Rejoining Joel and Ellie on their journey across America.
Last week’s episode was largely its own, self contained, installment.
Meanwhile, episode one and two both had a very clearly defined break in the narrative at their close.
A lot of episode four, however, feels like it is setting us up for episode five.
It is laying down the groundwork for what is next, and asks more questions than it answers.
But even though this may be the case, there is still plenty to discuss.
Let’s dive on in.
yo NOTE THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE SHOW AND THE GAME SERIES IT IS BASED ON.
Like last week, this episode does not have a cold open.
Instead, we begin with Ellie in the rotting bathroom of a roadside petrol station.
Here, Ellie plays with the gun she found in episode three which Joel still does not know about.
She even smells the gun.
Apart from just making me nervous, this scene further reiterated that Ellie wants to have power.
Those who know Left Behind’s story will know why this book is special to Ellie.
Joel, on the other hand, is not amused (yet).
When the two are back on the road, Ellie searches around the back of the truck.
She comes across another cassette, this time Hank Williams' “Alone and Forsaken”.
This song was used in one of the earliest trailers for the show.
She also comes across some of Bill and Frank’s literature.
Yes, that moment from the game has made it into the show.
Ellie, teasing Joel, goggles at a porn magazine and asks why the pages are all stuck together.
“How’d he even walk around with that thing?!”
I am pleased the showrunners made the decision to save this moment for a new episode.
In the woods, the two can dine on tinned ravioli.
Ellie asks if she should get a fire going, but Joel tells her not to.
Their relationship is slowly warming.
We also see Joel’s fatherly side, although he hides it from Ellie.
As in episode one, when Ellie showed apprehension about leaving the Boston QZ, Joel comforts her.
Not in the way he would have comforted Sarah, but those paternal instincts are still very much there.
Then once she is asleep, he stands guard over their camp with his gun in hand.
One such person getting steadily more fleshed out is Tommy.
Joel explains Tommy joined the army after high school, where he was soon shipped off to Desert Storm.
However, this career didn’t “make him feel much like a hero” and he left.
Joel went along to keep an eye on his little brother, and eventually met Tess.
Joel believes wanting to save the world is a delusional pipe-dream.
Ellie questions this, asking if there is no hope for the world “why bother going on”.
These words foreshadow some of his decisions further down the road.
Remember those people Joel was worried about from earlier?
Well, we are about to meet some of them.
In the game, this is Pittsburgh.
In the show it is Kansas City.
Even before Ellie and Joel get into any real trouble, there are signs things are wrong.
We see piles like this in the game as well.
Ellie suddenly notices the QZ is abandoned.
FEDRA is noticeably absent.
A seemingly injured man stumbles out onto the road in front of them.
This moment is straight from the game - and Joel knows this is an ambush.
He revs up the car and drives straight at the man.
Gunfire ensues, a brick hits the car, and Joel crashes into the side of a building.
Joel proceeds to protect Ellie.
Instead, the showrunners now have Joel only shooting at two rebels at first.
When they are both dispatched, Joel then puts his guard down for a moment.
However, he does not die.
The now badly injured rebel releases Joel and tries to surrender.
Once Joel catches his breath, he takes Ellie’s gun and sends her back into the side room.
With the camera remaining on a crying Ellie, Joel executes the rebel off-screen.
There is no gun shot sound, so he must have used a knife.
Back in the episode, Joel and Ellie reunite and head away from the laundrette they had crashed into.
As they sneak out, other hunters can be seen arriving at the scene.
Ellie wipes away some tears and tells him it wasn’t her first time.
Joel proceeds to teach Ellie how to use her handgun properly.
It’s an important moment for the two of them, with Joel showing Ellie he will trust her.
After she has finished with the rifle, Joel then gives her a handgun.
In the game she proves an impressive sniper, covering Joel as he clears their route of hunters.
Now let’s talk about the Kansas City/Pittsburgh rebels in a bit more detail.
In the game, these bandits are very hostile and hunt people for sport.
And that brings me on to Kathleen.
Kathleen is a new character for the show played brilliantly by Melanie Lynskey.
We are introduced to Kathleen as she interrogates an older gentleman in a cell.
She then blames Henry for her men’s deaths, saying he must have brought mercs into the city.
“Find who did this, find every collaborator, and kill them all.”
It isJeffrey Pierce, perhaps better known as Tommy Miller from the games.
Perry is one of Kathleen’s men, and he is extremely loyal to her cause.
This attic space is covered in drawings of superheroes, and littered with empty tins of food.
Kathleen sees that Henry has run out of supplies and hopes to use this to her advantage.
But Perry has something else on his mind.
Perry takes Kathleen down to a storage room where the floor feels like buckling and groaning.
The two seem afraid, but Kathleen says they can’t do anything about it now.
“Did you kill innocent people?”
Ellie asks, as Joel looks awkward and avoids the question.
In the show, Ellie says nothing.
However, it is clear she knows what Joel has done, and Joel knows it as well.
When the room is ready, the two talk further.
She asks if it gets easier as you get older.
“No, not really,” Joel replies.
Ellie tells Joel she has noticed he doesn’t hear too well from one side.
Joel says this is probably from shooting and suggests she sticks to her knife.
It’s another sign the walls are coming down between the two.
But of course, this being The Last of Us, the good times can’t last long.
The screen soon cuts to a sleeping Joel, with Ellie calling his name to wake him up.
Yes, after all this time, we finally meet Henry and his little brother Sam.
It looks like that is something for next week, as this is the end of episode four.
I enjoyed the extra time with Joel and Ellie, seeing their relationship develop further.
He just needs to let himself realise it.
I have a lot of theories about where this episode is leading us.
But, alas, for now they are just theories.
I am looking forward to next week to see if I am correct.
Also, I didn’t cry in this one!
A couple of honourable mentions and a quick thought before I go.
It just really made me smile.
Secondly, Joel’s car coffee needs some praise.
Thirdly, there were no water sections.
I want to see Ellie on a pallet!
