The peaceful road trip violently derails when the pair take a forced detour through Kansas City and stumble straight into a brutal ambush by a group of human raiders. The Last of Us HBO episode 4 recap: Ellie on her own terms

The episode beautifully bookends itself with humor. We finally get the live-action debut of Ellie’s beloved book, No Pun Intended by Will Livingston.

Let’s talk about Episode 4 of HBO’s The Last of Us , titled Coming directly after the monumental, tear-jerking detour of Bill and Frank in Episode 3, this episode pulls the focus right back to where it belongs: the evolving, messy, and deeply human dynamic between Joel and Ellie.

By the end of the episode, as they are hiding out on the upper floor of a high-rise, Ellie drops a truly terrible joke about diarrhea being hereditary.

Joel can't help but genuinely laugh. It is his first real, unburdened laugh since the outbreak, signaling that Ellie is successfully digging her way past his hardened exterior and into his heart. 💥 Lost Innocence and Hard Choices