The Last of Us S1 Ep. 4 Personal Highlights & Game Easter Eggs

This week’s episode of The Last of Us felt like a follow up solidification of the show’s perfect balancing of adapting the source material through key elements while also feeling like its own standout property worthy of celebrating. There are several points in this episode from both visuals and even audio choices that immediately took me back to the hours that I spent playing the first game which is something that I rarely get to praise about any video game adaptation. So, trying to step away from game spoilers as much as I can, let’s dive into what makes the fourth episode a real highlight of the HBO Max’s new hit show.

An Opening That Perfectly Sets Up A Recurring Theme

So far, we’ve had two episodes back to back where the opening scene was a flashback surrounding scientists of different eras acting as our contextual staging for the show’s outbreak foundation. Episode 3 was the first to break this track record by keeping things in the present during the opening, but eventually opting to primarily focus on a flashback story that connects to Joel and Ellie’s present whereabouts. With the fourth episode, this would be the first time where the show didn’t look backwards to set up the present but instead focused on what's happening with characters now planting seeds for the future. The idea of inserting certain details in order to pay off to greater revelations is one of the most enjoyable elements that makes this episode stand out above the rest for me. 

We open at an abandoned gas station with Ellie playing with the gun that she found at Bill’s place in a mirror. She’s shown to be somewhat competent enough to know how to hold it (something that’ll pay off later on) but still has an appropriately for her age immaturity towards the idea of handling one. This whole scene perfectly sets up a recurring theme in this episode being the various parallels to moments from the game being injected for the fans alongside foreshadowings to events not yet seen while also presenting something engaging for non-gamers. To those who haven’t played The Last of Us, Ellie’s playful confidence with a gun here might be seen as “quirky”, but to those who have experienced both source material chapters, this is a very dark story element being planted for possible dramatically heavy future events.

A World Taken By Nature

The gas station setting acting as our first pit stop on this episode’s road trip venture was a great way to slowly build up the show’s incredible production values. The moss and vines covering over the few cars that we see with the vast empty background and open skies perfectly showcased the desolate state of the world. This is later emphasized and expanded upon during the driving scenes following displaying the various abandoned places with countless of rusted over vehicles (tanks included), sunken ships, broken down train tracks, empty city streets, etc.. Of all the different post apocalyptic movies and shows that I’ve watched over the years, The Last of Us now officially reigns supreme for me where visual storytelling is concerned as the theme of “nature taking back the planet” is both beautifully and hauntingly displayed. 

HBO spared no expense in masterfully bringing this world to life and it shows onscreen through these different exterior shots of the environments. Without a single infected in sight reminding us of the fungal outbreak, the plant life covering over manmade objects does the trick in imbuing a foreboding sense of dread. That line from the series premiere where Sarah sadly suggests that there maybe nowhere to run is tragically put on full display considering that we haven't seen a single area so far that looks completely "revitalized". There's no outpost or corner of the world here that pristinely reminds us of what used to be pre-outbreak which is an unsettling confirmation that nature truly has taken over with no escape in sight.

Joel & Ellie’s Bonding Services Both The Fans & The Storytelling

During their road trip, Ellie finds a cassette tape of Hank Williams’s “Alone and Forsaken” asking him if he feels nostalgic over it. Joel responds that the song is before his time but it’s a winner of a catch for her to find it in Bill’s stash. This dialogue interaction is pulled from right out of the game during the same moment with the two riding along in Bill’s truck. The music is an interesting choice however since it’s not the song that plays in the game’s cut scene during that exact moment but it is the track that played during the marketing campaign announcing the game (I believe it was E3 but I might be wrong on that).

Later Ellie finds a male pornographic magazine in Bill’s truck and joked around about the pictures and being light on reading. Joe’s hilariously parental reaction and Ellie’s awareness towards the awkwardness of the situation is another great scene pulled from the game. Even down to the exact lines and shot chosen after she tosses the magazine out of the window is a nice nod to the fans. From a non-gamer perspective, I’d imagine that this is also a fun little light hearted insert to contrast with the darker heavier themes being explored in the series (a balancing act that this episode masterfully handled repeatedly). 

The camp scene later on, much like the gas station opening, is another great scene of showing just the mundane things that people have to do to survive in the world whether it’s the syphoning of gas from abandoned cars or making camp in strange areas that are hopefully safe. Where some might call these scenes padding, I call it key moments to immerse the viewers in the character’s world and venture while also building on their history and relationship. Joel teaching Ellie about the looming threat of dangerous people being the reason they shouldn’t light a campfire as well as Ellie’s childlike curiosity and innocence being put on display really caught my attention here.

There’s a great bit of character writing here with Ellie looking up to the night sky and asking about the chances of people finding them which Joel lies and tells her that they’ll be safe. Ellie simply reacts “okay” and we later cut to her sleeping while Joel stands off in the background with his rifle looking out into the woods. What’s great about this detail is that anyone who hasn’t played the game can feel the dread inducing nature of mankind being just as much of a notable threat as the frightening infected. This is perfectly illustrated through the quiet suspense building surrounding the eerily empty and quiet dark woods. Joel knows all too well of this enemy that he’s faced prior and is already protecting Ellie like a father figure here.

This is something that will be expanded on later on in the episode, but it’s interesting to see these pillars being staged now early on in various forms. Something else that becomes a recurring theme that coincides with this is the light hearted inserts being placed during dark heavy themes being explored. This is shown with Ellie reading a pun book at the gas station to Joel who completely disregards it to then answering one of the puns during their camp out in the woods. That brief smirk on his face that he hides from her before she dozes off to sleep seeds his emotional walls being slowly chipped away. This is something that you gradually see happening in the game and it’s nice to see the show starting to carefully inject it now that the two are spending more time venturing out together. 

Also, a nice detail here is the fact that Joel is laying on his side while Ellie repeatedly calls out his name to get his attention. It’s subtle, and without any context, comes across as him just being conflicted in connecting with her. However, the rest of the episode reveals this to actually be a set up for his hearing problem due to a heavily implied history of shoot out confrontations. Again, I do have to lovingly point out just how much this show manages to expand upon by doing very little regarding character writing and visual storytelling. Having details like his damaged hearing being caused by previous gun related altercations without the need to flashback to them connecting to Ellie’s fixation on guns now exhibits a cycle of violence that Joel is very much trying to avoid during this mission.

The reason for him not wanting her to carry a gun early on in the series coupled with his reaction to her later on using one all connects to his untold past as both a father to Sarah and a survivor having to do terrible things with Tess and Tommy. Yes, we do get these dialogue heavy scenes where characters break down certain things about the world and their history, but the show also does a lot with its imagery to speak just as prominently without completely smothering the audience with exposition. Speaking of Tommy, Ellie pressures Joel into talking about him resulting in us getting our first backstory diving into his pre-outbreak military life and post-outbreak firefly recruitment. I thought it was a nice bit of context to highlight why Tommy would join the group and how it connects back to his shattered heroic endeavors being enlisted in the army. 

We also learn that it was through Joel being with Tommy during this time that he met Tess before separating with his brother due to having contrasting feelings about joining the Fireflies. Joel’s cold outlook on the world being doomed with no sign of hope (his unwillingness to believe in the Fireflies agenda) and Tommy’s conflicted sensibility regarding chasing after opportunities to make a positive difference is both perfectly characterized in this one monologue. A nice detail to point out here also goes back to my previous statement about Joel’s emotional walls being slowly broken down. Ellie questions him on why he continues going on with such a pessimistic perspective and Joel responds that “family” keeps him going. However, he ensures to establish to her that she’s simply cargo to him that he made a promise to take care of for Tess (his real “family”). 

The fact that he insists on calling Ellie cargo shows that he’s still not quite ready to accept her as a companion which I really appreciate due to how realistically human it is. This is a guy that just lost one of the few people left in his circle of trust due to a mission that he was already strictly opposed of. I’m happy to see that the writers are willing to keep him from quickly treating her like a new surrogate daughter all of a sudden which would be the easy but artificial and forceful way to go about it. And just like the camp scene, the show manages to inject another light hearted moment in the midst of something heavy with a funny editing choice. Joel tells Ellie that she can take a nap due to how long the trip ahead is which she proclaims to be awake enough only to immediately be shown completely wiped out sleeping. It’s another moment pulled from the game that perfectly works for the show’s direction.

These little inserts of humor in the hands of another series could make for a tonally inconsistent experience, but with the creative team here, they successfully utilize them to craft something delightfully balanced. And much like the aforementioned strong visual storytelling and attention to detail, even the drops of humor are substantial in the grand scheme of things. It’s what allows for these characters to draw closer to each other (the ultimate ice breaker) while simultaneously showing that there’s still light left in the world that can be siphoned to contrast the darkness of humanity’s grim survival.

Later on as the two entered into a part of the highway that has been covered over and blocked by abandoned vehicles, my anxiety was starting to raise making this one of the more intense moments of the series. Now nothing necessarily happens in terms of action or threats being introduced (not yet anyway), but he imagery of the charred skeleton in one of the cars, the blockade of vehicles and opened door ambulance van, and the suspenseful score playing throughout had me feeling very uneasy. As a matter of fact, just the ambulance van being shown with the door opened in plain view gave me flashbacks to one of the scariest parts of The Last of Us Part II but I won’t get into that due to obvious spoilers. Knowing how certain levels were designed in the game during intense confrontations were all being referenced in my mind causing me to expect the worst.

This is a testament to the show’s phenomenal set dressing perfectly invoking its source material as what later happens confirmed my uneasiness. Pulling from another iconic segment from the game, Joel and Ellie eventually comes across a guy on the road asking for help which Joel sees right through the facade as being an ambush. We get an intense truck crash and shoot out scene following where I literally felt like I was watching someone play the game due to the chosen setting of the skirmish and character actions taking place. Joel telling Ellie to sneak into a crawl space while he took care of the men only to later need her help had me at the edge of my seat. Just the look of inner conflict in Ellie’s face where she shoots the guy resulting in him bleeding out asking for a truce was a perfect connection to the opening scene of the episode. Ellie went from practicing in the mirror with a gun in a playful manner to now facing the harsh reality of actually hurting someone out of survival.

There’s another great detail here with her initially grabbing the knife when deciding how to help Joel before deciding to use the gun instead. Fans of the game will know how handy she can be as a supporting NPC with that knife whenever an enemy is overwhelming us (which Joel in the show actually sets up later on as a suggested weapon of choice). We later see this guy pleading for help after getting shot by Ellie trying to talk his way into not getting killed which is exactly the type of scenarios that you’d run into during certain confrontations in the game. Sometimes the enemy NPC would use that opportunity to try to take you down which Joel, in this scene, doesn’t give him the option to do. Joel uses the guy’s own knife to kill him after telling Ellie to wait behind the walls so she doesn’t have to see him do it.

The way she walks away knowing what’s about to happen and cries to herself listening behind the wall is such a heart wrenching scene to experience. Again, talking about how this episode plants so many seeds to pay off and circle back to, Ellie is attempting to be build herself up to be hardened by the world as she sees it while Joel is trying to keep her innocence alive. However, later on he sees this to be an endeavor that might not be worth taking on so strictly once he accepts her post apocalyptic upbringing. As far as fun references to the game with this scene, during the initial shoot out, you can vaguely hear one of the people angrily reacting to someone that Joel shot which is exactly how the enemy NPCs would act whenever they find one of their men that you killed in action. It shows that these people are indeed human beings with emotions and not just canon fodder which will play into something potentially substantial later on in the show that ties to The Last of Us Part II.

Later on, we’re introduced to a larger faction of people that the ambushers were a part of who took over a FEDRA outpost. The story here is that these people are apparently on the hunt for someone named Henry (a character who I won’t get into as he does play a role in the game). Just the imagery of seeing all of these militia looking people driving around in groups searching for whoever this Henry character is while also now on the hunt for Joel and Ellie immediately took me back to playing both games. There would be moments where you’d take down a couple of guys only to then immediately hear vehicles pulling up with even more armed people approaching up to take you down. It’s usually heart racing especially when you’re running low on ammo, and in the context of the scene on the show, the tension is felt through our two leads being stranded without any support.

Once they find a place to hide during this faction’s combing through of surrounding buildings, we get another great interaction scene between two. Joel talks about regretting not being able to hear the guy attack him that resulted in Ellie saving him with the gun. It’s another seed planted regarding his hearing condition while also continuing to show his inner parental sensibility to protect her from the world. Joel is shown here to hate the idea of Ellie having to kill someone and not wanting her to know what it’s like to hurt people like he does. With just a little being said, one can easily take his hesitance about the subject as something that draws on his past as someone violent which was seeded in the series premiere. And with the risk of sounding like a broken record here, I’ll just say yet again how much I admire the way that they’re able to connect and draw upon so much without disclosing everything.

When Ellie tells him that it’s not her first time having to kill someone (again servicing the fans while also following up on something that was teased in Episode 2 for new franchise audiences), Joel decides to give her a gun handling lesson. Ellie’s tearful smile and Joel’s fatherly presence here during this tender exchange is one of those heart warming yet tragic considering the context scenes that makes The Last of Us what it is. That small glimmer of hope presenting itself in a frighteningly dark world that can be obtained for those who are willing to try is something that I’ve always connected to with this franchise. It’s during this scene and a few others where the two can be seen as both survivors as well as a father and a child bonding through terrible circumstances. Suffice it to say, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann is absolutely nailing this adaptation. 

Joel turns to Ellie after the gun lesson and tries to assure her that they’ll get through this alive which Ellie responds “I know”. Again, going back to that camp scene where he lies to her about being safe only to later guard her as she sleeps, I feel like we’re dropping a trail of bread crumbs towards the game’s iconic ending. As Joel is slowly showing his parental side and care for her well being while still keeping a stoic cold demeanor, Ellie is maturing faster and faster as a survivor being thrown into the world willing to accept its harsh reality. Without spoiling anything, I’m curious to see if this will indeed play into where things go in the first game’s huge controversial character decision.

Now speaking on the show’s parallels to the game, with this new faction introduced that apparently took over a FEDRA outpost, we’re focused on a character by the name of Kathleen who I’m assuming to be their leader. Now I’ll be honest with you guys; I have no idea who this character is, but I am curious to see what this group is all about. In the games, you encounter some pretty messed up groups such as twisted religious cults, militarized groups aiming to take over, and other survivors willing to do whatever they can to make it through the day. Where this group on the show is categorized will be interesting to see and whether or not it ties into the first game’s Hunters faction completely or something else entirely new. 

Considering where we are in the narrative with Henry being teased, I’m gonna safely assume these are “Hunters”. Also, that tease for something emerging in their outpost that Kathleen wants to keep a secret for now had me absolutely giddy. Words cannot describe how excited I am to see that particular element of the game fully realized in live action. That's of course assuming that it is indeed exactly what I'm thinking about from both games that made that huge crater in the ground. If it is, let me just say that Part II's moment with that particular enemy was a hair raising, sweat inducing, and tension racking experience. I'd be curious to see how they approach it on the show. 

Ellie and Joel later on find a tall building to hold up in, and their way up the long staircase, Ellie asks Joel about the ambush and how he knew what was taking place. Joel states that he used to be on the other side of those situations alongside Tess and Tommy which expands on his history as being a part of groups like this. The fact that he’s openly talking about Tess after Episode 3’s rule that he strictly gave Ellie to never mention her is crucial not note here. And, like before, we have some light hearted exchanges inserted that perfectly works and plays into the character development taking place. Ellie tells Joel to get up after his need to take a breath walking up the flight of stairs which he responds that he’s 56 years old. This is a nice tie into earlier on in the episode when Ellie is eating ridiculously fast and Joel tells her to slow down which she claims that she is eating slow. 

Once the two find a room to hold up in, Joel sprinkles glass by the door in order to hear if someone’s sneaking up on them which Ellie eventually brings up the idea of his hearing problem. But before this conversation happens, we have one of my favorite details seeded here with the two laying down to try to catch some sleep and the camera focusing on Joel with his eyes open thinking. During the camp scene this was a moment that comprised of Ellie asking him questions where he slowly opened himself up to her while still remaining distant. In this scene, with the same camera angle, Joel is now the one asking her something personal being her previous experience having to use a gun. The fact that he now completely turns to face her while respectfully keeping her request to not wanting to talk about it is such a nice detail to show his gradual willingness to open up to her now reaching a new stepping stone.

Solidifying this new step of progression is Ellie’s final pun in the episode being thrown at him about diarrhea being hereditary. Joel’s failed attempt to keep stoic resulting in him laughing which Ellie catches onto and joins in is by far one of the most smile inducing, heart warming scene that I’ve ever experienced in a story like this in quite a while. I’m reminded of scenes like the soda can discovery bit from 2009’s The Road where Viggo Mortensen’s character comes across a can of Coke in the city wasteland and shares it with his son leading to the two having a happy bonding moment in a dark setting. By the way, The Road is one of the best post apocalyptic movies ever to grace the screen and a movie where The Last of Us game likely drew thematic inspiration from. If you’re enjoying the series, then I highly recommend checking out that movie.

The episode then ends with Joel waking up from Ellie’s calling out to him (note that he was sleeping on his left ear which is why he likely couldn’t hear anyone sneaking into the room). The two are being threatened by a man and a child with guns and the episode ends before revealing who they are. The gamer in me wants to discuss who these characters likely are, but as a viewer watching with everyone else in mind, I’d rather just let the writers reveal their identities. Either way, it’s a very thought provoking bit of irony to end on after what was becoming a very touching and light hearted exchange to now shift to what is essentially a mirror to our leads. The moment Joel fully drops his guard for a laugh with Ellie is the moment his safety guard is compromised by two people of a potentially similar relationship. What this encounter does to his mindset will being interesting to see unfold.

Episode Rating: 10/10