This post contains major spoilers for โ€œThe Last of Us Part IIโ€ and its HBO adaptation. You have been warned.ย 

Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) is dead in HBOโ€™s โ€œThe Last of Us.โ€ This gut-punch of a narrative twist occurs as early as Episode 2 of the latest season, introducing a point of no return for every character involved. For those acquainted with โ€œThe Last of Us Part IIโ€ โ€” Naughty Dogโ€™s brilliant, controversial follow-up to 2013โ€™s โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ โ€” Joelโ€™s death feels like a dreaded inevitability, as it also takes place pretty early on in the game when you least expect it.ย 

While nothing can mimic or eclipse the pit-in-your-stomach horror/shock evoked by Joelโ€™s brutal murder in โ€œPart II,โ€ Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmannโ€™s adaptation pulls off this major moment to equally devastating effect. Although markedly distinct from the sceneโ€™s tonal atmosphere in โ€œPart II,โ€ HBOโ€™s โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ twists the knife further, reminding us of the fact that nothing will ever be the same.ย 

Comparisons to the game are inevitable, but โ€œPart IIโ€ was armed with an element of surprise (or to be more accurate, a sliver of egregious shock value) that made it impossible for players to anticipate Joelโ€™s death. After all, why would โ€œPart IIโ€ kill off one of the primary protagonists of the series, that too in such a visceral, brutal manner devoid of grace? However, once the haze of grief and rage recedes, it becomes clear that Joelโ€™s murder is embedded into the sequelโ€™s ethos, without which, โ€œPart IIโ€ wouldnโ€™t exist in the first place.ย 

After all, it was only a matter of time before Joelโ€™s violent rampage in the hospital, where he had consciously gunned down dozens to save Ellie (embodied by Bella Ramsey in the show), would put a target on his back and brand him as a ruthless killer. Joel did kill several people over the years, no matter the reason, including the unarmed doctor who was supposed to operate on Ellie for the supposed cure.ย 

Moreover, the survival-fueled brutality of a post-apocalyptic world doesnโ€™t hold space for sentiments like forgiveness or mercy. The fact that someone like Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) would eventually come to kill Joel for his horrific actions is as inevitable as Ellieโ€™s heartbreaking journey down a path of blind rage and revenge in โ€œPart II.โ€ It is an uncompromising character arc that is tough to stomach, as Ellie mirrors Joelโ€™s brand of vicious survival, coming uncomfortably close to losing everyone she loves in exchange for making Abby pay.ย 

A still from The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2.
A still from The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2.

The crux of tragedy in โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ Season 2 has already been cemented two episodes in, as the show rearranges aspects of the incident to ensure that the impact of the killing blow keeps ringing in our ears. For starters, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) is absent during the horrific kill scene, as the series trades his presence for Dina (Isabel Merced), who is drugged right before she realizes what is about to happen.

Although the impact of this switch is rather mixed, Tommyโ€™s bravado during the Jackson siege (which doesnโ€™t happen in the game) fleshes out his character beyond his connection to Joel. It also adds a tragic layer to the character, as he never gets the chance to say goodbye to his brother or do anything to save him. Although โ€œPart IIโ€ Tommy is unable to stop Joel from dying despite being present, Lunaโ€™s Tommy will now be plagued by the regret-tinged hope that his presence might have made all the difference.ย 

What about Abby, whom Dever portrays with a simmering anguish that is both complex and jarring? The series mightโ€™ve swerved away from Abbyโ€™s physicality in the game (which emerges as a symbol of her obsession with revenge), but this change does little to take away from the gravity of the Abby-Joel confrontation. Sheโ€™s as mercilessly driven to torture Joel while reminding him of his callous cruelty, holding up a mirror to his soul moments before she clubs him to death. Ellie witnesses this ruthless act of revenge, but is robbed of any agency while being held down and forced to watch the person she loves die a dogโ€™s death.ย 

Druckmann and Mazin make no attempts to soften the devastation of the immediate aftermath: we watch a traumatized and grief-stricken Ellie crawl to Joel while being grievously injured, silently hoping to die there with him. Even though their relationship turned sour over the years, what child would want to live in a world devoid of the only parental figure they love and trust without condition, despite everything?ย 

Ellieโ€™s compounded survivorโ€™s guilt already shaped her adolescence and newfound adulthood, but Joelโ€™s death tips every semblance of restraint and tender hope over the edge. She might harbor complicated feelings about his actions at the hospital, but these instincts are overwritten by the loss of the only person who knows who she truly is. Grief changes the best of us, and โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ is ultimately about the abysmal lows of the grieving process, where things can often get messy and ugly, where grace can feel as strange as the sudden and permanent absence of someone you love so dearly.ย 

HBOโ€™s โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ has finally relegated Joel Miller to the realm of painful, bittersweet memories, some of which will rush back to haunt Ellie as the series progresses. While it is tempting to draw side-by-side comparisons between the game and the showโ€™s approach to this death, what matters most is how this moment makes us feelย and how it will transform the DNA of the adaptation. โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ has always been Ellieโ€™s story, even if Joel is meant to constitute a significant, irreplaceable chunk of her journey. If anything, Joelโ€™s absence underlines how essential he is to Ellie, despite being a terribly flawed, broken shell of a man who robbed her of an essential choice in a desperate attempt to save her. Now that heโ€™s gone, Ellie remains unmoored, untethered in a world where the infected arenโ€™t the worst aspects of human mutation and evolution.ย 

โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ Season 2 is currently streaming on HBO.ย 

Read More: How a COVID-esque โ€˜Cold Openโ€™ Made the Latest โ€œThe Last of Usโ€ Episode One of the Greatest Hours on Television?

The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2 Links: Wikipedia, IMDb

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