“The Last of Us” S2 Ep 2 Reaction Continues

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR “THE LAST OF US” SEASON 2 EPISODE 2

For those who played the game, they knew it was coming. However it seems a lot of people who managed to avoid five years of spoilers were taken by surprise on Sunday when Pedro Pascal’s Joel met his death on screen in the second episode of the second season of HBO’s “The Last of Us”.

As a result, there has been widespread reaction to the event, with the show still trending heavily on social media over 48 hours after the episode aired. Reactions will be familiar to those who were around for the second game’s leaks and release, though interestingly there has been visibly less outright hostility in the inevitable blowback – reaction more of shock, surprise as well as anger.

This is especially true in the case of Abby, with many responses taking pains to point out their hatred towards the character and not the actress Kaitlyn Dever, who has been getting praise for her performance in those scenes. That likely comes as a welcome relief for the producers and Dever after the game’s Abby performer, Laura Bailey, received utterly inexcusable death threats targeting her and her newborn son back when the game spoilers leaked in 2020.

The TV series did change things up so that Abby’s reason for her actions was revealed before she pulled out the golf club, unlike the game where that reasoning isn’t revealed until much later on. Speaking with Vulture, Bailey herself says it was a smart choice: “I think that’s why HBO is doing what they’re doing. You’re prepared for it.”

Meanwhile series co-creator and showrunner Craig Mazin says despite Joel’s death, there’s still a lot more with him to come in the next few episodes. Appearing in an episode of The Last of Us podcast, Mazin says:

“But I will say, and I’ll be intentional about this, that we do know that for the viewer, there are some mysteries here. There’s some gaps about Ellie and Joel’s relationship, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler based on the fact that there is a trailer out there with lots of shots in it — this is not the last we will see of Joel.”

Multiple shots from the trailer confirm numerous scenes with Pascal’s Joel have yet to air including coffee with Gail (Catherine O’Hara), an extended flashback trip with Ellie, Joel gifting Ellie a guitar and her showing off her tattoo to him, Ellie finally confronting Joel about his Fireflies lies (causing the inevitable rift), and showing what Joel did to Eugene.

Ellie’s sudden change of heart about patrolling with Joel at the start of the second episode has an explanation, but it’s not clear if that will be a part of the remaining episodes or be held until next season.

The second episode has pulled in a 9.5/10 on IMDb, the highest rated episode of the series to date and a big step up from the premiere episode which scored the show’s lowest single episode score to date at 7.5/10.

“The Last of Us” Season 2 will air its third episode on Monday April 27th.

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