The Last of Us, Episode 4 Review – Please Hold to My Hand
Coming off the creative achievement of the amazing third episode of The Last Of Us, it was inevitable that the fourth installment of “The Adventures of Joel & Ellie” would have a hard time achieving the same artistic high note of its predecessor. Having established now that the series can detour completely into poignant, self-contained storytelling, would they simply return to tales from the road to en route to rescue Joel’s brother, Tommy? As it turns out, yes.
With an opening that does not include one of the compelling flashbacks of the first two episodes, Please Hold to My Hands snaps back from stretching the bounds of its artistic elastic to rely solely on the charm of its two leads in order to maintain audience interest. Did it achieve its goal? Let’s explore.
With Ellie acting as navigator for the pair on their way through Kansas City, a seemingly abandoned quarantine zone becomes more than meets the eye. If you feel that this review sounds like little more than an episode description on the streaming menu screen, it’s merely a reflection of the excitement generated by the events of the lackluster storytelling. Am I being too hard on a series who’s ambitions feel a bit lower than I expected? With no point of reference as to how the video game story played out, I can derive no extra interest from seeing how the television series differs from the source material, so I am left only with judging it on the basis of any other likeminded series and thus it’s hard to feel like The Last of Us is committed to groundbreaking storytelling.
If I accept the fact that The Last Of Us is merely a road trip story with a zombie apocalypse element added to the mix, it means that most of the entertainment will be created by the banter between these two mismatched traveling partners. Maybe they will learn to care for one another throughout the course of the journey (yawn). Maybe one of them holds the cure to a plague in their body chemistry (Double Yawn). Maybe they’ll barely escape packs of raiders and paranoid townsfolk with whom they come into contact (Zzzz…) Perhaps though, the clever nature of the conversation along the way will make the trip worth it in the long run.
If that’s the case, Please Hold to My Hand managed to succeed in the fact that Ellie successfully breaks through Joel’s rocky exterior with the help of an old joke book full of groaners. The running gag of Ellie consulting the beat-up paperback that’s as dusty as the punch lines and set-ups within and continuously harassing her protector with humor meant for the vaudeville stage is pretty endearing. This is especially true, when just before the dramatic sting of the ending, the two share an uncontrollable genuine laugh together before settling down for the night. In this moment the audience sees the relationship has leveled up, making the apparent danger on the horizon all the more tragic.
So the final moments of the episode, Please Hold to My Hand, are successful, but what about the rest of the action that fill out the run time? Is it even worthy of critical analysis? As Joel and Ellie drive into the empty streets of Kansas City, they are ambushed in an alley and have to pull over to engage in a shot out with a group of attackers. Joel is unconvincingly overpowered by a skinny, 20 year old, who Ellie then shoots in order to save this adult who is supposed to be protecting her. The role reversal makes sense in terms of storytelling beats, but lacks much dramatic heft.
In the aftermath of the attack, as Joel apologizes for feeling that he forced Ellie into the position of shooting a human being, you can sense that perhaps he is actually apologizing to his dead daughter, who Ellie is destined to become the surrogate for. But honestly, that’s me reading more into the story than is actually presented on screen at this point in the series.
The new complication added to the story this episode is that Ellie and Joel must hide out from the local militia, being led by none other than Melanie Lynskey. I have to admit that this bit of casting against type really got my attention. My wife’s favorite movie is the 90’s Drew Barrymore fairy tale, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, so seeing the less-wicked of the step-sisters sending out her armed citizen soldiers to murder intruders was quite a shock. Lynskey plays Kathleen as an angry, paranoid leader, but maintains her signature fragility. Though not yet explained, it appears that perhaps this is not a role the character aspired to, but instead has taken on to guide those in her community on the ruthless path to survival. Once again, The Last Of Us hooks me for another round.
If it feels like I’m being hard on the series, it’s merely because it has to work so hard to set itself apart from all the shows that have come before it. At this point it’s adding bit of spice here and there, but the whole casserole has yet to satisfy. Here’s hoping the next bite proves worthy of a chef’s kiss.
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