The Last Of Us EP Promises All Is Not Lost After Episode 2's Crushing Death
Warning: This post contains spoilers from The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 2. Proceed accordingly.
Anyone else lost in the darkness after Sunday's The Last of Us?
This week's episode dealt fans a blow that those who've played The Last of Us Part 2 video game knew was on the horizon: Pedro Pascal's Joel died near the end of the hour, beaten and stabbed to death by a revenge-seeking Abby.
During the episode, we learned that Abby is the daughter of the Firefly doctor who was supposed to operate on Ellie — and whom Joel killed — in the Season 1 finale. She and Joel (and Dina) ran into each other as Abby was being inundated by a horde of infected; he saved her life, and then followed her to the ski lodge where she'd holed up with her friends. That's where Abby revealed that she'd been hunting him for a while and that she planned to end his life. She shot Joel in the leg, beat him soundly with a golf club and, after Ellie arrived to try to save him, drove the sharp end of the broken club into his neck while Ellie watched. (If you're not too traumatized, read a full recap here.)
Since the beginning of the series, The Last of Us has been the story of Joel and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey). What will that story look like now that one of the characters is dead? And is Pascal leaving the show? We took our frantic questions to co-showrunner Craig Mazin.
"There's a good amount of Pedro and Bella together" in Season 2, he reassured us, even given the events of Episode 2, "because we all want it."
Mazin acknowledged that Pascal and Ramsey make for an "iconic duo" in the series — as did Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in the game — and promised that "we do get to see them quite a bit together this season. And we also get to see interesting things happening with them — more, I think, than what we saw in Season 1."
More than Season 1? Say more.
"Season 1, it's a beautiful relationship and a wonderful journey," he continued. "But in its own way, it's very simple. And this one is way more complicated — and, in its conclusion, just very resonant. It gives you a lot to think about and also has a beautiful note of hope running through it."
"So," Mazin said, smiling, "on behalf of all the Bella-and-Pedro stans out there, I'm here to say: Yes. A good amount is heading your way. "
Do you feel any better, The Last of Us fans? Hit the comments and let us know!