The Last of Us season two is under way, and this weekend we were treated to the second episode. ‘Treated’ is, perhaps, the wrong word to use here. After all, there were some pretty major story beats in this episode, and well, you know voices on the internet have opinions on what happened.
Please be aware of major spoilers for The Last of Us below.
We knew it was coming, but it happened perhaps sooner than many of us expected. In the second episode of The Last of Us season two, Joel is killed by Abby.
Of course, there is no bad blood at all between Pedro Pascal and Kaitlyn Dever, who play Joel and Abby on the show. Soon after the episode aired, Pascal shared a heartwarming picture of the two on set, captioning the image: “Thank you, scene partner. You little miracle.”
But, while Pascal and Dever are smiling in the photo, there is no denying that the moment of Joel’s death was tough, for the cast and viewers. Perhaps it was harder for those coming to the show without any prior knowledge of the source material. This user seems to think so.
But, then again, even those who already knew Joel is killed by Abby in The Last of Us Part 2 are still pretty upset.
Some have said they will never emotionally recover from seeing Ellie lying next to Joel’s dead body at the end of the episode.
“Ellie crawling to Joel’s body and cuddling up next to it.. that was way worse than the game,” wrote one viewer.
“Does it ever keep y’all up at night knowing how Joel was ready to end it all? to accept his fate in death, until he heard Ellie yelling for him to get up? What little energy he had left was used in trying to push himself to live for her,” another viewer wrote, referring to the way Joel lifted his fingers while lying on the ground in a beaten bloody mess.
“THE WAY HIS FINGERS TWITCH. HE WANTED TO REACH OUT TO HER. OH MY GOD,” reads yet another post.
Here’s another user so upset by the whole ordeal that full caps lock was the only way to write. “ELLIE LAYING ON TOP OF JOELS BODY WAS THE MOST FOUL THING I’VE EVER SEEN,” they wrote.
Some viewers have just decided to go into denial, and as far as they are concerned Joel is absolutely fine, thank you very much.
“I’m still convinced Joel’ss death scene was a mass hallucination like no that actually did not happen,” wrote one hopeful viewer.
“Guys he got up !! He listened to Ellie !! im so glad hes alright that was a close one,” one person said with an image of Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal on set.
“Joel Miller dies? I’m not sure what episode you’re referring to. In what I watched, the old man’s fine,” another added.
“He’s working in his office with a nice cup of coffee, already halfway in on rebuilding his connection with Ellie. They’re watching a movie together in the next episode, actually.”
Others shared photos of Pascal’s Joel with his daughter Sarah, played in series one by Nico Parker. “25 long years later, they’re finally together,” wrote one viewer with a collection of images.
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Also, as pointed out by several viewers online, Tommy still doesn’t know his brother is dead. And, let’s be honest, he already isn’t exactly having the best day.
Some have now joked they need to take some time away from work on compassionate leave.
I think this user has summed things up quite well for all of us watching The Last of Us season two. They captioned an image of Pascal bobbing about in the ocean while on holiday as this: “New photo of Pedro Pascal swimming in our tears.”
Agree, we have probably all cried an ocean’s worth since episode two aired earlier this week. At least he’s still alive to look after Grogu in The Mandalorian, I suppose…
On the plus side, though, at least Joel knew he was handsome before he was beaten to a pulp. Abby said it both this episode and the first episode.
Naughty Dog and HBO have already confirmed The Last of Us will be back for a third season, with showrunner Craig Mazin stating:
“We approached season two with the goal of creating something we could be proud of. The end results have exceeded even our most ambitious goals.”
For more, you can check out my feature on the show’s latest episode: Joel dominates headlines, but it’s Tommy who shines in The Last of Us season 2 episode two.