Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2
Summary
- The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2 shocks viewers by killing off a major character, Joel.
- Creators Mazin and Druckmann maintained Joel's death for narrative impact, despite Pedro Pascal's popularity.
- Changes in the adaptation of Joel's death made the scene more intimate and emotionally impactful.
The Last of Us Season 2's most recent episode, Through the Valley, has not only shocked many viewers who haven't played the video game sequel, but has also left them wondering how the rest of the season will play out without one of its biggest characters. However, in spite of Pedro Pascal's huge fanbase, the HBO show's creators never wanted to leave out The Last of Us Part 2's most controversial narrative just to apprise them due to it being such a pivotal moment in its main storyline.
Although Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have changed some things around from the Naughty Dog games in Season 2, like its timeline, as well as including a never-before-seen character like Gail the therapist and a fleshed out introduction to her husband Eugene, The Last of Us Season 2 could never get away from its biggest death, that would in turn, become the stream that flowed throughout the rest of the season's episodes. Starring Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Isabella Merced as Dina and Pedro Pascal as Joel, HBO's The Last of Us creators believe that killing the hardened survivor off, even though it would upset a lot of people, was always the right thing to do.
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In Spite of Pedro Pascal’s Popularity, The Last of Us Creators Never Doubted He Would Face His Fate
During the latest The Last of Us podcast as reported by ComicBook, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann discussed the circumstances surrounding Joel's death and how they would implement it into The Last of Us season 2, episode 2. Druckmann said that he was well aware of fans previously saying that when adapting the TV show, that they may not actually kill Joel and could go down a different route since Pedro Pascal is such a beloved actor and one of the show's biggest draws. “We did see some people say, ‘Oh, Pedro’s too popular, HBO will not let them,” said Druckmann. However, Mazin said that it was "never a question" that Joel wasn't going to meet his fate in Season 2 and that not including it wouldn't have the same impact.
“If you’re going to tell a story about consequences, and if you’re going to tell a story about a man who does a terrible, terrible thing for the best possible reason there is, then you need the world to provide feedback. And the feedback here is brutality. That’s how the world works. So there was never a question that we were going to do this. The real question was when. We talked about this a lot, and it felt to us like Episode 1 really taught us a lot about where Joel was and what his relationship was like with Ellie, and it doesn’t end well. And here we get to Episode 2, and this happens, and you feel this double destruction because, as far as we know, her relationship with Joel was broken and now she’s forced to watch him die. And it’s like a double wound to the heart.”
The Last of Us Season 2, episode 2 didn't pull any punches when it came to showing that dreaded scene many players of the game were fearing. Even though Joel's death in The Last of Us Part 2 was horribly brutal, in the live-action it was made even worse because Joel felt "real" and someone fans got to know on a more personal level than what the game offered. Some other changes in how Druckmann and Mazin adapted Joel's fate in the show was how Abby hit Joel so hard that the golf club broke in two, leaving her to batter his face bloody, making the scene a lot more intimate than ever before.
The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming across HBO and Max, with new episodes premiering every Sunday at 9pm ET/6pm PT.
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- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
-
Pedro PascalJoel Miller -
Bella RamseyEllie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, Halley Wegryn Gross
- Franchise(s)
- The Last of Us
- Creator(s)
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
Source: ComicBook