HBO's The Last Of Us Finally Found Room To Breathe – And It Feels Good

This post contains spoilers for the first four episodes of "The Last of Us."

There was a lot going on in the first three episodes of "The Last of Us." We had several deaths, a look into the moral grey area of the Fireflies, a doomed romance, and most importantly, several decades of a zombie-like apocalypse that shaped our leads. After those plot-heavy and emotional first three episodes, you might expect its fourth outing be something similar. And while that is sort of true, it's only partially the case.

The fourth episode of the series, "Please Hold to My Hand," certainly couldn't be described as a filler episode, as it helps kickstart a pivotal storyline partially adapted from the original video game. However, the first half of the episode is like a beach episode in an anime series in comparison. This time is dedicated to building the relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), with Ellie trying to lighten the mood by reciting jokes from a book, checking out old porn magazines, and making fun of Joel's age. Joel, in response, tries his best to ignore his cargo's sass while also reminding her of their relationship. They're still not on good terms after what went down with Tess (Anna Torv), but they are at least making efforts to set aside their differences for the mission at hand. Because of this critical truce, this could arguably be the most important development of "The Last of Us" so far.

It's no secret that Joel is purposefully trying to push Ellie away. He lives by a strict philosophy, and that is the idea that everyone you put trust into will eventually either stab you in the back or die first. By trying to maintain his emotional distance from Ellie, Joel hopes to prevent that attachment from happening — meaning, he won't be disappointed if and when she eventually dies.

However, as we've come to witness, Ellie is a stubborn thing. She wants to know what makes Joel tick and who he is under what she clearly recognizes as being an inauthentic exterior. She does this in a variety of ways, each more purposefully grating than the next. Even though Ellie isn't Joel's number one fan yet, this fourth episode proves that she sees right through his emotionless tough-guy act.

The same can also be said for how Joel recognizes the walls Ellie is putting up for herself. While she wants to pretend to be a too-cool badass, she's ultimately just a scared kid trying to survive. That's why Joel doesn't get mad at her for firing a gun he didn't know she had, and it's also why he's still carrying out this intense mission. By dedicating as much time as this episode does to this mutual understanding, their relationship ends up growing in an extremely organic way perfectly fit for the show's medium. Anyone afraid of Joel and Ellie's dynamic being rushed due to the series' condensed format should fear no more.

"The Last of Us" is now streaming on HBO Max.