The Last of Us Episode 4

Episode 4 is another great episode of The Last of Us that grants Joel and Ellie valuable bonding time that they've rarely been able to find time for so far ...

For now, though, Joel and Ellie are granted a small moment of respite in the middle of the storm they’ve stumbled into. There’s little time to dwell on it at this juncture, however, as the pace keeps up and the duo find themselves in the middle of a siege with half of the cast of Mad Max pouring into the streets. This isn’t a damning criticism, as slowing the pace down and allowing for relationships to grow can be valuable when paid off further down the road, but it doesn’t make for the strongest single episode when taken individually. Her one-track-mindedness leads to the prioritising of a hunt for her supposed brother's killer over the safety of her people when she discovers signs of nearby infected. Episode 4 of HBO’s The Last of Us grants Joel and Ellie valuable bonding time that they’ve rarely been able to find time for so far in the series. It’s another example of the classiness on display in every aspect of the show’s production, all the way down to its nail-biting fight choreography.

If they're going to survive Melanie Lynskey's Kansas City, Joel will need to trust Ellie more. A recap of “Please Hold My Hand,” episode 4 of HBO's “The ...

They’re less a focus of the show than the characters and the human elements of the ruined world they inhabit. • Hank Williams never recorded a finished studio version of “Alone and Forsaken.” The recording used in the episode — which was released as a single in 1955, two years after the singer’s death — is from a late-’40s radio performance. The episode ends as it began, with a kid hovering over Ellie with a gun. [Tess fall victim to a fatal Cordyceps kiss](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-last-of-us-tess-infected-ending-explained.html) and other gruesome images, but they’re awful in a different way from Brian trying to talk his way out of his doom. Then, perhaps understanding there’s no going back for her, perhaps sensing she could be an asset in future conflicts, Joel shows her the proper way to hold a gun. After Joel crashes the car into an abandoned laundromat, a firefight breaks out — one Joel hopes to spare Ellie from by telling her to hide in a hole in the wall. The Infected can be blamed for the current state of the world, but much of the destruction and cruelty within it predates the Cordyceps making the leap to humans. Where it was once ruled by FEDRA, it’s now ruled by Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), the apparent leader of a recent insurgency. As they drive, Joel tells her she’ll most likely see tanks and helicopters at some point, machines designed to “fight the wrong enemy,” and describes Hank Williams as a “winner” when Ellie finds a tape of his greatest hits. Ellie tosses it out the window after getting a glimpse of “what the fuss is all about.”) When we last saw the two making a stop, it was part of a plan, a visit to a convenience store that Joel used to stash weaponry and other supplies. They have the whole of the Midwest’s highway system to themselves and plenty of time on their hands.

This week, Joel and Ellie's bond deepened during an unplanned stay in Kansas City. They should have tried Des Moines instead.

The closest we get to returning to the past is when Joel tells Ellie about Tommy, explaining that his brother — a “joiner” by nature — has spent the plague years connecting with anyone who claims to have a plan to fix the world, while sometimes dragging Joel along. (Example this week: a collapsed train trestle on the horizon, with railroad cars dangling.) But I must also tip a cap to the production designer John Paino, whose team built the crumbling physical spaces that Joel and Ellie move through — from the trashed gas stations to the wreckage-strewn Kansas City streets. When Ellie takes a whiff of Joel’s percolated campfire coffee, she recoils, then later asks, “That’s seriously what those Starbucks in the Q.Z. So naturally, this is when they get awakened in the middle of the night by two new characters wielding guns, one who appears to be in his 20s, the other just a boy. As for himself, he must be honest that he obviously needs her — and her willingness to pull a trigger — more than he wanted to. This is what makes Ellie — and Bella Ramsey’s multilayered performance — so pivotal to this story. We know that Henry and Sam were recently hiding out in a building where the concrete foundation is breaking up and rippling, perhaps because of some cordyceps/infected activity going on underground. His dying offer to take them to his mom was probably a pretty good indication that his mother was Kathleen. Joel teaches Ellie how to siphon gas from parked cars — though when he fumblingly tries to explain the physics behind it, she flashes a wicked smile and says, “You don’t know.” When the attacker hands over his knife and pleads for his life — his name is Brian, he tells Ellie in a clear attempt to humanize himself, adding: “We can trade with you! That’s one cat out of the bag. We know that the K.C.

The Last of Us seriously ups the stakes as Joel and Ellie head into Kansas City and meet one very pissed off Melanie Lynskey.

The closing moments of the episode give a bit of insight into both Joel and Ellie’s pasts. Joel and Ellie getting ambushed in Kansas City (changed from Pittsburgh in the game) and crashing their truck into a laundromat is a nod to a memorable encounter from the PlayStation classic, but what ensues in the aftermath is new. One ominous sign of things to come is the gurgling sinkhole Kathleen and her right hand man Perry (Jeffrey Pierce) find in the storage room of the abandoned building Henry and Sam have been holed up in. So far, the developments surrounding Kathleen and her group haven’t been nearly as compelling an addition to the story as Bill and Frank’s were, but there’s still time to see how Kathleen impacts events moving forward. The other object that acts as a symbolic through line is Ellie’s joke book, which underlines the fact that she’s growing on Joel, and that he definitely doesn’t see her as “cargo” anymore—he’s beginning to truly care about her. Back in episode 2, Tess’ last stand was changed from the game to involve infected as opposed to soldiers.

CAST ; Pedro Pascal. Joel Miller ; Bella Ramsey. Ellie Williams ; Gabriel Luna. Tommy Miller ; Anna Torv. Theresa 'Tess' Servopoulos ; Merle Dandridge. Marlene.

Wersching voiced Tess in The Last Of Us Naughty Dog game (not to mention 37 episodes of the show 24). [The Last Of Us](https://www.avclub.com/tv/reviews/the-last-of-us-2023) on a poop joke, so in the closing moments, Ellie tells Joel to wake up. A third (Juan Magana) surprises him and pins him to the ground, choking him with his rifle. In the morning, they’ll get to the roof and scan for the way out of the city. Still: sick action, a blossoming Pascal, and killer fungus on the way. Joel and Ellie break into a building and climb 33 flights to find an abandoned office to sleep on couch cushions. Joel pops it in and the doleful “ In “Long Long Time,” they’re shown in a lunch meeting with Bill and Frank in Lincoln, having slipped out of Boston Q.Z. He visibly relaxes as they share bits of their past, Joel assuming the role of surrogate father, explaining trucks or the physics of siphoning or, eventually, how to hold a gun. Half of Episode 4 was a road trip, which fit nicely with the task-based nature of the gaming source. Let them take in the scenery, drive past remnants of civilization, maybe whack a funghoul or two as they get to know each other. Craig Mazin’s script was a marvel of condensed storytelling, creating a layered, private history of two bearded gents and the gated world that was their own personal Eden.

In the fourth episode of HBO's "The Last of Us," Ellie's true character shines through as her connection with Joel deepens.

Joel and Ellie enter and climb up a taller building to find a route out of the city, and decide to camp inside for the night. Joel may be our driving protagonist, quite literally for the first part of the episode, but Ellie is the audience surrogate in understanding this world. In the game’s Pittsburgh, we knew nothing of the humans organized in that city, other than that they successfully overthrew the federal military. The militia that now rules Kansas City discovers the death left in the wake of Joel and Ellie’s arrival, and report to Kathleen, played by a chilling Melanie Lynskey. In a scene ripped straight from the game, the pair encounter a man pretending to be hurt, and are jumped by the citizens of Kansas City, now freed from federal military rule. In contrast to the game, it seems this Joel is warming up to Ellie a bit quicker. Ellie shooting another man is actually a scene lifted from the game in another sequence. Next it was the Fireflies and the search for a cure. A very bored Ellie decides to bombard Joel with a book of puns, which also featured prominently in the video game. They crash the truck, and a firefight within a laundromat is lifted straight from the game. First, it was the Iraq war of the 1990s. The way Ellie stares at Pedro Pascal’s exasperated Joel in between punchlines is a perfect display of how Ramsey captures Ellie’s insistence on being aggravating, but also very funny.

"Pew-pew," Ellie (Bella Ramsey) mumbles while posing with her new gun in the mirror of some Midwestern gas station bathroom. Like cars and airplanes, ...

He leads her to the basement of the same building. After Joel spreads broken glass near the door and the pair prepare for bed, Ellie treats Joel to a diarrhea pun that, despite being "so goddamned stupid," makes him laugh out loud. He leads her to the attic of an empty building. Later, when he asks her what she meant when she said it wasn't her "first time," she's tight-lipped, saying she doesn't want to talk about it. When she tries to put it in her pocket, he tells her it's safer in her bag. As Kathleen's men raid homes and apartments in search of them, Joel and Ellie take refuge in a bar. He was the doctor who delivered her when she was born. "Wants to save the world," he says dismissively, calling the Fireflies' mission "delusional" and a "pipe dream." Joel loses control of the car, which crashes through the storefront of a laundromat. A highway pileup outside Kansas City blocks their path, so Joel drives into the city to try and get around it. [in a nod to a memorable moment from the game](https://ew.com/tv/the-last-of-us-easter-eggs/), an old porno mag that [once belonged to Bill](https://ew.com/tv/recaps/the-last-of-us-season-1-episode-3/). As Joel ( [Pedro Pascal](https://ew.com/person/pedro-pascal/)) tries (and fails) to explain to her later, it's not that simple.

Season one, episode four of "The Last of Us" returns to following the game closely, while introducing a few new show-only characters.

A similar scene plays out later in the game when Ellie shoots a man in the head to save Joel from drowning. Ellie, more playful in the game, eagerly says, "I'll take that as a yes." He gives a slightly different response in the game. On Sunday's episode, Ellie and Joel get ambushed in Kansas City, which is located on the border of Kansas and Missouri. Ellie climbs through a hole in a wall and Joel kills two people. The ensuing ambush is more violent in the game. "What happened to the characters, and the choices they make in that city, that's what's really important." A hound in the distance is starting to bey I wonder, I wonder what she's thinking of. In the game, Ellie also gives Joel a Hank Williams cassette tape to play. In the game, the lewd joke was meant as a subtle hint toward Bill's sexuality, which the game never directly stated. Some fans may have recognized that the family sign belongs to Love's, a family-owned chain of truck stops across the United States. When she discovers some pages stuck together, implying a sexual act, Ellie asks Joel why the pages won't come apart.

After taking the truck from Bill and Frank's, Joel and Ellie stop at an abandoned rest stop. Ellie sits in the bathroom and quietly fiddles with Frank's gun, ...

This is a pretty gameplay-heavy section of the game, so Ellie and Joel are forced to fight their way through the city while being chased by a group called "hunters". In the game, Joel and Ellie are forced to cut through Pittsburgh instead of Kansas City, resulting in the laundromat battle. For the first time, Joel tries to get Ellie to open up about the other time she has had to use a gun, but she quickly shuts it down. The two enter one of the offices and find a place to rest for the night. Joel takes Frank's gun from her and steals a knife from the man on the ground. Ellie and Joel scramble out of the truck as gunfire lights up the laundromat. Joel reflects on the battle in the laundromat, feeling genuinely guilty for Ellie having to shoot someone. As night begins to fall, Ellie and Joel enter an office building with over 40 floors. Ellie quickly makes her way across while Joel fires the rifle at the men outside of the laundry mat, allowing Ellie the opportunity to get to safety. Ellie's in a state of panic, but Joel gets her to focus up and tells her to crawl across the chaos and squeeze through a hole in the wall while he lays down covering fire. Not wanting to lose any time, Joel decides to cut through the city where they quickly get lost and discover a QZ has been destroyed. After Ellie falls asleep, Joel gets out of his sleeping bag and spends the night watching over Ellie with a loaded rifle.

Joel and Ellie find themselves in big trouble. Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen in The Last of Us. Liane Hentscher/HBO.

Opening his eyes, he's horrified to see her holding her hands in the air, with a gun to her head. We get our first clue as to who Henry is - and who he might be with - as the wall is covered in children's drawings and there are cans on the floor. Exhausted by the climb (relatable), they stop for the night and Joel spreads glass across the floor so as he can hear anyone who might try to creep up on them. Ellie being Ellie, enlists the help of her books of puns, leaving Joel reluctantly giggling as he falls asleep. Perry takes Kathleen to the ground floor of the building, which has sunken in and, very creepily, we see it's moving and shifting about. Joel tells Ellie to go back behind the wall and kills him, before the pair of them manage to hide in a darkened room. The pair flee the building, with Kathleen ordering it to be sealed and insisting they'll worry about it later - something that definitely won't come back to haunt her. Trying to hide her tears, she reveals it wasn't her first time, with Joel deciding it's high time to give Ellie a gun. Joel decides to take a detour and the pair end up in Kansas City - possibly the worst decision they could have made. Immediately, we find out she's on the hunt for a character named Henry - and she won't stop until he's dead. While she's told it was the work of "outsiders", she's left convinced it's down to the mysterious Henry. Making sure Ellie knows the dangers surrounding them, he warns her not to light a fire as people could find them.

Under the leadership of Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), the city has overthrown FEDRA control but replaced it with an even more ruthless regime. In one key scene, ...

The line between a tired trope and a compelling theme is a thin one, but The Last of Us Episode 4 shows it can still be walked. As a result, you don’t notice the lack of Infected in Episode 4. Humans are the real monsters. The Last of Us game never shies away from this trope, with Bill flat-out explaining, “The infected are bad, but at least they're predictable. In fact, there’s not a single Infected in all of Episode 4, as the terror comes exclusively from the survivors of the revolutionized Kansas City QZ. The moral ambiguity of what we do to survive, the power of found family, and the importance of community ripple throughout the narrative.

After last week's bold adaptation, HBO's series gives us an episode packed with moments from the game.

But just as the show’s Ellie is different from the game’s in a few key ways, so too is the show’s Joel different from this game counterpart. [Lotte Kestner’s cover of New Order’s “True Faith.”](https://youtu.be/girKHerKXUg) Interestingly, this cover was the basis for a version of the song that Ellie sang in [a commercial for The Last of Us Part II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzlzA2El6Ps), which prompted Kestner to tweet about the unauthorized use of her cover. (In the game, Joel has supernaturally keen hearing, letting him pinpoint the locations of enemies through walls and at great distances.) His poor hearing in his right ear may be related to the time a bullet grazed him, but if there’s more to that story, we’ll have to wait to hear it. Ellie asks Joel how he knew the guy asking for help wasn’t hurt, and he says he’s been on both sides, that he and Tess and the crew they ran with “did what we needed to survive.” In both cases, Ellie asks Joel if he killed innocent people. You get the feeling that he’d go to the ends of the earth in support of Kathleen’s crusade, regardless of his own feelings, and that makes him dangerous. Hiding out in an old bar, Joel and Ellie get to talking about how she just saved his life, and it plays out very differently from the game. She instantly links the presence of these “mercs” to him, saying maybe he used a radio to “call these guys in.” Driven by the deaths of her own men, she goes back in to kill the doctor, then comes back outside to rile the crowd up by lying through her teeth. But before, people dying was okay, when you were safe and protected and ratting on your neighbors to FEDRA.” When he protests that FEDRA put a gun to his head, she does the same and asks, “Have I satisfied the necessary conditions for you to talk?” In the game, we know that the hunters of Pittsburgh have effectively liberated the city from the local FEDRA branch, which was a cruel and oppressive institution, denying people rations and brutally keeping citizens in line. Ideologically, I’m not a fan of how ubiquitous the idea is in video games and grimdark movies and TV shows that killing is often just a given, a necessity, once the world collapses. “You don’t like coffee?” Joel asks with a hint of understated humor as she recoils in disgust from the bubbling pot. Whereas Ellie in the game is still constantly reacting with shock and horror as Joel offs bad guys at this point, her TV show counterpart still seems excited by it, and perhaps anxious for a chance to prove she can effectively dish it out.

HBO's The Last of Us is a mostly faithful adaptation of the hit PlayStation game. But just how close to its source material does it get? We've gathered images ...

Simon Cardy is reviewing The Last of Us for IGN. But just how close to its source material does it get? HBO's The Last of Us is a mostly faithful adaptation of the hit PlayStation game.

Kathleen from "The Last of Us" stands in a FEDRA bunker. Whoever he is, he's angered Kathleen. Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO ...

[Episode 5 of ](https://mashable.com/article/the-last-of-us-episode-5-releasing-early) [The Last of Us ](https://mashable.com/article/the-last-of-us-episode-5-releasing-early) [airs Friday, Feb. ET](https://mashable.com/article/the-last-of-us-episode-5-releasing-early) on HBO and [HBO Max(opens in a new tab)](https://zdcs.link/kWLXr?cd36=Standard&%3B%3Bt=article&%3B%3Bm=content_body&%3B%3Be=offer&%3B%3Bi=text-link&%3B%3Bel=HBO%20Max.%28Opens%20in%20a%20new%20window%29&%3B%3Bcd62=article&%3B%3Bcd63=06HfY51imYzhAUHuzUzI6Sn&%3B%3Bshort_url=kWLXr&%3B%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-last-of-us-bill-and-frank&%3Bt=article&%3Bm=content_body&%3Be=offer&%3Bi=text-link&%3Bel=HBO%20Max.&%3Bcd62=article&%3Bcd63=050lNWiM14bNETmpJ8LgeNF&%3Bshort_url=kWLXr&%3Bu=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-last-of-us-who-is-kathleen-melanie-lynskey&t=article&m=content_body&e=offer&i=text-link&el=HBO%20Max&cd62=article&cd63=02b60uNwdMKfzvZhxwFygo7&short_url=kWLXr&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmashable.com%2Farticle%2Fthe-last-of-us-who-is-henry). In the game, Henry and Sam are survivors from Hartford traveling through Pittsburgh. From this, it's highly likely that Henry was a FEDRA collaborator, who played a part in the capture and killing of Kathleen's brother. While we may not have explicit information about who Henry is, the episode does throw us a few clues as to why Henry is so important to Kathleen. That's when he and his brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard) hold Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) at gunpoint.

Episode Four's needle drop of "Alone and Forsaken" throws it back to the HBO show's source material.

The song also provides the name of the chapter in the game, as well as the title of the episode, “Please Hold My Hand.” The track boasts lyrics that connect to the loneliness of the HBO post-apocalyptic series, as Williams sings in the chorus: “Alone and forsaken by fate and by man/Oh Lord, if you hear me, please hold to my hand.” But the exchange in Bill’s truck between Joel and Ellie also occurs [in The Last of Us video game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZBbKagfFIE). [Episode Four](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a42760724/the-last-of-us-episode-4-recap/)'s needle drop threw it back to 1955, with Hank Williams’s "Alone and Forsaken."

We only got a brief glimpse of them as the camera pulled back from a sleeping Joel to show Henry holding a gun to Ellie's head and Sam pointing one at Joel's.

“We had a conversation about the toll Joel’s life would have had on him physically,” he said. [The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/can-the-last-of-us-break-the-curse-of-bad-video-game-adaptations), Druckmann recalled a debate with Mazin about Joel’s physical state in the TV series. In the TV series, the location of Henry and Sam’s meeting with Joel and Ellie is different – they are all in Kansas City – and there have been other changes too. And it started from a place of just like talking with Craig [Mazin] and we’re like, ‘What if we could use less dialogue?’ That kind of constraint led to really interesting storytelling decisions that I would say in some ways make that sequence [with Sam and Henry] more impactful than it is in the game.” “So, he’s hard of hearing on one side because of a gun shot. “Our culture and language is so rich, I’m just surprised that it’s being shown so rarely. “It’s about seeing our Deaf icons on screen, being represented with our culture and our language right there,” he explained. (We won’t spoil any more here for non-gamers watching the series, while for gaming fans we will just say the words ‘toy robot’ and pass the tissues). I’m thankful we had such a great team that was receptive and motivated along with us.” In an Fans of the game will already know about the pair (who we will also see in episode five) – they team up with Joel and Ellie to escape Pittsburgh, where they have been hiding out. Don’t be afraid to try it out.

A series high of 7.5 million viewers tuned into Episode 4 of 'The Last of Us' on Sunday, despite that the episode was released during the Grammys.

[VIP+ Analysis: PlayStation’s Plan for HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’](https://variety.com/vip/the-new-playstation-strategy-behind-hbos-the-last-of-us-1235488177/) The fifth episode of “The Last of Us” will also run into some major competition — the Super Bowl, typically the most-viewed telecast of the year — though HBO has mitigated that problem with a new release strategy. (Total viewership including streaming was not available for Episodes 3-9 of “House of the Dragon.”)

The HBO series continues to be out standing in its field. Sean Keane headshot. Sean Keane.

The musician was initially uncredited for this use, but game director Neil Druckmann acknowledged this and [apologized in a tweet](https://twitter.com/Neil_Druckmann/status/1270511049586831362). It's like the Kathleen storyline was added to the show so vengeance is a clearer thematic through-line of vengeance between this season and [the second](/culture/entertainment/hbo-hit-the-last-of-us-renewed-for-season-2/). Keshner was [subsequently credited accordingly](https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/10/21280265/the-last-of-us-part-2-lotte-kestner-true-faith-cover-song-ellie-trailer), Polygon reported in 2020. [Melanie Lynskey](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001491/) from Showtime's incredible [Yellowjackets](/culture/entertainment/yellowjackets-episode-10-finale-ending-explained-and-all-our-wtf-questions/)). Despite Joel's safety measures, they wake up to find guns pointed in their faces -- they've been discovered by Henry and Sam ( [similarly to the source material](https://youtu.be/p2rG4p38PAI). In case you feel like breaking them out in your everyday life, here are the jokes she hits Joel with: It's a subtly defining moment in their story in that medium and will likely prove similar in the show. They're on track to connect Ellie to the Fireflies, a rebel group that wants to replicate her immunity to [the fungal infection](https://www.cnet.com/science/biology/features/the-last-of-us-fungal-pandemic-actually-happen-a-scientific-investigation-hbo-max/) that transformed billions of people into monsters. Seems like Kathleen is letting her grudge distract her from a more immediate problem. Kathleen is shown a loft they'd been hiding in, and it's filled with a kid's art of Superman. Having dealt with Fedra, her group is hunting down people who collaborated with Fedra -- the names Henry and Sam will likely stir memories if you've played the game.

Sony's apocalyptic video game adaptation continues to be popular with viewers.

Read up on some of the changes from the game, such as giving the resistance fighters Joel and Ellie encounter [a leader](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/hbos-the-last-of-us-gives-a-face-to-the-resistance-with-a-brand-new-character/1100-6511193/) among [many others](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-last-of-us-tv-series-writer-teases-changes-from-the-game/1100-6510364/). [renewed for Season 2](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/hbos-the-last-of-us-renewed-for-season-2/1100-6510940/) as of last week. The Last of Us is in its first season, but has been Despite some hefty Sunday-night competition, The Last of Us continues to climb to new heights in viewership with each passing week. You don't mess with the Super Bowl. Chad Johnson) Overwatch 2 - Season 3 Trailer Tekken 8 Official Nina Reveal and Gameplay Trailer The Weird Ways Games Use Calibers - Loadout Firearms Expert Reacts To Hell Let Loose’s Guns Part 2

The Last of Us is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television along with PlayStation ...

[HBO Max](https://deadline.com/tag/hbo-max/) [in just a few days](https://deadline.com/2023/02/the-last-of-us-episode-5-early-release-date-hbo-max-1235249199/). This is the second week in a row that [The Last of Us](https://deadline.com/tag/the-last-of-us/) has had some big competition, after airing on HBO during the last half of the AFC Championship on the East Coast last week. It is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television along with PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint and Naughty Dog. The Last of Us is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal journey as they both must traverse the U.S. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.

"Please Hold My Hand" brings in even more new viewers despite airing during the 2023 Grammy Awards. Pedro Pascal as Joel protecting Bella Ramsey as Ellie in ' ...

The series is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. Episode 5 of The Last of Us is, however, set to air This recent feat pulled off by the series is impressive to note given that the episode aired on the same night as the telecast of the 65th Grammys. This run being put together by The Last of Us is impressive, especially when compared to another HBO heavy hitter, House of the Dragon. So fans of the show don’t have long to wait before a return to Ellie and Joel. [The Last of Us](https://collider.com/the-last-of-us-hbo/) is one of the most beloved shows at the moment.

Episode 4 of The Last of Us shifts gear to focus on Joel and Ellie's journey, but offers some fan service with meaningful Easter eggs from the game.

In the games, The Last of Us and The Last of Us - Part II, Pierce voiced the role of Joel’s brother Tommy. [The Last of Us](https://gamerant.com/tag/the-last-of-us/) is the [bond shared between Joel and Ellie](https://gamerant.com/the-last-of-us-2-joel-ellie-father-daughter-revenge-forgiveness/). [The Last of Us game](https://gamerant.com/last-us-vs-part-ii-better-game/) and its dark lyrics seem appropriate for the game and series’ theme. The characters have to hide and carefully move around in order to avoid being killed by it. Similar to the previous Easter egg, Joel is seen giving Ellie a boost in one scene and the camera stays on him while the latter is only heard moving things around. In the game, Joel is typically seen giving Ellie a boost into cracks in the wall that are big enough only for Ellie to go through. He is one of the few actors to have played a role in both the game and HBO series, a list that includes Merle Dandridge playing Marlene. “Alone and Forsaken” by Hank Williams is the same track that plays during Joel and Ellie’s journey in The magazine looks exactly like the one in the game and [Episode 4 of The Last of Us](https://gamerant.com/the-last-of-us-episode-4-review/) brings Ellie’s sense of humor and the banter between both characters to the forefront. Even though the bridge is featured in Episode 4 of the HBO series, the main characters drive past it, which means that they are skipping the Pittsburgh chapter from the game. [Episode 3 of The Last of Us](https://gamerant.com/the-last-of-us-episode-3-review/).

Fans of The Last of Us games may have noticed that it's none other than Jeffrey Pierce who plays Kathleen's right-hand man, Perry.

Pierce’s appearance comes at the right time in the series, as Joel and Ellie are on their way to find Tommy. The sequence in the original game in which Tommy sees Joel with Ellie and understands that his brother doesn’t trust himself to shepherd another young girl is one of its most heartbreaking moments; given how emotionally impactful the first few episodes of The Last of Us have been, it will certainly be interesting to see how these critical moments will play out on screen. It’s certainly interesting to see such a different type of performance from Pierce, as Tommy’s gentleness is the complete opposite of Perry’s ruthlessness. Tommy is a complex character who is involved with Joel’s story from the beginning, and witnesses the horrific death of his daughter Sarah. One of the brilliant decisions that showrunner Craig Mazin and original creator Neil Druckmann made was to spend more time focused on individual characters that served expositional or transitory roles in the games. He’s clearly a major factor in Kathleen’s operation; while the game featured a mysterious group of human hunters that threaten Joel and Ellie, they weren’t named and given backstories.