That saucepan in The Last of Us S2 Ep 4: Let’s just say Gordon Ramsay would be horrified.
If I were living in The Last of Us world, there’s no way I’d step into any kitchen. And I hope Dina and Ellie stay out of them too.
People are talking a lot about Josh Peck, who played Janowitz, but honestly, I had no idea who he was until I looked him up. Turns out he’s now famous for his YouTube channel, where he runs a podcast. But in The Last of Us episode 4, talking didn’t help his character at all. His story, brutal and raw, didn’t land as humorous for Isaac (Jeffrey Wright).
Isabela Merced Is Stealing the Spotlight in The Last of Us, and I’m Loving It
That 11-year flashback gave us a deeper look into FEDRA’s crimes against the people of Seattle during the early effects of zombie apocalypse. It showed how civilians were treated as second-class citizens under FEDRA control, stripped of their rights, and crushed under military rule.
Greenberg’s story made it clear how terrifying life had become. Ordinary people had no freedom to express emotion or protest; something as small as handing out pamphlets to raise awareness about FEDRA’s crimes was enough to get them brutalized.
It all served as a sharp reminder: no matter what kind of apocalypse the world faces, it’s humans who will always remain the biggest threat to one another.
The lack of freedom hits even harder in one particular moment when Ben Ahlers’s character, Burton, asks Janowitz and the other soldiers why they call civilians ‘voters’. Isaac responds, “Because they didn’t have a right to vote. We took that right from them.” After that, FEDRA started using the word “voters” as a way to mock them.
Those lines were powerful, and Jeffrey Wright delivered them with such weight that it intensified the entire scene. It perfectly captured the dominance FEDRA’s soldiers held over Seattle’s civilians and how deeply they stripped away not just rights, but dignity.
Then came another standout moment in the episode with the arrival of another OG actor in TLOU: Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan, the leader of the WLF. I also think she might be the current prophet of the Scars. She and Isaac exchanged names and a nod, and right after that, we witnessed the most casual betrayal and explosion, a van full of soldiers blown up, all except one rookie who happened to ask the right question.
The others didn’t even get a second to realize they were being betrayed by one of their own. It was the perfect way to introduce what looks like one of the show’s most dangerous upcoming villains.
Now I have a simple question: who here would actually want a cooking lesson from Isaac? Our charming ladies' man seems dangerously skilled in the kitchen. As if Abby’s terrifying golf swing wasn’t enough, now Isaac looks like he’s trying to win the next MasterChef. And he just might, because instead of dishes, he cooks people — with a Mauviel saucepan, no less.
If I were living in The Last of Us world, there’s no way I’d step into any kitchen. And I hope Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) stay out of them too.
Jeffery Wright absolutely crushed that entire kitchen scene with his performance. The tension and slow-build anticipation made the moment hit even harder. I knew he was torturing someone, but I didn’t realize where he was going with his calm, cold monologue, not until he touched that scorching saucepan.
That’s when it all clicked. Watching him move toward the already brutalized, naked man with that heated pan was the moment Isaac’s style of horror hit a whole new level.
The Last of Us handles the grey areas of human nature so well, and that’s what keeps me hooked. Whether it’s the WLF or the Seraphites, both sides are deeply flawed.
It’s hard to pick a side as a viewer. In the previous episode, we were introduced to a small Seraphite group that included a father and his child. They talked about being at war and by the end of that episode, the WLF wiped them out completely. No survivors.
Then in this episode, we saw the opposite: a WLF building packed with the corpses of their soldiers, all brutally killed by the Seraphites. The brutality is mutual.
And in that tense kitchen scene, Isaac tortures Malcolm (Rayan Masson) to get information about the Seraphites’ next move. The back-and-forth between them hit hard. Both men admitted their groups don’t hesitate to kill; no matter the age, no matter the gender. Rayan Masson held his own against Jeffery Wright in that scene, and it made the entire exchange feel even more charged.
When Isaac threatens to burn Malcolm again with the heated saucepan, Malcolm stays defiant. He’s been tortured, humiliated, and stripped of everything, yet refuses to give up his people. Isaac may have had the upper hand physically, but Malcolm’s faith and loyalty proved even stronger than Isaac’s brutality. It flipped the power dynamic in such a gripping way. That scene was one of the show’s most thought-provoking moments so far.
That interrogation scene also revealed something major: the Seraphites and the WLF once had a truce, but it was broken by the WLF. Now, they’re locked in a full-blown war. And to me, it’s more than just territory or survival. It feels like a war of perception, a clash of lifestyles and belief systems.
It’s practicality and modernity versus superstition and faith. The WLF sees itself as rational, efficient, and organized. They look down on the Seraphites as primitive, fanatical, and brutal. What really seems to bother the WLF is that more and more of their own people are turning Seraphite. That shift speaks volumes.
In a world where hope is dying, superstition thrives. It becomes both a weapon and a threat. When people lose hope, they lose peace. And that opens the door to chaos.
Whose side are you leaning towards in the WLF vs. Seraphite conflict after this episode? And what did you think of that intense kitchen scene? Share your thoughts below!
