The Last of Us has scared us half to death with Clickers and made us sob like babies with Bill and Frank — after all that emotional damage, I think it's safe to say we deserve a bit of a laugh, don't we?
Luckily for us, the show's fourth episode, titled "Please Hold My Hand," delivers several laugh-out-loud moments. Many come courtesy of Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) joke book, No Pun Intended: Volume Too by Will Livingston. All her jokes — including bangers like, "It doesn't matter how much you push the envelope... It'll still be stationary" — are lifted straight from the original Last of Us game.
And you know what else is lifted straight from the game? A lighthearted moment where Ellie discovers a pornographic magazine in Bill's car. Well, it's a lighthearted moment for Ellie — for Joel (Pedro Pascal), it's a total nightmare.
When Ellie first discovers the magazine — the cover of which is an exact replica of the one in the game — she remarks that it's "light on the reading, but it has some interesting pictures." From there, the dialogue is lifted almost word-for-word from the original Last of Us. Ellie claims she wants to see "what all the fuss is about" while Joel frantically tries to get her to put the magazine away.
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It all comes to a head when she innocently asks him why all the pages are stuck together — a question that sends Joel into a downward spiral. You can see the fear in his eyes: "Am I going to have to have The Talk with this kid I'm transporting across fungus-ridden America? Is this my life now?"
Of course, in the moments leading up to Ellie's million dollar question, you can also see the mischievous gears grinding in her head. She senses Joel's discomfort and calculates precisely what she'd need to say to launch the awkwardness of the situation into maximum overdrive. In other words, she's "just fucking with [him]."
The entire exchange can't last more than 30 seconds, but it's such a great snapshot of Joel and Ellie's evolving relationship. This pair of strangers started out at odds with each other. (Need I remind you Joel slammed Ellie into a wall when they first met?) Now, they're close enough that Ellie feels she can mess with Joel, while Joel feels the need to protect her from the contents of Bearskin magazine. Every day, the father-daughter bond grows stronger, whether these two like it or not.
Ellie's discovery of the porn magazine certainly isn't the only Last of Us scene to be lifted straight from the game. In fact, the show has been very meticulous in its fidelity to key sequences. Sure, we've seen the series diverge from the game — take the entire Bill and Frank episode, for example — but it's nice to know that when it comes to smaller yet still-iconic game moments, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann know not to change much. So thanks for the laugh, Ellie. We really needed it after the show's first three episodes, and based on everything you've been through, we know you need it too.
The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes air every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
Topics HBO Streaming The Last of Us
