‘The Last Of Us’ Episode 4: ‘Please Hold My Hand’ Preview, Breakdown And Explanation

After leaving us viewers as emotional wrecks after the third episode of the series “Long, Long Time,” HBO’s “The Last of Us” will pull at our heartstrings once again in the upcoming week with its fourth episode, “Please Hold My Hand.” A preview trailer has been released that hints at series-exclusive new characters, a sinister faction, and much more human-oriented actions to be unfolded in the next episode. In the last episode, we found after leaving Boston, Joel and Ellie stopped at Bill and Frank’s town, where Joel strengthens his resolve after reading Bill’s emotional confession in his letter, and the duo restarts their journey toward Wyoming in search of Tommy, driving Bill’s pickup.

Spoilers Ahead


The Fourth Episode Preview Description

The trailer opens with Joel and Ellie camping in the wilderness. Ellie has a disgusted reaction after smelling the coffee Joel has made and jokingly compares it to bird shit. Joel slurps on it noisily to annoy Ellie further. Their journey continues as Joel asks a confused Ellie about navigating their way through the map. Joel also asks her not to navigate by using a state map. From their conversation, we get to know that they have spent a couple of days driving through the country already. Their car stops around a city block, and a man can be seen asking for help. Ellie anxiously questions Joel whether they’re gonna help the person, to which Joel replies in negative and accelerates his car straight. The car tire punctures as they drive over spike strips, and they crash. The next scene shows a militia truck with “Run” spray-painted on the front plower. Melanie Lynskey’s character, who is a new addition to the series (no mention in the games), is shown to be holding someone at gunpoint and asking him the whereabouts of a person. Joel and Ellie are seemingly being attacked as they drive through the cityscape; a couple of militia agents ram a door open, and Joel fends off an incoming attack and engages in a fight with an assailant. The trailer ends with Joel disgruntledly assuring Ellie that they will get through the situation, to which she replies that she knows. They both go outside the room, where it seems they are hiding.


Preview Trailer, Explanation, And Episode 4 Speculations

The fourth episode seems to hint that it will incorporate the elements of the game faithfully while integrating new additions to the lore. In the game, After bidding Bill adieu, Joel and Ellie drive to Pittsburgh, where the next major actions happen. The showrunners of the series have already confirmed that they will make the duo travel further, and the next stop they’ll make is likely to be around Kansas City. This is further confirmed by the map Ellie holds, and Joel asks her not to look at State maps, as Kansas City is situated on the border of Kansas and Missouri, and the Kansas parts of the city can’t be located on a state map.

Also, the showrunners probably wanted to show that the duo has come halfway across the country in their journey – as is also hinted by the mention of their two-day-long drive; therefore, the incidents which took place in Pittsburgh in the game are shifted to Kansas in the series. However, the man asking for help and Joel’s refusal to do so is taken straight from the game, and it involves the arrival of a faction called “Hunters.” In the game, Hunters are a group of extremely aggressive, confrontational survivors/looters who fiercely protect their own territory. They have cast the FEDRA out and built their own governance, and as shown through the trailer, they probably have their own militia. In the trailer, the man seeking help is an elaborate trap set by the Hunters, done in order to lure sympathetic travelers and loot them – and the same sequence was in the game also. Joel catches the ruse easily, thanks to his experience, and goes straight through, which still is not enough to save them from the grasp of the Hunters. Melany Lynskey plays Kathleen in the series, the leader of the Hunter group. Kathleen is seen to be holding a person at gunpoint. The Hunters consider themselves to be in opposition to the Firefly ideals as well, and they have strength in numbers. After their encounter with Hunters, they seemingly have to ditch their vehicle and traverse on foot again. In the game, Joel has to fight with the Hunters to keep Ellie and himself alive, and from the looks of it, the series will follow suit. What role Kathleen will be playing remains to be seen.

Kathleen asked a person whom she was threatening at gunpoint questions regarding the whereabouts of a person. Now, this might be either Ellie and Joel, or it could be related to fan-favorite characters who are set to appear in the series. Henry and Sam, two survivalist brothers, were hiding from the Hunters in the game. They met with Joel and Ellie and, for some time, continued their journey together. Kathleen might be asking about one of the brothers. The episode and the subsequent one might take place in Kansas City, as stills of episode 05 suggest.

The relationship between Joel and Ellie will be the primary focus of the episode too. For Ellie, everything about the dystopian landscape is unique, as she is experiencing life outside confinement for the first time. But with fond experiences like riding a car for the first time and marveling at views during the journey, she will have to experience a few ghastly ones too, like getting attacked by infected or, in this case, Hunters – as a part of the learning curve.

Joel, on the other hand, bottles up his emotions and feelings, and so far, he has agreed to escort Ellie to safety, mostly due to Tess’s last wish. In order to make their journey successful, they have to trust each other a bit more, and the ending conversation between them in the trailer suggests that they have gradually taken the first stride toward that.



See more: ‘The Last Of Us’ Episode 3: Recap And Ending, Explained: Where Are Ellie And Joel Headed Now?


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Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.

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