As we anticipated a month ago when we released our video review of the entire season (9 episodes), episode 3 of The Last of Us caused a lot of ink to flow. So much so that the episode was review-bombed on sites such as IMDB or Metacritic, due to this story centering on the homosexual relationship between Bill and Frank. To all the shocked, the intolerant and those who did not know that this homosexuality already existed in the 2013 video game, you will undoubtedly love episode 4. Because the latter takes up a more classic routine, with all the ingredients that go allow you to return to the story centered between Joel and Ellie. On the other hand, we prefer to warn you in advance, the series will also explore Ellie’s homosexuality, since as you know from the trailers, the “Left Behind” DLC is also covered in the HBO show. But let’s get back to our sheep and this episode 4 which was directed by Jeremy Webb, who also directed Episode 5 and we understand why given the cliffhanger at the end. An episode 4 which lasts only “45 min” (the quotes are important) and which could be considered as a transitional episode, more calm, but it is actually a very important episode. Because it allows you to explore a little more the relationship between Joel and Ellie, a relationship that is still a bit conflicted, the two characters not yet trusting each other very much. Even if it’s on Joel’s side that it gets stuck the most, but in this episode 4, it’s going to relax. Our duo will get to know each other better, probably also because the road is now done by car, in a calmer way and less stressful.
And this “parent/child”, “dad/daughter” relationship will develop with moments of joy, fun and also learning. We see Joel explaining to Ellie how the siphon system works to scrape fuel, introducing her to coffee and its strong smell and bitter taste, teaching her how to properly handle a gun, while Ellie tries to read to Joel twice. The first with her book that she keeps with her and the second time, when she comes across a porn magazine that Bill left in his car. A scene completely video game accurate, even in the cover of the mag and the dialogues. Video game fans will obviously appreciate it. This episode 4 is also an opportunity to appreciate the visual effects again, with an ultra believable post-apo world. We had been able to discover it in episode 2 with our characters who were on foot, this time, it is by car and with aerial shots that we will see this country ravaged by loneliness, silence and nature who took back his rights. This road trip process is also supported by the music of Hank Williams integrated directly into the script of the series, of this episode 4, since it is Ellie who finds a K7 of the singer. It is also the same piece as in the video game that is played, the famous Alone and Forsaken.
But the main interest of this episode 4 is the introduction of a kind of militia, or rather a revolutionary movement unprecedented in video games and which is led by the ruthless Kathleen, played by Melanie Linskey, little known to the great public and who has mainly acted in TV series. A woman with an almost angelic physique, with a round face, also with a very maternal side, which contrasts radically with what she really is, namely a character with a cold, ruthless personality and capable of executing people on a just a whim. Like that old man she’s been trying to get information about Henry from. Kathleen is also accompanied by a man, always well armed, rather tall and especially with a big beard who is none other than the actor Jeffery Pierce, who played Tommy, Joel’s little brother, in the video game The Last of Us. He also managed to land a role in the series, but the opposite of his role as Tommy, since he plays an antagonist this time, like Troy Baker who plays Joel in the video game, but who has a villain role that we will discover a little later in the series. I won’t tell you more, the trailers have already given some clues.
But what we will remember from this episode 4 is the ambush in the middle of town by men from this militia which refers to a scene from the video game, almost identically. A very important sequence, because it allows us to remember who Joel is, to put him back at the center of this post-apo story where he has experienced terrible things, but also done atrocious things. Besides, it would be nice to explore Joel’s past, the 20 years between the start of the cordyceps pandemic until the arrival of Ellie. He must have done some pretty dirty stuff the Joel. And so, this scene allows us to remember what he is capable of, namely to finish off a young adult without the slightest mercy. A scene strong in emotions, where we once again manage to perceive the hatred in the game and the gaze of Pedro Pascal, while Ellie / Bella Ramsey transmits fear to us. As much in the first episode she had liked when Joel had beaten the soldier on the ground, as much there, she is downright freaking out about the situation. And what’s worse is that Joel finishes off the kid with a knife, which is even more excruciating than with a gun I think. The fact that he also asks Ellie to return the next room increases the creepiness of Joel’s attitude. He’s going to do something terrible and he knows it.
The gunfight scene is also very similar, because it echoes the gameplay of the video game quite a bit, with enemies that we see in the background, moving, talking to each other, but also checking each other. It goes back a lot to the AI of the enemies in The Last of Us 2, with this part of humanity that is instilled in these enemies who are not just ordinary guys to kill. Seeing this young adult beg Ellie not to kill him, while panicking with his injury, makes the scene even more tragic and shows how Joel is not a tender man, nor that the world in which they all live generates violence and hatred. Either you kill, or it’s you who finish the 4 irons in the air… Moreover, it is by seeing the corpse of this young man that Kathleen strikes a pellet and puts a bullet to the old doctor in his cell. It is for all these themes that this episode 4 is still a very successful episode, which continues to expand the universe, integrates new characters, transcribes the violence that was the video game, respecting them to the highest point. In short, another very good episode which also ends with a huge cliffhanger, the arrival of Henry and Sam, two important characters in this story. Those who know the video game know, the others will be shocked.
