibalism, and multiple grisly murders, the high honor of Most Horrifying Detail goes to minor character Joyce (Ari Rombough), who sports the ugliest outfit ever shown in this awful world: a godawful purple sweater vest.

What The Hell, Joyce?

Yes, this is absurd. I shouldn't even care about the hideous purple sweater vest! There's so much more going on in this episode that demands to be commented upon. How about that stray severed ear that Ellie spots on the floor? Or the fact that Joel basically rises from the dead to defend her? Or the irony of Ellie murdering OG-video-game Joel (Troy Baker, playing David's right-hand James) when she escapes? All worthy topics of discussion! But alas, none of that matters when compared to Joyce's terrible outfit that I couldn't stop staring at.

I guess this makes sense. For a show to be this traumatic, all departments must be working in tandem: Craig Mazin penning unsettling dialogue, Ali Abbasi stepping in with seamless direction, and Gustavo Santaolalla manipulating our emotions with his score that is even more impactful than in the game. So naturally, costume designer Cynthia Summers has found a way to communicate just how much we should be wary of these ski resort people — by dressing one of its members in the worst outfit ever.

The second I spotted that purple vest, I knew that no good would come of this community. Did I have game knowledge to back that assumption up? Maybe. Was David radiating weird vibes because he didn't want to bury a body? For sure. But the main reason to distrust these people is definitely the sweater vest.

It's especially egregious after seven episodes of everyone proving that the apocalypse is no reason to give up on fashion! Listen, Joyce, I get it. It's slim pickings in the post-apocalypse times. All the other community members are donning the drab, muted garb of depressed cult members too. But if Joel can work flannel like a runway model and Ellie can claim her own signature color, then I'm pretty sure you can find a top that doesn't make my eyes bleed.

Fine — The Ugly Sweater Vest Serves A Purpose

The look and feel of "The Last of Us" is what makes this show so next level. The set design is impeccable — I'm still reeling from episode 7's mall exploration (that ended up costing a lot) — and the costumes are similarly thought through, careful to further flesh out the world these characters inhabit. The hideousness aside, Joyce's very bad vest at least accomplishes that much: it feels scavenged and mismatched. It feels like a desperate attempt to claim some personality and add color to a drab life. It's the smallest detail, but it humanizes her.

In a GQ interview back in January, Cynthia Summers mentioned that Craig Mazin "wanted the characters to look real and relatable and accessible" because "that makes the scary part of the show scarier." Though Ari Rombough has a very small role as Joyce, it feels important that we do notice her and think about what it means to be this woman, to live in this community, follow David's orders and eat the food he provides, even when it seems suspicious.

David is another great example of the costumes at work. He's one of the most menacing figures we've encountered thus far, but he's dressed like the mild-mannered preacher he claims to be. He's got a cozy sweater and reading glasses. At first glance, he seems approachable and kind. But then the layers of the character are peeled back and as Mazin promised, the episode is all the scarier for it.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the purple sweater vest is a menace to my eyes, and maybe that's okay, because it just goes to show that "The Last of Us" takes place in a world so thoroughly damned, so unrecognizably altered, that this misguided woman thinks her piss-poor fashion choices are acceptable.

Read this next: How Ellie's Room Decor In The Last Of Us Points To The Larger Story

The post The Most Horrifying Thing In This Week's The Last of Us is That Hideous Purple Sweater Vest appeared first on /Film.