The latest trailer for The Last Of Us Episode 4 has dropped, and it’s safe to say that it looks as though the show will be returning to the small narrative of the game again in providing familiar territory and mirrored shots to the video game. And it also seemed as though Joel and Ellie are going to encounter some hunters for the first time.
This time, though, it seems as though the threat isn’t necessarily going to be the clickers, runners, stalkers, or anybody that’s infected, but more so humankind and the new mindset that many of them have adopted in order to survive.
So with that, let’s break down and explain all that there was to take away from this Episode 4 trailer and give my theories and predictions for the next episode.
The Last Of Us Episode 4 Spoilers
The Last Of Us Episode 4 trailer opened up with Joel and Ellie looking as though they’ve been camping in the woods overnight, following on from leaving Bill and Frank’s place in Lincoln. The car was still intact, and due to the intrigue that Ellie had with the smell of the coffee, I imagine it would be the first morning after getting the supplies that Bill left for Joel.
The opening line of the trailer that we had was Ellie stating that the coffee that Joel was brewing smelled like burnt poop. Due to her being in the FEDRA state for the entirety of her life, they may not have had things like coffee available. So like many things that we’ve seen in the show so far, this could well be our first encounter with that product.
In The Last Of Us Episode 3, Joel mentioned that the way that the disease spread in the first place was by the Cordyceps infection getting into products that were on the shelves. So with coffee most likely being imported from other parts of the world, they may not have had any within the borders. But with Bill being built, he may have had a large stash of it in his bunker or around the house in his kitchen, so Joel may have taken it.
The Introduction Of The Hunters
Then we saw the familiar shot that we’d seen from the game. There was an individual who was walking in the middle of the road who said the line, “Please help”. Ellie then asked Joel, if they were going to help him, and to this Joel said “No”.
In this instance, this isn’t actually a person that needs help, this is somebody that’s in on a plan with a group of people that are described as hunters. In the short clip that followed, we saw that there was a trap on the ground that blew out the tires and ended up going through a shop window.
Hunters are a group of survivors that have managed to avoid the Cordyceps infection and feel betrayed by Fetda. They’re known to steal clothes, food, and any other items from an individual that they deem as a passerby through their city. And then once they’ve got all that they wanted from them, they brutally killed the person that they’ve just stolen off of.
If they seem fully sick with the game, it could most likely see Ellie get taken and Joel also get hurt quite badly, but they’ll both fight their way out of it and fend off a handful of hunters.
Ellie Taken In As Hostage
Shortly after that scene we then saw a vehicle that looked like a snow plow with the words RUN on the front of it. Showing that with the truck that they took from Bill and Frank’s now being destroyed, both Joel and Ellie are now stuck in this place where they most definitely don’t have the upper hand and are deemed as passersby and tourists, which means that they’re most likely be at great risk. I believe The Last Of Us Episode 4 is most likely in Pittsburgh as well, judging by where they’re at during this point in the game.
After this, we then had a shot of Joel walking through what looked like a graveyard of cars, but due to the truck being intact at this point, it makes me think that this was prior to the incident that happened where they damaged their car and got stranded. So this could just be Joel scanning the area before they pressed forward, so I imagine it’s early on in the episode.
Following this, we then had a shot of a character called Kathleen, holding her weapon to somebody who she had hostage. It’s hard to tell at this point who it was, but she said the words “where is he”. In this instance, she could have had Ellie hostage and be looking to find Joel as he could have wiped out a lot of the hunters and caused damage to the people that she works with. Joel and Ellie may have been separated when they got into the encounter, following the man pretending to need help.
We haven’t met a character called Kathleen in the show yet or in the games either, so there’s a lot of speculation about what her involvement could actually be. It’s predicted that she could well be the leader of the group of hunters in the area, and she may now want to seek revenge due to the damage that Joel could have caused. This would be by him coming in and killing some of the residents who could have been her friends and allies. So that will be an interesting arc to the story that we wouldn’t have seen before.
Will Joel And Ellie Make It?
Following this, we had a shot of something falling onto the truck window, which Joel and Ellie looked to escape the man pretending to need help. This would explain the smash on the window earlier on in the trailer.
We then had a shot of Ellie looking as though she was on her own following the accident. So it does further support the idea that Kathleen could have Ellie held hostage as some people could stumble across her and bring her in for questioning. After this, there was then a scene of Joel fighting an individual in close proximity, so they’re most definitely going to be faking the help in order to take out Joel and Ellie.
The final thing that we had in the trailer was Joel saying to Ellie, “We’ll get through this”, with Ellie then responding with the line, “I know”. As it looks as though they were set to step outside. I feel we’re going to see both Joel and Ellie grow together and strengthen the relationship that they’re forming, which feels like it’s only going to make what’s coming even more heartbreaking to watch.
The Last Of Us Episode 4 Release Date & Preview
The Last Of Us Episode 4 will release on 5 February 2023 on HBO. Episode 4 is titled “Please Hold on to My Hand”. At the time of writing, 9 episodes are scheduled for this season. This means there will be only five episodes after this week’s episode.
With all three of The Last Of Us episodes so far having flashbacks to different time periods where we got to see how the Cordyceps infection impacted certain locations, people, and its origin, I wonder if there will be another flashback in The Last Of Us Episode 4.
With Kathleen being a new character, I feel having one from her could be quite well suited. Just so we understand more about her and her back story, which led her to be in the position that she’s now in, especially if she’s the leader of the hunters in the area.
A flashback to how they came to adopt brutality and dislike people into it would be entertaining and also provide good context. We do know that Joel makes it out of the area safely due to the fact that in the trailer that we had a few weeks back for the entirety of the season. He does manage to reunite with his brother Tommy in Wyoming, but that doesn’t mean that the next episode won’t be entertaining because I feel it most certainly will be.
The Last Of Us Episode 4 Release Time & Where To Watch
Episode 4 of The Last Of Us will air at 9 pm PT in the US. New episodes of The Last Of Us are released every Sunday. The episode 4 release timings for the rest of the world are as follows:
- 9:00 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, 5 February 2023
- 11:00 pm Central Time on Sunday, 5 February 2023
- 12:00 am Eastern Time on Monday, 6 February 2023
- 10:30 am Indian Standard Time on Monday, 6 February 2023
- 1:00 am Australian Standard Time on Monday, 6 February 2023
You can watch episode 4 on HBO and can stream it on HBO Max.
Also Read: Last Of Us Season 1 Review (Spoiler Free): Near-Perfect Video Game Adaptation Till Now
