Gabriel Luna – who plays Joel’s brother Tommy in the TV adaptation of The Last of Us – has spoken more about the second season’s latest episode, specifically a key change made to Joel’s story.
Please be aware of spoilers for The Last of Us, both the game and the show, below.
The most recent episode of The Last of Us takes place in the frozen and snow-covered wilderness of Jackson County, Wyoming. During the course of the episode, the residential settlement of Jackson is assaulted by a horde of infected, while Joel and Dina – played in the show by Pedro Pascal and Isebela Merced respectively – are on patrol in the surrounding area.
This is a change from The Last of Us Part 2 game, where Joel is on patrol with his brother Tommy, while Dina is on patrol with Ellie. Additionally, the show gives Tommy his own standalone hero moment not seen in the game, as he remains in Jackson and has a rather tense confrontation with a Bloater (among many, many other infected).
While all this is happening in the show, Dina and Joel come across Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, who convinces them to come back to the chalet she and her group are holding up in rather than heading back to Jackson.
In both the game and the show, it is this decision that marks the beginning of the end for Joel, as once his identity is revealed (in the show by Dina calling out to get the attention of her patrol partner, in the game by Tommy introducing them both), Abby kills him in revenge for her father’s death at his hands.
Now, reflecting on the tweaks to the source material, Luna says he is glad the show changed Tommy’s part in ‘outing’ Joel to Abby, adding he didn’t believe the character would have been “that careless” in reality.
“The truth is, back when we were doing the first season, I talked to [showrunner] Craig [Mazin] and [game creator] Neil [Druckmann] about it. Would Tommy be that careless to reveal Joel’s identity? As a seasoned veteran, somebody who had to protect this city and keep it safe, would he be so trusting of strangers? And then to walk into this ambush and be knocked out for that moment, unable to use any of his strength and skills to protect his brother, it always pinged in my mind – I wouldn’t say false, but I don’t know if Tommy would have been that trusting to walk into that trap,” Luna said in conversation with Esquire.
The actor revealed Mazin, however, already had an idea in mind for the show. “Before the strike, he was starting to break the stories,” Luna shared. “He sent me this Bible-long text about where Tommy is and what he’s doing instead. And it floored me. I was so excited. I’m getting goose bumps now thinking about it.”
Luna added that having Dina present when Joel was killed rather than Tommy serves her story arc in The Last of Us as well. Dina is “somebody who still loves Joel and sees him as family, and would be devastated when this all goes down”, the actor reasoned.
We still have five more episodes of The Last of Us season two to go. While this season won’t cover the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2’s narrative, the show will be back for a third season, with Mazin previously 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.