Who is Melanie Lynskey's Kathleen in 'The Last of Us'?
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: This week's episode premiered amidst your favorite stars celebrating Grammys. However, in the post-apocalyptic world of HBO's 'The Last of Us' a new character has been introduced. We got our first look at Melanie Lynskey’s Kathleen in 'The Last of Us' with Episode 4 ('Please Hold to My Hand') and it was fascinating to finally get an idea of who she is. There are so many elements of the series that we know because of playing the game but this was the first time we really didn’t know what was actually going to happen.
Pedro Pascals' 'The Last of Us,' as imagined in the 2013 video game, is not exactly a parable about empathy. But HBO’s version of the beloved story is taking a noticeable departure in its approach to character perspective, one designed to wrench the audience away from the singular point of view of the game. The result is that we can’t look at old or new characters in quite the same way and need to have an open mind.
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'The Last of Us' episode 3 was about two characters we had previously known only briefly that got their own individual episode that was the best of any so far. Now, in Episode 4, it is the arrival of a new character by the name of Kathleen who pushes the story into previously uncharted territory. Played by Melanie Lynskey, her arrival has already proven to be a welcome addition to the story even as she now poses a threat to Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) who unwittingly cross her.
The mystery woman of 'The Last of Us'
There’s not much 'The Last of Us' co-showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are willing to reveal about Kathleen just yet. There is no Kathleen in the video game, which makes her an invention solely for the benefit of the show. She appears without prologue or explanation, Lynskey’s radiant face soured with the weight of vengeance. We learn only a few things within the first minutes of her introduction in Kansas City, where Joel and Ellie seek their escape: 1) She’s the leader of a band of militarized populists, who’ve apparently secured the city from the clutches of the government-backed Federal Disaster Response Agency; 2) She’s on the hunt for Henry Burrell, a name - fans will recognize from the game, and his little brother, Sam; and 3) She wants revenge. Henry is supposedly responsible for the death of her brother, though how we can’t be sure.
Is she in the game?
No, actually! Kathleen is one of the first characters in the series to be written just for it. But Kathleen does fit into the fabric of the world so well that if she were from the game, it’d fit. Her ruthless nature and search for Henry is new to us all, game players or not. It means that this is a character that is going to bring an element of surprise to the show. And given what we just saw? It’s going to be a fascinating one.
You can watch the fourth episode of 'The Last of Us' on HBO and HBO Max.