The second season of HBO’s The Last of Us is almost upon us, and finally more about Catherine O’Hara’s new character has been revealed.
O’Hara’s casting was announced in February of last year, although at this time who she was playing remained a mystery. There were rumours her character was called Gail, and these have ultimately been proven correct. But, who exactly is Gail?
Please be aware of spoilers for The Last of Us (both games and the show) below.
In an interview during The Last of Us season 2’s premiere, Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann confirmed O’Hara is playing a therapist living in Jackson, but also that she is – somewhat of a surprise to me – Eugene’s wife. This marks a significant change from the games, and has made me curious about what this will mean for season two’s story.
Earlier this year, it was announced Joe Pantoliano had joined The Last of Us’ cast as Eugene, a character mentioned in Part 2 but who doesn’t appear in person, barring collectables.
In the game, Eugene is a patrolman who lived in Jackson before dying of a stroke aged 73. Prior to his death, he formed a close relationship with Dina (played in the show by Isabel Merced). Little else is really known about Eugene, but players can find a letter in the game which reveals he had a wife and daughter, however he left them to join the Fireflies, where he served with Joel’s brother Tommy.
The showrunners previously said Eugene’s story was going to be expanded upon for the show, with an episode akin to season one’s Bill and Frank episode, so I assumed this meant they would be telling Eugene’s story of leaving his family to join the Fireflies. Maybe it still will, and maybe O’Hara plays Eugene’s second wife but… how will the fact that Joel killed a load of the Fireflies at the end of the first season impact those therapy sessions?!
Ooh, I am looking forward to finding out. You can check out a clip of O’Hara as Gail with Pedro Pascal’s Joel in the second season of The Last of Us below.
During the same The Last of Us premiere event, Druckmann also teased some of the show’s impactful moments, noting during the filming of episode six of season two: “Our actors…left a piece of their soul in this episode.”
The second season of The Last of Us will kick off next month, on 13th April, and will comprise seven episodes, with one of those episodes being “quite big” in length. Spores have been confirmed for The Last of Us’ second season, with the showrunners promising viewers “a different evolution” of infection.