The Last Of Us gives us more reasons to love Melanie Lynskey

While we anxiously await the return of Yellowjackets for a second season (it premieres on March 26), The Last Of Us is serving up a juicy two-episode arc featuring Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey to tide us over. In HBO’s hit post-apocalyptic drama Lynskey plays Kathleen, an original character who wasn’t in the video game the show is based on. With note-perfect leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey at the center of the story—not to mention guest stars Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, who blew us away in episode three—the addition of Lynskey is more proof that the show’s casting is one of the secrets to its success.

Prior to her first episode airing, Lynskey responded to a commenter on Twitter who accused The Last Of Us of “homosexual agenda pushing,” presumably in reference to the love story between Offerman and Bartlett’s characters in “Long, Long Time.” “OMG yes,” Lynskey wrote in response. “Let me push that homosexual agenda just by showing up! An honour!” Kathleen’s sexuality was not actually revealed in her first episode, but you’ve got to admire Lynskey’s effusive clap back.

In episode four, “Please Hold To My Hand,” Kathleen is introduced as the leader of a revolutionary group in the former Kansas City quarantine zone. We don’t meet her until about halfway into the episode, but her first scene tells us all we need to know. Her brother was beaten to death while in FEDRA custody, and now that they’ve been driven out she’s got a vendetta against anyone who collaborated with them, or anyone who stands in her way. Lynskey gives us a character who is slightly unhinged, single-minded in her focus, and clearly in a lot of pain. Kathleen is an antagonist and an imminent threat to our core duo, but you understand her motivations through the love and grief that comes through in Lynskey’s committed performance. In the hands of anyone else, she might not be so compelling.

Lynskey excels playing characters who are sweet but damaged, with a hint of a dark side beneath the surface. Her Yellowjackets character Shauna definitely fits this mold. Although Kathleen’s darkness is in plain view in The Last Of Us, she’s another variation on that theme. We can imagine what she was like before FEDRA rolled in, and how the loss of her brother has twisted her into the hardened soldier she’s become. Lynskey brings a humanity and an inherent likability to every role, and the show has already found ways to weaponize that. Everyone under her command follows her orders without question, and we probably would too. That makes her even scarier.

Since Lynskey’s impressive screen debut at the age of 15 in 1994’s Heavenly Creatures—in which she and Kate Winslet play a pair of delusional, murderous best friends—she has steadily built a career as a character actress and an indie movie queen. She specializes in off-beat roles, women with rich internal lives full of quiet seething or palpable desperation. Whether she’s a key supporting player or a lead, she always delivers something memorable to hold onto. In the past few years in particular, her roles in high-profile TV series like Yellowjackets, Candy, and Togetherness have earned her critical praise and recognition come awards season, including an Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for Yellowjackets. Although we’ve only seen the first of her two Last Of Us episodes, it’s likely that a project like this might bring even more attention her way.

We don’t know what Kathleen has in store for our heroes in the next episode, but based on where the previous one ended, they’re on a collision course to meet up soon. Unlike most of the characters introduced in the show far, Kathleen has no game counterpart, so she’s a wild card even to those who have some idea of where the story is going. The fugitives she’s looking for, on the other hand, should be familiar to game fans. Without giving away any major spoilers, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and his younger brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard) are part of a multi-chapter story arc in the game. Although showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have shown they’re willing to change things up if they have a better idea for the show, we have a feeling Henry and Sam might stick around for a bit. They’ll have to escape from Kathleen first, though. We’re hoping their inevitable confrontation in the next episode will give Lynskey a chance to showcase her considerable talents once again.