The Last of Us season 1 episode 4: Who is Kathleen?

The Last of Us season 1

Who is Kathleen within The Last of Us season 1 episode 4? On tonight’s new episode of the HBO hit, we had a chance to see Melanie Lynskey’s character for the first time. This is not someone who appeared in the video games, so this does allow the creative team a chance to do something a little bit different — and yet not deviate that much from the source material at the same time.

In the video package that aired following episode 4 on HBO Max, executive producer Craig Mazin noted that in the games, Joel and Ellie spent some time in Pittsburgh. For the show, that was changed to Kansas City to accommodate where the production was located in Alberta. The game didn’t have so much of a singular opposition at this point, and the characters of Kathleen and then Perry were designed to give more of a face to the resistance here. There was no FEDRA; instead, there was the group who overtook them.

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We know that Kathleen is someone bent on revenge and her own brand of justice; she’s ruthless enough to kill and demand others do the same. Her presence on the show allows for more jeopardy as Joel and Ellie make their way through the city, and she’s still going to have a role to play for at least a little while longer. This is someone who may not care about their plight or about what Ellie represents, and that is provided she ever finds out. She’s trying to effectively rewrite the past, which we already know is a near impossible thing to do.

The craziest thing right now is just how great a year 2023 is going to be for Lynskey. In addition to her time on The Last of Us, you will also see her back on her full-time gig on Yellowjackets come late March, where she plays the present-day iteration of Shauna.

Related Did you see The Last of Us spoofed on this past episode of Saturday Night Live?

What did you think overall about the events of The Last of Us season 1 episode 4 on HBO?

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