The Last of us epsiode 4: please hold onto my hand

The last of Us episode 4 review: Please hold onto my hand

With the high bar set in successive episodes, it’s a more ‘conventional’ tale with the occasional QTE incorporated into the show. 

However, by keeping the show a more conventional 45 minutes, the exhibition emphasises the craft is a winner over originality as the execution of what I call ‘due process’ of the genre with acting and atmosphere trumping plot or complexity for the win.

We see our first real life outside of FEDRA and what the wilderness has done to civilisation. The road trip dynamic between Joel and Ellis evolves. Bella again looks set to win awards by being on point in a crisis and still very much a sheltered teen. Her fixation on a pun book helps crack the tension and reminds us of the humanity in our leads, significantly Joel’s, whose defensiveness is slowly eroding into the father he was in the past.

The show handles with tact and maturity guns and children. It works hard to avoid the inevitable, and the threat having a gun brings to Ellie is never in doubt. Once the inevitable happens, we start to reframe where and what this world is. This is not a place where guns have glamour. The show also, to this point, has made a concerted effort to bring the danger to the fore throughout. There have been no dramatic shootouts, one massive sacrificial explosion, yes, but no ‘el mariachi’, which frankly would have been the norm 20 years ago.

The writers have yet to rest their laurels in creating their enemies led by Kathleen.

This is where the show shows it’s not some variation of ‘The Walking Dead.’

Joel does terrible things. He is angry and amoral in his duties. He is no Rick Grimes, who feels he could walk into a trap out of goodness and the heavens will favour his boldness. Neith is Kathleen Negan. She is no leather jacket baseball basket case. She is forthright, earnest, and a small-town survivalist who has pushed charisma to the max in this town. She could use a doctor; she doesn’t want him. Job done.

It’s annoying that the episode that shows Ellie and Joel feels the weakest after a high bar. But it’s a series, not a film, and the connective tissue allows the show to grow. I’m looking forward to the mysteries that await after this one. I am still trying to avoid games like banjax.