Unpacking That Agonizing 'Last of Us' Death From Last Night

If you have played the video games The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2, you know that at least one of your favorite characters is going to die. That's just a fact. And if you've been watching the show, you know Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have said time and time again that they're going to follow the game. But none of that made Joel's death any easier last night. - YouTube www.youtube.com In the scene in question, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) brutally kills Joel (Pedro Pascal) in retaliation for him murdering her father. We learn that her father was the surgeon from the end of season one who believed operating on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) – a procedure that would have killed her – could lead to a cure for the parasitic Cordyceps plague. Ellie, who views Joel as a father figure, is held captive and forced to witness his gruesome death, while her friend Dina (Isabela Merced) is sedated nearby.It's unapologetically hard to watch. Craig Mazin sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the scene in question and how they adapted it from the game. When it came to the brutality of the scene, Mazin said, "Well, that’s something that [director Mark Mylod] and I talked about. We had to do quite a bit of planning about how graphic we wanted things to be, because we have a lot of prosthetics [on Pascal’s face]. We felt that the point we needed to get across was that Abby was not in control of herself. That despite her reasoned, carefully articulated point to Joel, that this is not rational. She’s going too far. There is a rage in her that I think we should understand is not the kind of anger that goes away simply because you killed someone. That’s the irony, or, I guess, the tragedy really of being consumed by something like this — there is no way to fix it except to somehow make your peace with it and let it go. Killing Joel isn’t going to fix this for her. She’s doing something wrong. And we needed to show how lost she was and we needed to show that other people in the room are horrified by this."Even though gamers knew this was coming, it still caught many off guard. Mazin talked about his approach of saying what will happen and also not doing things totally by the gameplay. "The audience should question everything. Just because somebody says “I’m going to do something,” doesn’t mean they are. A lot of times, people say, “I’m going to kill that person,” and then they end up going, “I’m not going to kill that person.” And if that is the right choice, that can be amazing. But what was important here was that when Joel ends up in that room with Abby and her friends, that we are not shocked. We are, in fact, in a state of dread because it’s happening. We keep thinking there’s got to be a way out of this until the very end." 'The Last of Us'Credit: HBOI love how he handles all of this, but like many, I was wondering if there was a temptation not to do this scene so quickly. After all, Pedro Pascal is a huge star and was one of the two faces of the show. Killing him off immediately in season two is a big bet. Mazin addressed this, and after being asked if he was worried about it, he said, "No. People quit shows, and I have gone through it myself. I’m an audience member too. I watched Ned Stark’s head get lopped off and I’m like, “What the fuck is this shit? Why would you do that to me? What am I doing now?” Then you go, “Well, what about all the characters who are dealing with the same emotions I have? I need to find out what they do.” And, sure enough, there I was, two seasons later and I’m like, “What the fuck is this Red Wedding?”"I think this is a refreshing look at storytelling. It's writing what you think offers the best story, and not bending to marketing. It's sticking to your guns, even when the times get really tough.It'll be interesting to see what twists and turns come this season, and to follow the story and the audience's reactions as we go. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Apr 21, 2025 - 22:29

Unpacking That Agonizing 'Last of Us' Death From Last Night

If you have played the video games The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2, you know that at least one of your favorite characters is going to die.

That's just a fact.

And if you've been watching the show, you know Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have said time and time again that they're going to follow the game.

But none of that made Joel's death any easier last night.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

In the scene in question, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) brutally kills Joel (Pedro Pascal) in retaliation for him murdering her father. We learn that her father was the surgeon from the end of season one who believed operating on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) – a procedure that would have killed her – could lead to a cure for the parasitic Cordyceps plague.

Ellie, who views Joel as a father figure, is held captive and forced to witness his gruesome death, while her friend Dina (Isabela Merced) is sedated nearby.

It's unapologetically hard to watch.

Craig Mazin sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about the scene in question and how they adapted it from the game.

When it came to the brutality of the scene, Mazin said, "Well, that’s something that [director Mark Mylod] and I talked about. We had to do quite a bit of planning about how graphic we wanted things to be, because we have a lot of prosthetics [on Pascal’s face]. We felt that the point we needed to get across was that Abby was not in control of herself. That despite her reasoned, carefully articulated point to Joel, that this is not rational. She’s going too far. There is a rage in her that I think we should understand is not the kind of anger that goes away simply because you killed someone. That’s the irony, or, I guess, the tragedy really of being consumed by something like this — there is no way to fix it except to somehow make your peace with it and let it go. Killing Joel isn’t going to fix this for her. She’s doing something wrong. And we needed to show how lost she was and we needed to show that other people in the room are horrified by this."

Even though gamers knew this was coming, it still caught many off guard. Mazin talked about his approach of saying what will happen and also not doing things totally by the gameplay.

"The audience should question everything. Just because somebody says “I’m going to do something,” doesn’t mean they are. A lot of times, people say, “I’m going to kill that person,” and then they end up going, “I’m not going to kill that person.” And if that is the right choice, that can be amazing. But what was important here was that when Joel ends up in that room with Abby and her friends, that we are not shocked. We are, in fact, in a state of dread because it’s happening. We keep thinking there’s got to be a way out of this until the very end."

Unpacking That Agonizing 'Last of Us' Death From Last Night 'The Last of Us'Credit: HBO

I love how he handles all of this, but like many, I was wondering if there was a temptation not to do this scene so quickly. After all, Pedro Pascal is a huge star and was one of the two faces of the show. Killing him off immediately in season two is a big bet.

Mazin addressed this, and after being asked if he was worried about it, he said, "No. People quit shows, and I have gone through it myself. I’m an audience member too. I watched Ned Stark’s head get lopped off and I’m like, “What the fuck is this shit? Why would you do that to me? What am I doing now?” Then you go, “Well, what about all the characters who are dealing with the same emotions I have? I need to find out what they do.” And, sure enough, there I was, two seasons later and I’m like, “What the fuck is this Red Wedding?”"

I think this is a refreshing look at storytelling. It's writing what you think offers the best story, and not bending to marketing. It's sticking to your guns, even when the times get really tough.

It'll be interesting to see what twists and turns come this season, and to follow the story and the audience's reactions as we go.

Let me know what you think in the comments.