After massively deviating from the original story of The Last of Us (in a very good way) during episode three, HBO's TV adaptation of the classic PlayStation game returns to what fans have known and loved for a decade. Episode four, titled Please Hold on to My Hand, brings to life the ambush scene where Joel and Ellie are assaulted and stripped of their car.
What follows is a few intense gunfights, with both characters involved. However, the episode still makes room for some light-hearted jokes from Ellie, which are pulled directly from the game. It then concludes with the quick introduction of Henry and Sam, hinting at what's come in episode five if you've played The Last of Us.
What did you think of this week's episode, though? Did you enjoy the return to what's been established by the game, or do you now want more deviations from the source text? Place a vote in our poll below and share your full thoughts in the comments section.
Comments 32
I think Bella really shined as Ellie the most in this episode thus far.
It was fine but you can tell they are really rushing now for time and it's a bummer. No hotel section, no section of ellie with a rifle covering for joel. Instead we get her saving Joel with a gun right away as they get into the city. Also not likely how little the infected have been in the show through 4 episodes.
Oh and Tommy's VO still sounding just like Tommy but playing a different character is so stupid
I thought it was really good, and I’m feeling the chemistry of Ramsey in the role better.
Interesting choice of what to include from the game and what to exclude though. Still, it functioned to build the Joel-Ellie relationship better than we’ve seen so far.
Good to see the jokes make an appearance. Almost as good as Sammy’s subtitles.
Loved this episode and probably my favorite so far. Fun action sequence plus plenty of relationship building with Joel and Ellie. They're starting to feel like a family and it's natural.
A bit of a stumble after last week but I guess they do have to cover the main events. Not convinced by the need to make Henry and Sam more important than they are as well, part of what made their section work is that they were essentially a ‘normal’ version of Joel and Ellie.
It just keeps getting better & better to me. I’m loving it. Sucks it comes out on Super Bowl Sunday but I’ll record it then watch it after
@CWill97
Episode 5 is releasing Friday to avoid the Super Bowl, just so you know.
There is no option "I don't care" in pool.
@djlard
You cared enough to click on this article, look at the vote options, scroll down and then comment you dont care. That's an awful lot of caring for supposedly not caring.
for me since the first episode it has strayed too far away from source material
This was hands down my least favorite episode, so far. It was way too short and felt like mostly pointless filler. Them trying to show the inner workings of the raiders feels so forced and like a giant waste of time. Also, for an MA-rated show on HBO based on an extremely violent video game, the violence being mostly off-screen and bloodless drove me nuts, especially for this being the raiders section.
Joel is also waaaay too open with Ellie in this adaptation. A single sentence and silence went a long way in the game. I don't need Joel spelling out his thoughts and feelings to Ellie every chance he gets. It gets old so damn fast.
Finally, on a more personal note, them replicating the men's magazine scene felt extremely out-of-place here, especially with all of the major changes they made to Bill in the previous episode. They should have just left it out entirely.
So, yeah, I thought this episode sucked.
It was a very solid episode.
They made some smart cuts. And I like how they are giving this faction some personality and organization. In the game in Philadelphia they were just random bandits.
I don't like this Joel. He's too chatty. Game Joel had a thousand yard stare that conveyed a dozen emotions at once. This one treats Ellie like she is his diary.
@PhantomMenace84
Two things;
1. They said going in that there wasn't going to be nearly as much combat as the game in order to make the show much more believable before the first episode even aired. We can suspend our disbelief that Joel and Ellie can massacre dozens and dozens of enemies unscathed in a video game but in a tv show with a very grounded tone most people can't suspend their disbelief to that same level.
2. This season is covering the whole first game. I think they can make it work.
@LifeGirl @RBMango I kind of understand that criticism but I suspect that these types of shows (the ones without big ensemble casts or constant action set pieces) just aren't going to attract big name actors (or justify their salaries) by offering parts with minimal dialogue for them to deliver.
As much as I enjoyed last weeks episode, I feel like it’s disrupted the pacing quite a bit. It reminded me of those single-character-centric episodes we used to get in TWD (like the Cheese Man episode, when Morgan gets his stick). It was a great episode but in a short season like this, it feels like they now have to rush through and skip-over so many important parts of the game.
Love the series. Of all the episodes this far in however, I felt this was the weakest. A bridge episode.
The ending credits !!!!! thats all I have to say to that
I really enjoyed it.
I like that they're expanding on the original story with some of the characters and I hope they continue it.
Can't wait for the next episode.
@PegasusActual93 Haha best reply 🤣
Great episode! The bad jokes were actually funny and I love how it drew Joel and Ellie closer together. And I mostly loved seeing Melanie Lynskey as a villain. She’s always a sweetheart in every role she plays so it’s a definite side step for her.
Spoiler Warning:
I'm wondering how they are going to handle the final episode of this season because if Joel has a hard time taking out those three stooges how the hell is he going to make it through a hospital full of Fireflies?
I was hoping that his confrontation with the "raider" would be more brutal. They tried to humanize him too much and it just didn't work. Also, HE almost killed Joel? That clown looked like Joel could wipe the floor with him. The whole scene for me just fell flat. Definitely one of the weaker episodes, probably due to having a different director. Glad he will not be directing any more after episode 5.
On a more positive note, watching Joel's interactions with Ellie were the strongest parts of this episode. His reactions to her jokes were heartwarming, heartbreaking, and hilarious all at once.
@PegasusActual93 can't agree more with your comment. So many people complaining about the lack of action, infected and how vulnerable the 3rd episode made them feel about their manhood. But we will have our dose of action on Friday so everyone will be happy.
The only thing I am worried about is that they will have to rush or cut entire game chapters in the last 4 episodes. Suburbs, University and Bus Depot? All out I think. We will have Left Behind and Firefly lab for sure according to trailers, and I imagine some different shorter version of Tommy's Dam and then Lakeside Resort, which was my favorite chapter.
I'm just waiting for the whole season to finish so I can binge watch all of it
For me this was the best episode so far. Not much "zombie" action but lots of funny moments.
And next ep. is coming on friday
I played the game a decade ago and it was amazing. Not sure I want to spend 12 hours watching a show but each to their own. Great to see it doing soo well.
@Ensure I know it's not nice to say or PC to say it, but I think that too every single time she is in a scene. That ruins all the love that I usually have for Ellie's character. I think they could have cast her role much much better. Still love the show so far. It's just a thorn in my side while watching.
@LN78 he is a big name actor. He's been in lots of shows, even Game of Thrones.
@SolaceCreed I know. Read what I wrote - I'm not sure these types of shows could attract actors of his calibre if there was no dialogue for them to perform. Hence why Joel is more talkative in the show versus the game.
@LN78
My bad, I misunderstood you.
@PSfan4Life22 the hotel section was bumped forward to ep 2
@PSfan4Life22 new voices are expensive. They probably couldn’t afford to buy him a new one. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
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