Summary

HBO's The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4 covers Ellie's Day 1 effectively in 50 minutes, impressively adapting the source material.
The episode recreates iconic game moments like the Music Store, TV Tower, and Subway Station with aesthetic and narrative accuracy.
The use of camera techniques, gameplay mechanics, and storytelling efficiently pays homage to The Last of Us game series, engaging fans.

Episode 4 of The Last of Us Season 2 impressively manages to cover the entirety of Ellie's Seattle day 1 in a 50-minute episode. The showrunners have all but confirmed that The Last of Us Part 2 will be split into multiple seasons of TV. Therefore, it would have made sense for there to be 2–3 episodes dedicated to each day, as there is a lot of the game's content to cover for each. However, HBO adapted Ellie's Day 1 in a way that didn't feel rushed or compromise the source material.

In The Last of Us Game series, Ellie's Day 1 was very gameplay-led. Which is maybe why HBO only dedicated one episode to telling this arc. This could have presented a potential problem for the showrunners, who had to adapt this arc for the TV screen, which, by comparison to the video game medium, is much less interactive, and therefore runs the risk of losing audience engagement. Yet HBO were able to do so through some ingenious techniques to make Episode 4 the most 'video-gamey' of the season and perhaps the whole series.

The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: Blood, Betrayal, And The Bite That Changes Everything

Episode 4 of The Last of Us Season 2 saw Ellie and Dina come face to face with two threats, and something that will change their relationship.

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By Aayush Sharma

Locations And Set Pieces in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4

Anyone who's played The Last of Us Part 2 would have most likely recognized a lot of the locations featured in Episode 4. Perhaps most noticeably, the Channel 13 TV tower, as well as the music store and the subway. Not only are all these locations that are featured in the game almost an identical match aesthetically, but the events that happen in these locations also mirror what happens in the game.

The Music Store

Ellie Playing Guitar The Last of Us Side By Side

Perhaps one of the most wholesome moments in the very bleak intro to The Last of Us Part 2 is when Ellie and Dina are free roaming Seattle and find a music store where they search for supplies and information. Whilst in the store, Ellie finds a perfectly preserved acoustic guitar and serenades Dina with an acoustic rendition of Aha's "Take On Me'". The scene in the TV show is almost identical. Ellie sits on a ledge on the top floor of the music store with the destroyed brick wall behind her letting the sunlight from outside fall on her back, while Dina sits on the floor below her and watches in adoration.

The TV Tower

Feel Her Love The Last of Us Side By Side

As is the case in the game, when Ellie and Dina arrive at the TV station tower, they stumble across several WLF members hanging from the ceiling, which is clearly the work of the Seraphites, as their religious symbol is painted on the wall as well as the message, "feel her love" (it's implied that it could be written in the blood of the slayed WLF soldiers). At first, Ellie and Dina are alone in the TV station, until more WLF soldiers arrive to discover the fate of their fellow soldiers, at which point they are discovered (it is highly unlikely any player made it through this section in complete stealth on their first playthrough), and have to fight their way out of the station.

The Subway Station

Subway Station The Last of Us Side By Side

After Ellie and Dina fight their way out of the TV station, they are chased by the WLF soldiers into the underground subway. Ellie and Dina hide in the dark shadows of the subway, so the WLF throw a handful of red flares on the ground to try and discover their hiding spot. However, this instead gets the attention of a horde of infected who then kill the WLF soldiers, which Ellie and Dina use as a distraction to escape. Much like how in the game, the player can use bricks and bottles to lure the infected towards the WLF soldiers as a way of killing the soldiers whilst remaining in complete stealth.

Camera Techniques in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4

Ellie Over The Shoulder Shot The Last of Us

In the TV show, when Ellie and Dina are still in stealth hiding from the WLF in the TV tower, the scene incorporates the use of an over-the-shoulder tracking shot that follows Ellie behind as she tries to sneak away. This is very reminiscent of the over-the-shoulder camera angle used in The Last of Us game series and most modern third-person action adventure games. This technique has been seen more and more in TV and movies in recent years in an effort to try and emulate the immersive aspect that video games inherently have.

Sam Mendes says his inspiration to shoot 1917 in a continuous tracking shot came from watching his children playing Red Dead Redemption 2, stating that he found the continuous tracking behind the main character "hypnotic". So it makes sense that, naturally, the TV show that's adapting from the games that inspired this new trend of film-making would incorporate this technique into their action scenes.

Gameplay Mechanics Featured in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4

Also featured in the TV station action scenes were a handful of gameplay mechanics and combat animations taken directly from the game. Before sneaking out of the main room of the TV station, Ellie and Dina go prone. This is a simple gameplay mechanic taught to the player in the very early stages of both of The Last of Us games, where they need to hold 'O' to crouch down. Not only does this limit their visibility, but it also makes their footsteps significantly quieter, making it an effective method of stealth against human and infected enemies.

Once escaped up the stairs, Ellie is eventually discovered by a WLF soldier and the following combat that occurs could be replicated almost exactly using the gameplay mechanics in The Last of Us Part 2. Ellie grabs the soldier and pulls him to the ground in a headlock. This can be done in the game by sneaking up on an enemy and pressing '△' to grab them, at which point the game will automatically execute an animation where Ellie either holds them upright by the neck, or pulls them to the ground in a headlock, usually whilst holding her sidearm to the enemies head.

In the TV show, a second enemy runs into the room and raises his gun to try and stop Ellie, at which point she hides behind the soldier, using him as a human shield. This can also be done in the game. After the player uses '△' to grab an enemy, there is a short amount of time when they can move around using the enemy as cover, before the enemy shakes you off and tries to attack you again.

Dina is the next character to enter the scene who shoots the soldier pointing his gun at Ellie. Ellie, who is still holding down the other soldier, shouts at her to shoot the glass window so they can escape. Breaking glass panes were introduced in The Last of Us Part 2, and featured in puzzles and action set pieces, where the player could break glass with a throwable item or weapon to enter a location previously blocked off. Which is just how it's done in the TV show: Ellie and Dina were trapped in the room until Dina broke through an escape for them.

Finally, just before exiting through the window, Ellie pulls out her signature switchblade and executes the soldier by stabbing him in the neck. This movement is something players of the game would have seen time and time again. It was one of Ellie's most common execution animations for human and infected enemies. It can be executed by pressing '▢', once the player has an enemy in the grab position. It's most commonly used in stealth encounters or when executing a human shield after it serves its purpose.

This short unsuspecting action scene pays homage to the game in a brilliant and respectful way that would likely have gone unnoticed by people that did not play the game. It serves as a little Easter egg for dedicated fans of the game series.

Other Mundane Aspects Of The Game Featured in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4

Dina in HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 trailer, played by Isabela Merced

When Season 1 premiered, fans of the game were largely impressed and didn't have much to fault the showrunners for. One complaint some gamers made was the fact that Season 1 of The Last of Us doesn't feature scenes of Pedro Pascal opening a series of office desk drawers in order to hopefully find a piece of duct tape, like players would have needed to in order to craft supplies and weapons.

This was clearly a light-hearted joke at this sometimes tedious gameplay mechanic. It's obvious that the showrunners didn't include these scenes because it would have severely slowed the pacing down, and there would not have been any real benefit, as audiences of the TV show don't have an inventory system they can build up and be better prepared for future combat situations, because they are passive observers in the narrative.

However, Episode 4 of Season 2 actually does include a scene where Dina is scavenging for supplies. This scene actually has an impact on the narrative because it's where Dina finds some pregnancy tests, which she uses to confirm her suspicions, ultimately leading to the big reveal at the end of the episode. This is a very efficient method of storytelling, because not only does it have an impact on the narrative, but it also contributes to the world-building of The Last of Us universe where supplies are hard to come by, just like the game series does.

Episode 5 will likely be more story and exposition-based, as Ellie's Seattle day 2 begins to really progress the narrative of her journey. Episode 4 could have been a potential problem for HBO because of how gameplay-led Day 1 was, but because of their faithfulness to the medium they were adapting from and clever cinematic techniques, they managed to create a very effective and engaging episode that pays homage to The Last of Us game series and the fans that played it.

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