The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: Ellie and Dina Unravel Secrets, Revisit City's Violent Past and Present

The Last of Us, Season 2, Episode 4, titled Day One, begins with a haunting flashback. Sunday's episode takes viewers back to the history of the city, rife with violence that continues to the present.

It takes place 11 years prior to the main story, when the audience is presented with Isaac (Jeffrey Wright), a cold-blooded ex-FEDRA soldier who defects. He becomes part of the Washington Liberation Front in an intense scene. The prologue sets the violent methods of Isaac and establishes the perpetual war between the Seraphites and the W.L.F.

In the current timeline, Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, and Dina, played by Isabela Merced, venture into post-apocalyptic Seattle. Their peaceful moments, Ellie's acoustic version of Take on Me, and Dina's emotional response seemingly provide a burst of rarity in the warmth. But the couple's tension soon gives way to increasing peril.

Isaac appears halfway through the episode, depicted as torturing a Seraphite prisoner for information. The intense scene broaches moral complexity and war's never-ending cycle. It concludes with Isaac killing the rebellious prisoner, a scene that foreshadows the character's psychological breakdown.

At the same time, Ellie and Dina stumble upon a horrific scene at a W.L.F. radio station. The highlight action sequence of the episode is developed here as they fight Wolves to get out of an abandoned tunnel.

Following a frantic exit, Ellie is bitten—but lives. She shares her immunity with Dina, who later reveals she's pregnant. The two share a relief and intimate moment, but their future is undecided.

Catch The Last of Us Season 2 every Sunday on HBO and Max.

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