The Last of Us is an impressively agile series. After 11 seasons of The Walking Dead and countless zombie movies, most of the original ideas are gone.
We know as bad as the zombies/infected are, regular humans are just as bad if not worse. The biggest strength of The Last of Us is recognizing that relationships are the key to keeping an audience invested.
There’s always going to be a bigger threat, a nastier zombie or crisis situation, but if viewers care what happens to the characters everything else is easy since the bonds make the show.
Please Hold my Hand marked a major turning point for Joel and Elle. So far their road trip consisted of Elle unintentionally pushing all of Joel’s buttons and Joel treating her like the most annoying obligation ever.
This episode saw some needed thawing out as the two develop their own bond apart from Joel trying to honor Tess’ last wish.
Some of this is simply due to Elle easily fitting into the role of Sarah, the daughter Joel tried and failed to protect at the onset of the outbreak.
And Elle has been persistent in trying to break down Joel’s stoic walls aided this week by a book of puns, which were tremendous.
Playful Elle is a lot more fun than moody, antagonistic Elle though she’s still showing that teen rebellious streak as she practices shooting her contraband gun in a gas station restroom.
This Hank Williams’ song is no Linda Ronstadt. Small gripe that’s not exclusive to The Last or Us. The soundtrack of certain shows seems locked in a specific timeframe and rarely lines up with diverse characters. This is Us was probably the biggest offender as it felt like Randall and Beth never listened to any black artists.
Sure Joel could be a huge fan of Williams and Ronstadt, but maybe the soundtrack could also feature artists reflective of Joel’s heritage? And Sarah at least seemed to have a black mother. Is it too much to ask to hear a little Motown in the playlist?
The search for Joel’s brother, Tommy, takes them along a highway with a closed off tunnel. That doesn’t seem suspicious at all. Nope.
Sure enough the detour Joel takes sends them right into a trap with a sniper and spikes that take out the truck.
Joel’s used to handling himself in these situations and takes out two of the crew quickly, but a third gets the drop on him. Good thing Elle had that gun stashed away.
Elle shoots the guy sending him to a blubbering begging mess and Joel finishes him off. In a sign of the show’s maturity we don’t get some long scene of Joel chastising Elle for having a gun and saving his life. Instead, he apologizes to her for forcing her to shoot someone.
Their actions haven’t gone unnoticed though as the trio’s pals come looking for them. And they’re on a serious hunt for payback.
The group’s leader, Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey), is looking for Henry, who ratted her brother out to FEDRA. She doesn’t care who she has to take out to get Henry including the doctor who delivered her.
As The Walking Dead taught us, doctors are a viable commodity, but maybe Kathleen has a spare? She’ll need them after killing the doctor.
After learning of Joel and Elle’s handiwork, Kathleen sends the whole crew after them and any other collaborators with Henry.
This particular brand of life or death scenario is old habit for Joel. He navigates through buildings to evade Kathleen’s crew with ease and settles on a spot with high ground and lots of escape routes.
Joel and Elle have some quality bonding time here highlighted by a hilarious joke about diarrhea being hereditary.
Elle wakes Joel up as two young-ish kids have guns drawn on them motioning for them to keep quiet. That’s a heck of a cliffhanger.
Last week took the series on a more nuanced path. This episode felt very much like the main destination and it’s equally compelling and engaging thanks to the continued focus of character over spectacle.
Rating: 9 out of 10
This content was originally published here.
