| “ | Sam and Henry, brothers in Kansas City hiding from a revolutionary movement seeking vengeance.
―Official description from HBO's website.[3]
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” |
Sam Burrell is a character in the first season of HBO's The Last of Us. He was the deaf younger brother of Henry, who were hiding from a revolutionary movement seeking vengeance in Kansas City, Missouri.[2]
Biography[]
Background[]
Sam was born in either 2014 or 2015 to the same parents as Henry Burrell. He lived in the FEDRA-controlled Kansas City quarantine zone. He was deaf, leading his brother to learn sign language and teach the boy to communicate. To further assist this, he learned to write, as well. He also gained an interest in Savage Starlight comic books, learning to draw superheroes from the comics and learned to sign the comic's headlined catchphrase - "Endure and Survive".
At some point, Sam fell ill with leukemia. Knowing FEDRA were the only ones who had the drug that could help Sam, Henry collaborated with the tyrannical dictators - revealing where the city's resistance leader, Michael Coghlan, was hiding. In return, FEDRA provided Henry the drug, which he used to keep Sam alive.
However, Henry's actions to save Sam had consequences: Michael's sister, Kathleen Coghlan, took over the resistance group and waged war against FEDRA. The resistance won the war and began ruthlessly searching for and executing known collaborators. Knowing Sam's association to him would get him killed, Henry fled to a hideout set up by Dr. Edelstein to keep him safe and supply them with food. Seeing that Sam was scared, Henry gave him crayons and paint to decorate their hideout with superhero artwork.[4]
Events of HBO's The Last of Us[]
Ten days later, Sam complained to Henry that he was hungry from their lack of food. Henry insisted Edelstein would return with more, but by the next day he still had not. Henry then revealed he believed their help was not coming, which upset Sam. Henry hugged him, then painted a superhero mask across his eyes, showing him with the reflection in his knife to cheer Sam up.
Sam with his face paint.
Later, gunshots erupted in the street outside just as the brothers prepared to leave. Henry noticed a man successfully defeat a group of the resistance. Henry then led Sam to follow the man and the girl he was traveling with. By night, Henry gave Sam a handgun and the pair snuck up on the the man and girl, where Henry offered the pair an alliance. They shared food, with Sam signing his name for the pair and learning they were called Joel and Ellie. By morning, Sam began bonding with Ellie, a child like himself, over their love of pun books and the comic series Savage Starlight. While drawing, Sam watched as Henry organized a plan with Joel and Ellie.
Ellie and Sam share their love of Savage Starlight.
That day, the group made it to an abandoned underground settlement in the city where Sam and Ellie played soccer, shared jokes and played with toys. By night, they reached the suburbs when they came under fire from an sniper. Sam stayed by Henry, the man keeping him safe as Joel flanked and killed the sniper.
However, Kathleen and her militia arrived in the area, forcing the group to flee down the street. Sam hid behind a truck with Henry and Sam, watching as Henry decided to give himself up, entrusting Ellie to care for Sam. However, Joel shot and killed one of the truck drivers, leading to a crash and explosion that created a sinkhole, allowing an infected horde to escape and attack everyone in the street. Henry tried to protect Sam, but they were cornered by two clickers under a car. Ellie and Joel rescued them and the group fled the horde attack.
That night, Sam revealed that one of the clickers had bitten his leg, and that he feared turning into an infected and losing control of his body. Ellie revealed her immunity to the Cordyceps brain infection and rubbed her blood on his wound, claiming it would protect him from turning. Reassured, Sam asked Ellie to stay awake with him. However, Ellie later fell asleep in a chair and Sam sat on the end of his bed, staring out the window, then transformed into an infected overnight.
Sam asks Ellie what she fears most.
When Ellie awoke, Sam was sat upright and looking out of a window, quietly mumbling to himself. When Ellie tapped his shoulder to get his attention, Sam unexpectedly attacked her. He tackled her into the next room where Henry initially prevented Joel from stopping Sam's attack. However, in a moment of clarity, Henry shot his infected brother. The action sent Henry into extreme shock and grief, and he killed himself. Joel and Ellie then buried the brothers together side by side outside the motel. Ellie used Sam's Magic Slate as a makeshift grave marker, with the message "I'm sorry".[4]
Appearance[]
Personality[]
Relationships[]
Henry Burrell[]
Sam was Henry's younger brother and admired him, looking to him for guidance in the post-apocalypse. Sam responded to how Henry reacted in certain scenarios, notably feeling scared because Henry was when they fled the resistance's search efforts. Still, Sam also sought great comfort from Henry, hugging him when in distress of laughing with the man when coloring together. He even gained independence through Henry, able to sign and communicate with others thanks to Henry's training. Likewise, as Henry gave Sam a way to live, Sam consequently was the reason Henry lived.
Although, when Sam was infected, he did not tell Henry, revealing he did not always feel comfortable sharing things with his brother. This fear ultimately led to his own transformation and forcing his brother to make a difficult choice between his life and Ellie's, a decision that would emotionally scar Henry.[4]
Ellie Williams[]
Sam formed a friendship with Ellie while traveling through Kansas City. The two bonded over their love for Savage Starlight, Sam even teaching her how to sign the book's slogan—"Endure and Survive". Sam also shared further hobbies with Ellie, learning puns from her, reading Savage Starlight together and playing football together when in the underground settlement.
When Sam was infected with Cordyceps, he felt more comfortable opening up to Ellie about it than he did his brother, displaying immense trust in her. This trust only elevated when Ellie claimed she could heal him with her blood, the boy sharing a hug with her soon after. However, Sam transformed into an infected the following morning and tried to kill his former friend, the infection turning him hostile towards her. After his death, Ellie she wrote "I'm sorry" on Sam's magic slate, grieving his death.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
- Sam is portrayed by American actor Keivonn Montreal Woodard. Like his character on the show, Woodard is deaf.[2]
- Unlike his counterpart from the video game series, Sam is deaf. The series' producers made this change in order to give the opportunity for a deaf actor to fill this role.[5]
- In Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin's opinion, Sam was in fact still alive inside when he was infected, and was fully aware that he was attacking Ellie against his will.[6]
Gallery[]
Promotional images[]
![Promotional poster featuring Keivonn Woodard as Sam.[1]](/wiki/File:Sam_HBO_promo_poster.jpeg "Sam HBO promo poster.jpeg (2.67 MB)")
Official stills[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Poster released by The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) on Twitter. Tweet. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Bailey, Kat (August 10, 2022). Exclusive: HBO's The Last of Us Casts Henry and Sam, But There Are Some Major Differences. IGN. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ↑ Sam on HBO's official website.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 HBO's The Last of Us episode 5: "Endure and Survive"
- ↑ "Interview with Keivonn Woodard in HBO's "The Last of Us" series". The Daily Moth. December 9, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ↑ HBO's The Last of Us Podcast episode 5: "Endure and Survive"
