Summary
Episode 4 ofThe Last of UsSeason 2 impressively manages to cover the entirety of Ellie’s Seattle day 1 in a 50-minute episode. The showrunners have all but confirmed thatThe Last of Us Part 2will 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.
InThe Last of UsGame 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.
Locations And Set Pieces in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4
Anyone who’s playedThe Last of Us Part 2would 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
Perhaps one of the most wholesome moments in the very bleak intro toThe Last of Us Part 2is 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 aperfectly preserved acoustic guitarand 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
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 playermade it through this section in complete stealthon their first playthrough), and have to fight their way out of the station.
The Subway Station
After Ellie and Dina fight their way out of the TV station, they are chased by theWLF 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
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 inThe Last of Usgame series andmost 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 playingRed 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 asimple gameplay mechanic taught to the playerin the very early stages of both ofThe Last of Usgames, 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 inThe 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 inThe Last of Us Part 2, and featured in puzzles and action set pieces, where the player could break glass witha throwable item or weaponto 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 switchbladeand 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 littleEaster egg for dedicated fansof the game series.
Other Mundane Aspects Of The Game Featured in The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4
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 ofThe Last of Usdoesn’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 theycan build up and be better preparedfor 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 ofThe Last of Usuniverse 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 2begins 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 toThe Last of Usgame series and the fans that played it.
