Oh so ‘The Last of Us’ went there
I had hope, foolish as it may be, that The Last of Us would take its time. “What if they wait the whole season?” I thought, and now the HBO Gods are laughing at my for my silly hopes and dreams.
Spoilers for episode 2 of The Last of Us season 2 lie ahead
If you have played The Last of Us: Part II, you know what every fan was waiting for. Whether you were dreading it or excited about the change in pace for the show, that’s your purgative. For me, I did not want to see it. But the more that Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever) was included in the promotional tour, the heavier the weight on my heart felt.
I am, of course, talking about the ever looming death of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal). Fans of the game know that Abby rolls into Jackson, takes a golf club to Joel’s head, and kills him all because of his actions towards the Fireflies. His decision to keep Ellie (Bella Ramsey) alive came back to haunt not only him but Ellie, who is fueled by the same revenge that Abby had after Joel killed her father.
In the show, we get to see Abby’s devastation over her loss, her pain, and it ultimately moves her to kill Joel without any sense of regret or hesitation. Even when her fellow WLF team tells her to stop, she doesn’t. She beats him within an inch of his life and Ellie has to watch as the man she saw as a father is killed and she can do nothing to stop it.
And it was harder to watch here than in the game. The game made me sad but watching Pedro Pascal die always ends up wrecking me as a person.
Revenge is all consuming
While the show is telling a similar story to the game, it is fascinating to see how Dever approached a character like Abby and where her revenge sits. Joel Miller saved her and it wasn’t enough for her to have a moment of peace with him. She was driven by her anger and her rage and it was beautiful to see that unbridled pain displayed. She isn’t a perfect character and that anger drove her to murder.
Abby’s pain is rooted in her loss and she could not see any kind of logic outside of it. I believed that that rage could lead to her stabbing a man. Dever’s performance was so powerful that I allowed my own pain over losing Joel to lessen a bit because I understood what could drive her to that pain and upset. Joel Miller didn’t have to die but I could see why Abby saw no other alternative.
Still, Dever’s take on Abby be damned, we did lose a hot father figure today. Cue up the George Michael track.
Fair thee well, our favorite hot father figure
The loss of Joel Miller was unfortunately necessary for Ellie’s journey. I did have hope that he would survive season 2 and the finale would have Abby meeting Joel but alas, instead I had to say goodbye to my husband this quickly. So is the way of life. I will say that his death comes at a time when many were already grieving their other father figure, Peter Krause in 9-1-1.
So we have been going through it in TV land. But it is okay that Joel is gone. We will probably see him again and we can rewatch season 1 if we need to. But, for now, let’s pour one out for that stone cold hottie.
(featured image: HBO)
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