The Last of Us Episode 4 is still winning recognition by portraying a growing companionship between Ellie and Joel with a dose of punny jokes.
The Last of Us Episode 4 aired last Sunday, proceeding in Kansas City to meet the deadly hunters and their mean leader. Leaving Bill and Frank to meet their fate from Episode 3, Joel and Ellie continue their journey by building trust to care for each other like that father-daughter figure.
In the recent episode of The Last of Us, Joel and Ellie come across a new character named Kathleen, who was nowhere to be seen in the game’s storyline. Ellie takes matters into her own hands by shooting someone, and both Ellie and Joel have to live under shadowing fear of the Hunters and their ruthless leader.
I’m excited to see how much HBO has delivered in the season by carrying the exciting storyline and accurate adaption of the game. In this article, The CPU Guide gives a detailed breakdown of what went down in the Last of Us Episode 4.
Kathleen is a Threat
I’ll start by discussing Kathleen’s character, which seems a rude and mean, which was a lot more predictable from the Episode 4 preview as she is the leader of the Hunters, who shoot first and ask questions later.
In the opening scene, my expectations turned out to be true as Kathleen shoots an old man after interrogating him for a while to learn about her brother. I could see her persona of the clan’s leader as she ordered her men to kill the interlopers, and the Hunters started to break into buildings to do so.
Perry, who is one of Kathleen’s men, finds their soldier killed by Joel, indicating that an outsider killed their man. I find this a bit abrupt as Kathleen believes that Henry could have brought an outsider. For those who don’t know, Henry and his little brother Sam are the characters on the run from Hunters in Kansas City. These brothers were seen in the Last of Us Part 1 for the first time and are expected to appear in the upcoming episode.
Kathleen and her bearded soldier Perry start sealing a building, hunting on the quest to find Henry. I find Henry and Sam’s relationship a lot more similar to Joel and Ellie’s as they protect each other to survive these difficult times. Later in the show, Joel and Ellie land themselves in a shootout with the Hunters, indicating that there are more things to worry about than the zombies.
Ellie’s Gone Wild
If you haven’t watched episode 4, let me spoil it by mentioning that Joel taught Ellie to use a gun. I believe it’s something that’s absolutely necessary when natural and supernatural threats surround you. However, teaching Ellie to shoot a gun was more like a regret for Joel as she was forced into shooting Bryan. Surprisingly, Ellie reveals that it wasn’t her first time shooting a gun.
I find this scene pretty identical to the game’s storyline, where Ellie proves her capabilities of handling a firearm by covering Joel during a dangerous encounter with some bandits. Later in the game, Joel gives Ellie a handgun to protect herself. Joel giving Ellie a handgun and promising to train her properly is a gesture that both characters are bonding, and the grudge is finally dissolving between the two.
No Pun Intended
On their journey, Ellie finds a book full of puns which says ‘No Pun Intended’ that she plans to use to lighten up Joel’s mode. In my opinion, it was the cutest effort by Ellie to clear the harshness with Joel and uncover his brighter side with a gesture of care. I have enlisted the puns Ellie threw at Joel, which sounded more like dad jokes to me.
- Did you know diarrhea is hereditary? It runs in your jeans.
- I stayed up all night, wondering where the sun went. And then it dawned on me.
- It doesn’t matter how much you push the envelope. It’ll still be stationary.
- What did the mermaid wear to her math class? An algae-bra.
- Why did the scarecrow get an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.
In Episode 3, I noticed that Joel gave expressions like he doesn’t care what Ellie thinks or says as he considers her nothing more than a cargo. However, in episode 4, Joel actually answers Ellie’s puns by laughing at the diarrhea one and responds to the scarecrow pun by answering its second part.
Conclusion
I found the Last of US episode 4 a sweet little tale of how important it is to stick together. Adding the characters of Henry and Sam is going to be more like an example for Ellie and Joel to learn the importance of care without being selfish. While the episode only gave me a glimpse of Hunters and their leaders, I guess we’ll find the true face of the rebel group in episode 5.
