'The Last of Us made a big mistake with Henry and Sam'
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*The Last of Us episode five spoilers below*
The Last of Us is beginning to make a habit of creating rich, evocative characters, urging us to fall for them, then swinging the axe down with a heavy thunk.
Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard) are the latest to be tossed onto the heap of dead bodies in the series and we're not happy.
Yes this is an apocalyptic zombie-esque show so a high body count is to be expected but this latest double killing felt somewhat premature. So untimely in fact that we have to question why they, along with the Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) storyline, were even introduced to begin with, if only to end so abruptly.
This conundrum only becomes even more puzzling when you consider that Kathleen's vengeance story arc was specifically created for the show.
In the game Henry and Sam's fate ended the same way, with Sam being infected and Henry forced to kill him before turning the gun on himself. However the journey to that destination was a little less brief, binding them to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) for a little while longer.
The decision to deviate from the source material was an interesting one that initially paid off.
The mystery surrounding both Henry and Sam, along with Kathleen's obsessive grievance, created intrigue, compounded by the fact that fans of the game knew nothing about Kathleen and how she related to Sam and Henry, characters they were already familiar with.
As the story developed, the complexity of her being a grieving sister out for revenge coupled with the stark reality that she has the blackest of souls made her even more compelling
We feel compassion for her righteous anger and hurt, but also desire to see her taken down and for Sam and Henry to survive.
Equally, Henry's desperate action to save Sam's life leads to the death of Kathleen's brother, so there is an interesting conflict as the viewer roots for someone whose hands aren't altogether clean.
The cat-and-double-mouse chase had only just begun between the three and honestly, plenty of great material could have been born from this storyline and woven into the story arc without distracting from it.
Sadly the opportunity to see just how dastardly Kathleen could be was ripped away from us faster than the Bloater tearing Perry's head in two.
This isn't the first time The Last of Us has been trigger happy. In fact, with the exception of episode four, every episode thus far has seen untimely deaths.
Joel's daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) was the first go in the panicked gunfire when the Cordyceps outbreak began. Though we would have preferred she stuck around a little longer just to enjoy more from their father-daughter bond, her death was plot-driven and we get it.
Without her dying there wouldn't be space for Ellie and Joel to build that delicate, vulnerable relationship that is manifesting so gingerly you'd need a microscope to see it.
Again, the pace of their slow connection also makes sense and can be attributed to Joel's inability to open himself up and assume a paternal role after losing Sarah
Tess (Anna Torv) was of course the next to go, in one of the most disturbing ways. Again her death was a motivator for Joel. His promise to see it through with Ellie is tied to his regret and grief over Tess' death – money alone would not have been enough.
As for Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank's (Murray Bartlett) tear-jerking 'you-jump-I-jump' demise, well that was just a stunning piece of almost perfect apocalyptic romance. It served to give Joel and Ellie the supplies they needed to move forward to the next stage in their mission but really one can't help but feel that it was more about righting the 'wrongs' of their pitiful love story in the game.
However Henry, Sam and Kathleen's deaths felt different. Their story sits in isolation in a way that operates differently to Frank and Bill's.
Perhaps it's because we didn't get enough meaningful time to sit with their lived experience like we did with Frank and Bill.
It could also be because of the intensified mystery created around these characters before closing the chapter with such heavy finality.
Either way it seems as though their story could have been completely lifted from the series and it would have no real impact on the events whatsoever, other than to save Ellie, and to some extent Joel, the additional emotional trauma.
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
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