The Last of Us Episode 4 Trailer: A Road Trip Poses Big Trouble for Joel and Ellie

The Last of Us episode 4 trailer is out. HBO has dropped a preview for next week's episode of the post-apocalyptic drama based on the eponymous PlayStation video game, teasing a new character in the form of Kathleen, a ruthless leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City. Melanie Lynskey, best known for her run on Yellowjackets, will portray the role — signifying big trouble for our survivor duo Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Titled 'Please Hold My Hand', the episode will be directed by Jeremy Webb (The Umbrella Academy) and will reportedly be only 50 minutes long — significantly shorter than the 75-minute runtime of episode 3. The Last of Us episode 4 premieres February 6 at 8:30am IST/ February 5 at 9pm ET on Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Max, respectively.

The trailer for The Last of Us episode 4 kicks off by introducing Ellie's (Ramsey) new pet peeve - a disgust for the smell of coffee, as the pair take a break, out in the woods. “It smells like burnt sh-t,” she tells Joel (Pascal), who unbothered by her comments, instantly takes a loud slurp from the flask. While not explicitly mentioned, to Ellie's credit, the coffee must have been strained using some smelly rag or his sock — seeing as they've been travelling for a while. Episode 3 introduced our unlikely greasy-haired ally Bill (Nick Offerman), who was given a surprising love story spin with his partner Frank (Murray Bartlett) in the TV series.

The Last of Us episode 4 trailer puts Joel and Ellie on the road, as they continue their journey to Wyoming. Ellie, who isn't familiar with being in a car, struggles to help with map navigation, causing the duo to halt at a hostile territory. “This is my second day in a f--king car, man. Stop,” she says, upon noticing an injured survivor begging them for help. Believing that he's probably bitten and infected, Joel resumes driving the car, crashing into some debris. “This has gone too far. It has to stop,” an unseen hostage tells the new character Kathleen (Lynskey), who is seen holding a gun to his head. “Where is he?”, she asks with tears in her eyes, presumably referring to Joel. The Last of Us episode 4 trailer then cuts to display some action sequences of our duo stealthily navigating their way across the dilapidated town, and engaging in combat with the last surviving citizens.

“We'll get through this,” Joel assures Ellie at the end of the Last of Us episode 4 trailer, before heading out onto the streets. Circling back to the new character Kathleen, over on Twitter, writer Neil Druckmann commended her performance in the series. “OMG! You crushed your episodes! Can't wait for people to see your character!”, he said, confirming that Lynskey will appear in multiple episodes.

Last week, HBO renewed The Last of Us series for a second season, with Druckmann adding that it will explore the events of the award-winning video game sequel, The Last of Us Part II. Craig Mazin, showrunner and director on episode 1 of the Last of Us also suggested that the continuation might end up being a two-parter, claiming that the story is 'more than a season's worth of television'.

New episodes of The Last of Us stream every Monday on Disney+ Hotstar, at 8:30am IST in India, and Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO Max wherever available. Season 1 comprises of nine episodes.