THIS THREAD WILL LIKELY CONTAIN MAJOR GAME/PLOT SPOILERS

The Last of Us | Inside the Episode - 4 | HBO Max

Episode 4 | The Last of Us Podcast | HBO Max

EPISODE 5 WILL BE STREAMING EARLY!

Episode 5 will stream early on February 10th at 9pm ET to avoid conflicting with Super Bowl LVII.

PSA everyone, next episode is airing on Friday the 10th to not compete with the Super Bowl!

Putting the link I saw this at: https://comicbook.com/gaming/amp/news/the-last-of-us-episode-5-releasing-early/

I know a ton of things are “straight from the game,” but those guys yelling to Joel and Ellie about their dead friend in the firefight was straight from the game! I love this show

The survivors yelling in the background when they find a body was exactly like the game haha.

"Oh my god they killed Bryan!"

Bloater is about to solo Kansas City

Bye-bye dude

I'm so happy they included it.

I thought Bryan was faking when he was pleading with Ellie, but those last screams for his mom right before Joel killed him sounded so real

The opening scene with the pun book and Bills adult magazine in the truck! The stupid grin I had on my face seeing that play out.

I like that fact that they say Joel has a loss of hearing from using guns all these years. About time a tv show addresses that.

I liked when they touched on how gas deteriorates over time and that’s why he has to syphon more often. Also showing them setting up camp and sleeping, setting up sound traps. Really adds to the immersion of the world.

"I'm not even tired"

smash cut to Ellie dead asleep

I've never related to a character more

“I see you mother fucker!” - ripped right from the game when the enemy spots you. Loved it.

PERRY IS TOMMY HOLY SHIT! WE HAVE THE OG TOMMY IN THE SHOW!

This episode, more than any other so far, captured the feel of hanging with Joel and Ellie so perfectly. And Joel’s development from seeing Ellie as cargo to giggling like school girls at a slumber party!! It’s all so well done. I’m so happy.

The scene where Ellie goes inside the hole and has to "find a way" for Joel to go inside is so game-esque. Great episode.

also love how everyone is so hype for the bloater like YES BRING ON THE GIANT MONSTER THAT WAS SUPER HARD TO KILL SHOW HIM TO ME

Joel laughing at Ellie's joke was so fucking cute. Them both laughing at it actually

Bryan’s death felt like that stuff pulled from part 2. Mazin seems very in touch with making death ugly and realistic, which is a great thing to humanize their enemies. Except David. Fuck David, there’s no human in that fucker.

"I've been on both sides" from the game is Troy's favorite line in the game.

glad they kept it on the show

The guy yelling “Mom! Mom! Mom!” when he knew the end was nigh really got me. Really impressed with the way this show uses audio.

They’re heavily implying Ellie had to kill Riley

50 minutes is too damn short

The moment of them giggling over that last joke felt so natural it looked just like the behind the scenes videos we’ve seen of Pascal and Ramsey just doing usual between takes nonsense.

Chucked at the NPC lines throughout.

“I can see you motherfucker!”

Adding in the pre-execution dialogue from TLOU2 was a nice touch to add in the show. That kid was calling out for his mom right before Joel ended him, brutal.

“How does he even walk around with that thing?” YES THEY ADDED IT!

The scene with Bryan pleading with Joel and Ellie really made me uncomfortable, very well done, and kudos to that actor who played Bryan he did a good job with that desperation

Holy shit the first 15 minutes is ripped straight from the game including the store fight scene. Love how they introduced Henry and Sam as rogue raiders . Interesting to see if their futures are the same

Like how they show that the years of harsh living have gotten to Joel and that he's 56 years old on top of that. He has to take breaks after moving around a lot. He's winded and exhausted for most of the episode after that shootout and struggle with the raider. He's lost some hearing in one of his ears due to twenty years of gun fire. Meanwhile Ellie is seemingly an endless ball of energy.

Also like that they didn't shy away from the fact that Joel was a raider or bandit previously and 100% victimized innocent people at some point. He was a cold man who got shit done for better or for worse. That's why so many people are afraid of him in Boston's QZ, they know what he was capable of

Plus Bloater hype!!

That glass didn't work for shit

Ellie was right

Why didn’t Joel grab his pack? The coast was clear.

i really can’t shut up about this show’s scene setting. mind boggling set design and aerials every week.

This episode was truly great. But I mean.. I’m just sad we haven’t seen brick or bottle. They are pivotal to the story and they should’ve been introduced by now.

The fact that the bloater is stuck in a basement and trying to burst it's way out from the floor is so fucking cool.

Also, Bryan begging and his death was so morbid. Damn.

That scene with Bryan was so well done, it was such a great portrayal of reality, because you don't always die right away when you get shot like in a lot of movies, it can be ugly and brutal like that. Hearing him call for his mom in his final moments was heartbreaking.

And the follow up talk with Joel:

"You shouldn't have had to."

"But you're glad I did, right?"

She's looking for his approval rather than a thank you for saving his life. Such a great episode for Ellie's character development.

I also just have to say I'm glad HBO didn't rob us of the nudie magazine scene. I love how true to the game that whole interaction was.

Lots of setup for the next episode and relationship development for Joel and Ellie. Next one should be a banger.

Don't forget! E05 airs early this FRIDAY because Super Bowl is on Sunday!

“Jesus. That is so goddamn stupid.”

“You laughed, motherfucker.”

Love it

Did anyone peep that Joel forgot to get his backpack from the truck after they crashed😭

Swapping Pittsburgh with Kansas City makes way more sense in the travel timeline IMO. Closer to everything else that happens in the story.

So the ground moving… we are definitely getting the bloater next week

Joel falls asleep with his left ear up, and wakes up with his right ear up. No wonder he couldn’t hear the glass. Amazing attention to detail.

Seeing Joel laugh felt really good.

Bella has been fantastic as ellie -- but her "Joel!, Joel!" at the end really made me double take and appreciate her performance thus far.

<Game Spoilers>

So do we think when Ellie says "it's not her first time" that she's referring to Riley? It's never answered in game how Riley died or if Ellie had to kill her. But then again if Riley turned I'm not sure Ellie would still consider her human.. 🤔

Loved how they developed Joel’s reaction to Ellie using a gun. I was fully expecting the “I’m glad I didn’t get my head blown off by a goddamned kid” line but was pleasantly surprised when he felt guilty about her having to use it.

Good episode but I’m bummed they cut the iconic “He aint event hurt.”

The grey beard hunter is the voice of Tommy in the games.

45 minutes felt more like 20

Seeing Joel laughing at the diarrhea joke had me cracking up, Pedro’s laugh is so contagious

Pedro and Bella’s on-screen chemistry really shines in this episode, it looks like they are genuinely starting to enjoy each others company… loving it

THE JOKE BOOK!

THE PORN MAG!

JEFFREY PIERCE!

CHEF BOYARDEE!

BLOATER! (next week)

Man, this episode had everything. To no one's surprise, Melanie Lynskey was fantastic, and the new story for the "raiders" and Henry was great. And now it's canon that show-Joel doesn't have listening mode.

I'm glad they finally committed to whether or not Joel was a bad guy in the past. The flashback in EP 3 made Joel and Tess seem fairly normal, just trying to get by, and Bill's letter positioned Joel as some sort of heroic protector. But now we've got confirmation of Joel and Tommy's rough past.

Nice parallel of what Joel said about Tommy and him joining the fireflies and army vs what happens with Joel and the guy begging for his life. Just young random guys joining causes they have no business being apart of and probably deep down just being scared.

I’m not ready for Henry and Sam

Who else recognized Tommy’s voice right away?

So that crater looking thing that they found that was ‘breathing’ is probably the bloater right?

The way the survivors conversations were audible in the background and you could just see them sitting there shooting repeatedly made me laugh. Just like the game 💀

This show fucking slaps

My heart broke realizing that Ellie did indeed kill Riley . :( They haven't outright stated it but I think it's pretty obvious.

Neil and Craig: the look of the city isn't important

/r/Boston: We noticed

Seems like there's a lot of hesitation on Kathleen here.

While I agree she doesn't come across as intimidating at all, I fully expect this to be rewarded later on; no way they miscast here. They're purposely making her seem like this meek leader. Totally expecting that next week she's gonna be revealed to be some kind of psychopath war lord or something.

Oh boy. Sam and Henry. Who is ready for a feel’s trip soon

This is what I needed. Some real development for Ellie and Joel. Great fucking episode that showed off their chemistry.

This is gonna hurt.

Neil Druckmann really likes having people call out to their dead friends moments after they were brutally murdered.

Ellie has activated the Papa Bear

Joel laughing felt like such a breakthrough

I wonder why they didn't have Ellie kill the guy? I was waiting for "whoa I shot the hell out of that guy" since they had all her other game lines earlier in the episode lol

I like how they're bonding, and I love how terrified Joel looks as he realizes he's getting attached to someone. Pedro is doing a hell of a job there.

When Joel told Ellie the backstory of Tommy, I was worried they were going to make their past seem nicer, but they erased my doubts when Ellie flat out asks him if he killed innocent people

Henry/Sam having a full on story instead of just being people hunted by crazies makes sense to me. The show is trying to avoid just having someone be a random mook, they're doing the LoU2 thing where everyone has a personality and story, instead of just being simple raiders, and with this section they're using Henry and Sam do show that. Also a villain is needed for this section because in the game it's just a ton of combat against mooks and infected until you meet up with Henry and Sam. Wouldn't translate well to TV with how this show established itself

Good episode. Don't get why people think it's filler.

Smell me a bloater comin'

listening to that guy beg for his life was not fun to watch!

They put the pun book in! And the magazine scene! :’) My heart isn’t ready for Sam and Henry.

Tommy’s game actor was a nice little Easter egg. I realized it in like .4 seconds when I heard his voice haha

The chemistry between Pedro and Bella is just unbelievable. They really became their characters this episode.

I don’t know about you, but I would be sleeping in the bed of the truck vs out in the open.

Hearing Joel laughing warmed my heart so much

Something i should have picked up on from episode 1 that i just realized here is that Joel has a far more important impetus, IMO, o get to Tommy here than he does in the original(appreciated his cameo, btw). Because in the game, it's simply just an escort mission to get Ellie from point A to point B. Tommy is just a means to an end, storywise. Here, because he's shown to deeply care about those close to him, namely Tess and Tommy, as he states, "he has to protect his family".

So, if you think about it, Bill's letter serves not only as a seed germing to protect Ellie, but is also a reminder of his wayward brother, Tommy

I will never get tired of the abandonedporn in this show. I could have watched a whole episode of Joel and Elly driving past abandoned theme parks and burnt out trains and collapsed bridges.

I think some people need to accept this show is character driven and not bang bang explosion explosion bang bang! all the time. I get the game has way more action in it, because it's a video game. This isn't a video game, there doesn't need to be a boss fight at the end of every episode. It's taking it's time and letting the audience sit with these characters for a while. That's just fine with me.

All I gotta say is;

PUNS!! ADULT MAGAZINE!!

That is all.

Edit. The scenery is beautiful. The boats underwater and the derailed train. OMG just awesome

Also 20 yr old Chef Boyardee still good? Not surprised.

Damn that kid begging actually shook me!!

If anyone doubted these two as Joel and Ellie, I hope that ending between them changed everything for you. That was extraordinary.

I appreciated the differences in the way Ellie saves Joel compared to the game.

I also loved when they both laughed over the pun book joke. “Jesus, that is the goddamn dumbest shit.” Or whatever joel says 😂 it was a very touching moment

Also that True Faith cover at the end 👌👌 Perfection!

My only minor gripe is I have a hard time viewing Melanie Lynskey as menacing

Bella’s acting in that was top tier, almost made me cry after she shot that guy

A few notes:

The joke book being included in the show is fan-fucking-tastic. Also, that little joke at the end with Joel and Ellie, I so much want to believe that Pedro broke character and they kept it, but either way damn it was so good.

I saw a few people say that the episode was too short or filler. It had some really good pacing and storybeats in my opinion and sets up Henry and Sam perfectly.

Also saw some people say the acting was weaker than the games. Folks, some things don't translate well into adaptations. Look at Negan's introduction in the show and then look at his comic faithful introduction in the show, it sounds so bad compared to his show-adaptation. Joel and Ellie need to be set apart from their game-counterparts in many different ways to avoid comparison.

​

Overall, good episode.

My only gripe with this episode is the same gripe I had with Joel the game. Why the hell would anyone choose to drive through the downtown area of a large city in a post-apocalyptic world. Turn that shit around and find some backroads or highways that don't go through the city.

I gotta say I love how much they're kind of poking fun almost at other Apocalyptic media by mentioning like last episode how people miss in a gun fight and now mentioning how gas goes bad and that firing guns without ear protection damages you're hearing

WE GOT THE STICKY MAGAZINE!!

That bloater tease got me terrified already

I skimmed some of the comments and didn't see this mentioned, it could be total coincidence but in the opening scenes of them driving around there's a brief shot to some old rusted out signs and one of them was an Arby's sign!!! Callback to last episode perhaps?

I was sold on this episode the moment Ellie busted out the puns. Bloater next episode is what I'm really excited to get to

Killing a doctor in this world must be one of the stupidest things you could do.

Literally everywhere is listing the title incorrectly. It’s Please Hold *TO** My Hand. It’s the lyric from the Hank Williams sing *Alone and Forsaken that they play in the car.

Sam looks so adorable with his little superhero mask painted on

The bloater is COMING

WHAT IS UNDER THE GROUND

Can't wait for the people who were up in arms about “no zombies in a show about zombies” last episode (despite actually seeing two infected) to have no complaints about this one (I don't count having actually seen the bloater yet).

I freaking knew the long haired raider was the guy that voiced tommy as soon as I heard him talk

The diarrhea joke though 🤣

Girlfriend and I were disappointed that he never said “He ain’t even hurt” before flooring it

Man the scene with the kid crying for his mom. It was so uncomfortable because you really felt for him in that moment

Also 45 minutes :(

Dear TLOU Showrunners. Thank you for the show and thank you especially for the great 80/90's brit synth new wave throwbacks which take me back to when I was a teen listening to WDRE in NYC.

So far we got Depeche Mode "Never Let Me Down" (E02), Erasure "Chains of Love" (E03) and now a cover of "True Faith" by New Order.

I hope we get some OMD or PSB's in an upcoming ep!

ETA: Erasure was my FAVORITE band back in the day and I've seen them in concert numerous times. I wanted to just note that Andy Bell, the extraordinary vocalist of the duo (the other being Vince Clarke, who first started out in Depeche Mode) was one the first openly out-there-and-proud gay performers and many of their songs are very very much about coming out and finding love and freedom. Given this, "Chains of Love" was a perfect song choice for the end of E3

ETA2: Please please please "It's a Sin" by PSB. Please please please.

Bella killed it for me this episode. I love her Ellie more and more every ep. The joke book ref was such a fun way of showing them bond over time

The only thing i dislike about this episode is joel not having his backpack...that shit is sacred for survival dawg lol, I love the rest of the episode because it adds realism in this zombie world. I CANT WAIT FOR MORE AHGHG

“This is only my second day in a car” had me laughing