The Last of Us' Episode 4

The fourth episode of The Last of Us strengthens the bond between Joel and Ellie, while introducing us to a new threat: Melanie Lynskey's Kathleen.

Joel says he knows what it's like, the first time you have to hurt someone like that, and that it was Joel’s fault, that Ellie shouldn’t have had to shoot the guy, and Joel apologizes to Ellie. As they leave the space, Kathleen points out that they’re out of food and that Henry won’t let Sam starve, and that they must be close. Kathleen posits that maybe Henry called these mercs in, and then asks if any of the men would live with the help of a doctor, to which the men reply there is no chance. She holds the gun up to his head, and the man once again reiterates that he was her doctor. As Kathleen holds a gun to the man’s head, we learn that he was the doctor that delivered her, and the doctor promises that he never told FEDRA anything about her brother. Joel and Ellie crash the truck into a laundromat as they’re shot as from the street. Joel takes the gun from Ellie, takes the begging man’s knife, and tells Ellie to get back into the wall. Joel tells Ellie to put her seatbelt on and the two drive towards the man, with Joel saying they're not going to help him. Joel believes all the men to be dead, but then another man sneaks up behind him, knocking Joel to the ground, and pressing his gun up to his neck, slowly killing him. So much of The Last of Us as a story is about this bond, and this fourth episode is the first time we really begin to see this connection flourish. Later on, as they continue on in the truck, Ellie rags on Joel a bit more, as she finds a Hank Williams cassette that Joel puts on, and then after finding a gay porn magazine, she jokes about how all the pages are stuck together. The topic of conversation heads toward Tommy, and Joel opens up, saying that Tommy used to be what he called a “joiner,” and that he dreamed of becoming a hero.

(Bill is also alive in the game, but parts ways with Joel and Ellie before this goes down.) The incident takes place in Kansas City, but it happened in ...

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). 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. 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/). [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 prove similar in the show. They're on track to connect Ellie to the Fireflies, since the rebel group 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.

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.

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.