Please Hold to My Hand

This episode is exactly why I have been excited about this series. We see the humanity and the relationship between Joel and Ellie throughout this episode which is exactly what The Last of Us is about. Sure, it is about clickers and killing infected and getting ambushed by enemies, but at its core it is the story of Joel and Ellie's relationship.

This episode is the first one so far in this series that really feels like the story has gotten going and we are learning everything we already knew about Joel and Ellie (but in the way Pedro and Bella portray them) but we're getting something deeper.

This episode is true to the characters, true to the story, but it goes deeper in a way that was impossible in the game.

I like Melanie Lynskey in the other movies she starred in. Unfortunately, Melanie didn't feel convincing & threatening enough to be a vindictive rebel leader. IMO, if someone else like Anna Torv (as Tess) switched roles with Melanie Lynskey, it probably would have been a better fit for Anna Torv to be playing as the rebel leader and Melanie playing as Tess; it feels a lot more convincing. However, Anna was great as Tess too because she was able to convey a soft & tough exterior -- the qualities to pull-off the character of Tess!

I think it's Melanie's soft-spoken voice & the fact that I've seen her acted in more timid-like characters, which is the reason why I think she failed to convince me that she was right for the role as a rebel leader. Maybe I need to watch more future TLOU episodes for Melanie Lynskey to prove that she has the rebelliousness & leadership qualities that are required to play the role of a vindictive rebel leader, to get me to change my mind.

Besides the miscasting, I have enjoyed all the episodes thus far!

After catching up on some movies and other shows I have fell a little behind on The Last of Us, so I'm taking today to catch up on the two episodes I missed.

Now Episode 104 "Please Hold to My Hand" starts out fantastically with Joel and Ellie being the center point of the episode. Some great cinematography, really making this apocalyptic world so eerily beautiful. There's always been something beautiful to me about nature retaking man made environments.

Unfortunately though the episode took a bit of a down turn for me when they introduced this group that attacked Joel and Ellie. While I love antagonists who are developed and fleshed out, the biggest problem is this groups leader Kathleen. She's not threatening in anyway, and she has no real presence. Her right handman is more threatening than she is. But Kathleen I just can't take her seriously and every scene with her in it just bored me.

Other than Kathleen the episode didn't do much to progress anything. The introduction of Henry and Sam is great so it'll be exciting to see how they play out in the next episode.

One last thing and this is just a nitpick as a gamer, I wish they kept that execution during the shootout in the drugstore. Joel kills one of the attackers by cutting his throat open on a broken fridge door. Irregardless of my nitpick that scene was great and it added a new level of tension that the game I must say didn't.

Overall it was a good episode but not as good as recent episodes in the season.

IMDb: 7/10 Letterboxd: 3/5

Watched on HBO Max in 4k Dolby Vision.

The Last of Us: Another great episode last night. What I like about it is how human it is, there has just been maybe two scenes where zombies appeared and you hardly even notice it.

The real story is the human element, not the zombie apocalypse.

I think where shows like the Walking Dead made their mistake was constant repetition of the same narrative.

It is early to say but I feel the benefit of the The Last of Us being based on a game is that it has a finite and self contain story where that story already has a test audience.

I also like how the show pays homage to video game styled missions... the "I'm too big to fit in there, can you fit through that tiny hole and open the door" so I don't have to smash the window etc. I haven't played the game but I know that's a tried and tested video game technique.

I also think that it kinda adds more reality to it in a way, cos I wouldn't smash a window... I'd be like, get in there and open the door. 😂

Once again we have a whole episode which explores relationships. So far that has been the focus;

Joel and his daughter, Sarah.

Joel and his partner, Tess.

Bill and Frank Joel and Ellie.

It's very nicely done because it shows us that as much as Joel wants to be this cold blooded self serving person, there are people he cares about.

It's really refreshing to have a series that crafts these relationships without it feeling overwhelmingly expositional.... Although pretty much most of it is a character study and exposition. It's just done well and written cohesively.

HBOs The Last of Us continues to present itself in an organic nature. A lot of what happens in this episode doesn't happen in the game- and that is great. In the video game there's just not enough wiggle room for sidecontent, as it's more streamlined and would otherwise take away from the gameplay.

I'm the game, Joel just goes on a killing spree by murdering tons and tons of people that stand in his way. Here, each kill feels more impactful because they're reduced. That way Joel definitely gets more room to reflect on his actions.

Also I like the chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. They really sold it for me.