TL;DR – This is the first almost filler episode, where it exists to set up next week’s episode, but it is still an engaging 45 minutes of tv.

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this show.

The Last of Us Review –

After last week’s Long Long Time, very emotionally heavy episode, it is good that we can take a step back from that this week. But this is the week where we get more of the vibes of where the show will go and some of the challenges that will be in the way.

So to set the scene, after leaving the relative safety of Bill’s town, Ellie (Pedro Pascal) and Joel (Bella Ramsey) slowly make their way across America, filling up the car every hour or so because the gasoline is not as good as it used to be. But when the way past Kansas City is blocked at a tunnel, Joel risks cutting through the city to get back on the highway, which is where they get ambushed. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead for the show.

When I say this episode is a vibe, I mean that in both a thematic and narrative sense. On the narrative side of things, this episode hints at what the situation is like in Kansas City without giving us any clear answers. We can tell that relatively recently, the FEDRA government in the city has been replaced by revolutionaries led by Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey). The changeover was recent enough that we are still in the reprisals section of the transition, and there is no complete control over people’s actions. This week was about giving us hints about Kathleen and questions about whether this new revolution is better or worse than what came before. Is Henry (Lamar Johnson) a villain or potential ally? And what is under that floor? My money is on a Bloater, given where we are in the story, but we will see.

From a thematic sense, this episode gives us a sense of where the relationship between Joel and Ellie is heading. There is still a lot of resentment brewing over how Joel is now out here alone. As well as this, Ellie is trying to work through her own trauma, which the show has only hinted at before but confirms it a bit more when she states that this is not the first time she has had to hurt someone. This episode was all about starting to break down the walls both have put up between each other. Some of that was through moments of vulnerability, and others were through genuinely awful puns. Add to this some more world-building on what was a solid road trip section, and you have the foundation for something more profound going forward.

In the end, do we recommend Please Hold to My Hand? While this was a shorter episode timewise and a little less intense from the emotional episodes that preceded it. It was still a solid episode in framing the story and showing us where we will be going next.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Last of Us
Directed by – Jeremy Webb
Written by – Craig Mazin
Created by – Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann
Based On– The Last of Us by Neil Druckmann and Naughty Dog
Production/Distribution Companies – Naughty Dog, PlayStation Productions, Sony Pictures Television, The Mighty Mint, Word Games, HBO & Binge
Starring – Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey with Lamar Johnson & Melanie Lynskey and  Keivonn Montreal Woodard, Jeffery Pierce, John Getz & Juan Magana