yellow jacket Royal Melanie Lynskey had a grand entrance in Our last, and she killed it – literally. She outright killed a doctor in this episode, so if you weren’t afraid of her character before, you should definitely be scared now.
Lynskey plays Kathleen, the leader of a revolutionary group in Kansas City, Missouri. She spends most of episode 4, titled “Take My Hand,” searching for Henry (Lamar Johnson) and interrogating people who may know where he is. While the name Henry will be familiar to those who have played it Our lastKathleen shows more mystery.
‘The Last of Us’ is great. This is a great book (and movie) with a strangely similar plot.
Is Kathleen at home? Our last Game?
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Kathleen is a brand new character created for Our last TV show. However, she still has her roots in the Pittsburgh part of the game, the part where the show moved to Kansas City.
When Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) arrive in Pittsburgh in the game, they encounter a group of violent Hunters—who ambush and kill tourists to steal their loot. While on the run from the Hunters, Joel and Ellie meet fellow survivors Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and Henry, and they team up. They overheard the Pittsburgh Hunters mentioning that they had a leader, but we never actually met that person. Kathleen takes on that leadership role on the show.
Kathleen’s Hunter shares some similarities with the game’s Hunter. Both groups overthrew FEDRA’s militaristic rule in their city’s quarantine and has since turned to hunting outsiders. Aesthetically, the show even recreates the Hunter’s infamous “Run” Humvee in the game. Other vehicles belonging to the show’s Hunters also feature phrases – like “We the people” scribbled on one to emphasize the group’s revolutionary roots.
With a character like Kathleen, the movie can give us a little more insight into the inner workings of the Hunter. We know they are hunting FEDRA collaborators – possibly QZ civilians who informed FEDRA of revolutionary activity. We also learn that Kathleen was especially interested in finding Henry, believing he played a key role in the FedRA’s capture and later murder of her brother.
This storyline marks a departure from the game. There, Henry was a survivor from Hartford passing through Pittsburgh. On the show, it appears that he lived in Kansas City QZ before the Hunters took over. Since we only meet him and his brother Sam at the end of the episode, we’ll have to wait until episode 5 to learn more about their lives in QZ — and what they did to make Kathleen so want to find them.
What does Kathleen add to her world? Our last?
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Our last co-authors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said that they only deviate from the game when the deviation is better. We have seen the rewards of that deviation in The plot of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett)and now we’re ready to watch it with Kathleen and the Hunter.
Having Kathleen around helps us learn more about the Hunters and their motivations. It also allows us to see another way that love manifests in Our lastdoomsday. Mazin and Druckmann discuss the role of love in the show quite often on the official HBO channel Our final audio files: How does love motivate us to act in times of crisis? Bill and Frank’s love for each other gives them hope. Joel’s love for his deceased daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) alienates him from many parts of the world. In Kathleen’s case, her love for her brother causes her to need revenge — and this leads to some terrifying consequences.
The Kansas City Hunters may have unleashed their QZ, but the ambushes and pursuit of their own collaborators are reminiscent of the brutality of the FedRA. Is Kathleen’s quest for revenge simply continuing a cycle of violence that has become so pervasive in this world? Was there ever a time when she believed she had gone too far? Or is the price of revenge worth it?
We’ll have to wait until episode 5 to see how the conflict between Kathleen and Henry plays out (and what roles Joel and Ellie will play). The bad news? Our heroes are up against a militia in a city they are not familiar with. Good news? We’ll have more Melanie Lynskey. Everyone wins! (Except for the FedRA.)
The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab) New episodes air every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
