The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Dina and Ellie Take On Seattle

This review contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 episode 4.

The Last of Us has hit the midway point of season 2 without any kind of slump in sight. Episode 4 picks up the pace slightly from the mourning period of “The Path” as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) explore Seattle and try to get their bearings. This episode packs a lot of important game moments between the two into an hour while also expanding on the lore of post-apocalyptic Seattle. It’s a wild ride from start to finish, and we enjoyed every second.

The first thing this episode does is introduce us to the cycle of violence that has become endemic to the city. In a flashback, we meet Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) a FEDRA officer who betrays his squad to join what appears to be a rebel group. Fast forward to the present day, and we see that Isaac is now a leader of the W.L.F. and interrogating a Seraphite, or “Scar,” who was captured during a fight between the two groups.

Bringing Jeffrey Wright back to reprise his role from the game is a fantastic move on the show’s part, just as bringing back Merle Dandridge as Marlene was in season 1. Even in the brief moments he appears in this episode, we see some layers to Isaac’s coldness that we don’t quite have time to see in The Last of Us Part II. In one scene we see him sacrifice all but one of his FEDRA soldiers to prove his loyalty to the rebels, and in another he waxes poetic about the kind of pan he prefers to use to torture people.

After the massacre of the Seraphites that Dina and Ellie stumbled across in last week’s episode, it would be easy to automatically see Isaac as a villain – and the show isn’t necessarily trying to argue otherwise thus far. But this episode is also quick to remind us that there’s no such thing as heroes and villains in this world, just people doing their best to survive and defend the ones they love. According to the Seraphite captive, the W.L.F. broke a truce the two groups had long ago, but according to Isaac, the Seraphites are the ones who broke the truce, and thus the two groups have been locked in a cycle of violence ever since.

Dina and Ellie stumble into this conflict during their search for Abby and the Wolves, making their search all the more perilous and challenging. While investigating an old TV station that the W.L.F. have claimed as their base, they find that the Seraphites have killed and disemboweled a number of the Wolves there. A W.L.F. response team arrives soon after, and Dina and Ellie have to fight their way out.

Dina and Ellie’s dynamic has been one of the highlights of this season so far, and episode 4 only enhances that. Before they find themselves running from Wolves and infected, the two find shelter in an abandoned music store. Ellie finds a guitar and starts playing “Take on Me” by A-ha while Dina sits and listens lovingly. It’s an important scene from The Last of Us Part II because it not only gives Dina and Ellie a quiet moment amidst the violence and chaos they encounter in Seattle, it also shows us Ellie mourning and trying to reconnect with her memory of Joel through music. In the show, this song also has connections to Riley (Storm Reid) and their last night together at the mall. Overall it’s a beautiful reminder of Ellie’s softer side that she hasn’t let many people see.

This touching moment also raises the stakes when Dina and Ellie have to run from the W.L.F. and a horde of infected later on in the episode. In another sequence ripped almost straight from the game, Dina and Ellie find themselves in an abandoned subway tunnel. The W.L.F. soldiers mistakenly think that the tunnel has been cleared out, and are ambushed by infected. Dina and Ellie try to use this distraction to make a break for it, but have a number of close calls as they run through and over subway cars toward the exit.

This sequence is one of the scariest in the series thanks to the eerie red lighting from the W.L.F.’s flares and the tight quarters of the subway cars. Even as someone who knows The Last of Us Part II’s story from front to back, I don’t think I fully exhaled until Dina and Ellie were on the other side of the turnstiles.

And even then, the tension doesn’t quite subside. As they’re escaping, Ellie and Dina get stuck in the turnstiles, with Dina nearly getting bitten. Ellie instinctively throws her arm in front of Dina, taking the bite for her (on the same arm as her first bite, which is surely not a coincidence). Once they find shelter in an old theater, Dina points her gun at Ellie, thinking that she’s about to turn. Ellie admits that she would die for Dina in a heartbeat, but that’s not what she was trying to do. She tells Dina that she’s immune and pleads with Dina to give her the night to prove that she won’t become infected.

Once Dina realizes that Ellie is telling the truth, she shares a confession of her own – she’s pregnant. Caught up in the emotions of the moment, and surely feeling immense relief, Dina and Ellie kiss and share an intimate moment. The next morning, Dina gets vulnerable about her bisexuality and how her mother’s disapproval has made it hard for her to accept that part of herself, even after her mother’s death. 

This isn’t the first coming out scene of a popular bisexual character that Kate Herron has directed. Herron previously helmed the first season of Loki, which featured the titular character finally being revealed as canonically bi in the MCU. The fact that she’s now directed two important coming out scenes may just be a coincidence, but as a bi person myself, I appreciate that Herron has given these moments the vulnerability and grace they deserve, and I hope this isn’t the last episode of The Last of Us that she gets to direct.

After Dina’s confession, Ellie is genuinely excited about becoming a father to the child, even though she’d have to share that responsibility with Jesse, and the two start picturing a future for their new family. But their daydreaming is soon interrupted by chatter from the W.L.F. radio Dina stole from the TV station. They hear Nora’s name and decide that the hospital that she’s stationed at is their next target.

This episode is slowly, but impactfully, raising the stakes of Dina and Ellie’s mission. The war between the Seraphites and the W.L.F. complicates their search for Abby and her crew. Dina’s pregnancy gives them both a future to fight for, but also adds something for them to worry about. They may have a new target, but their quest for revenge isn’t going to be easy.

New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, culminating with the finale on May 25, 2025.

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