Such an inhospitable Kansas City.
The fourth series, «Please Hold My Hand,» focuses on the heroes’ road trip to the west of the country and their problems in Kansas City. There will be no major spoilers in this review, so feel free to read on.
What was shown in the fourth series
Joel and Ellie are driving in Bill’s car to Wyoming. The path is long, so they involuntarily begin to communicate and get to know each other better. Joel is pissed off with a humorous comic, but Ellie’s scene is much funnier. The girl finds an adult magazine in the car and is surprised at the size and stuck together pages. The hero behind the wheel is embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say — relax, Joel, it’s just a joke!
When the sun has gone down, travelers make a halt in the woods. Ellie is surprised that you can’t build a fire at night. And it’s not about the infected: mushroomheads are not so smart and generally far from them. The problem is people. While Ellie does not understand that it is the person who remains the main threat and the one who should be bypassed for a kilometer.
However, after her adventures in Kansas City, she will definitely understand the world around her better. The local FEDRA has been defeated: ordinary people have seized power in the quarantine zone, and for some reason they are led by an ordinary middle-aged lady — Caitlin. She has a personal rasp with FEDRA and a group of people who apparently snitched on the insurgents. Caitlin is obsessed with revenge for her brother, and she pushes all the troubles onto the main villain of her story — dark-skinned Henry, whom she has been looking for for a long time.
Our heroes just find Henry and his younger brother Sam. Whether their meeting will be tragic or successful — we will find out already in the fifth series.
episode impressions
Unlike the previous series, the fourth one moves the story forward, but loses dramatically to it. The episodes are made in different genres: a tragic leisurely love story was replaced by a tense road movie with high stakes, but uninteresting antagonists.
However, if you recall the original video game The Last of Us, then in Pittsburgh there (yes, the authors obviously changed the route) there was no figure at all that opposed Joel. We just systematically destroyed group after group until we rid the city of most of the rebels.
So the series «The Last of Us» is intriguing, showing the story from the other side. We do not see nameless bandits without principles. In the past, they lived in a quarantine zone, but the local FEDRA obviously went beyond all the norms of decency. People rebelled and seized power, and part of the army clearly went over to their side. Well, people without special training cannot break into buildings so skillfully: they even move like special forces!
And if Caitlin’s speeches are not at all scary, then the scale of the forces that have come forward in search of our heroes is really frightening.
Caitlin still looks like a boring aunt who has gone. She does not know how to conduct interrogations, and she cannot put pressure on a person even with a pistol in her hands. Thinking ahead also does not work: when her people are found killed, she associates this with a personal enemy and immediately runs to wet the captive. Even the profession of a hostage did not stop Caitlin — a doctor could treat people in the face of a shortage of medicines and equipment, but she does not think about it. Such a leader only annoys and makes laugh — and is not close to equal to Joel.
Joel’s arc just develops successfully in the episode. The hero has finally come to terms with the fate of Ellie’s protector and intends to take her to Wyoming at any cost. The girl helps him open up and even saves Joel’s life! He tries to have a therapy session when Ellie hurts a person for the first time before his eyes, a terrible attempt, but she appreciates it. The heroes are getting closer and closer — it was in this road trip that a shift took place in their relationship.
The episode ended with a poignant moment between Joel and Henry. While we are waiting for the continuation on Saturday (the release of the series was moved due to the Super Bowl), I suggest listening to the gorgeous composition by Hank Williamswhich sounded even in the game.
