The Last of Us Season 2 resolves a criticism a lot of people had for the video game. The Last of Us is one of the most respected franchises right now with two very successful games that seemingly never go away thanks to constant re-releases and a massive TV show on HBO. It’s pretty impressive just how big it actually is with just two video games and a TV show that only has two seasons, both of which adapt the two games. Nevertheless, the power of its story and lovable characters has created a very loyal and feverish fan base that seemingly never lets go.
The Last of Us Season 2 spoilers follow below.
However, The Last of Us fans are also arguably the biggest critics of the franchise. It’s a big reason why the second game is so controversial, it comes from a place of loving the series so much that some of the story decisions upset them on a visceral level. Of course, the biggest example of this is the fact that Joel is killed in the early hours of this story. The TV show wasted no time getting to this cataclysmic moment as Joel was killed at the end of the second episode. It was a big swing and by and large, it’s quite faithful to the game. There are some key changes to Joel’s death in The Last of Us, but the core beats remain the same, with one big exception.
How The Last of Us Season 2 Fixes a Big Problem from the Game
The biggest difference between the game and show when it comes to Joel’s death is who is with Joel when he finds Abby. In the game, Tommy and Joel are on patrol when they find Abby being chased by infected. They ultimately save her and she leads them back to a lodge where she intends to ambush them with her group. When the group arrives back at the lodge, Abby is the only one who knows what’s really going on until Tommy introduces him and his brother the group by name. Immediately, all of the air is sucked out of the room as Abby’s group realizes this is who they are looking for.
Tommy is violently knocked out and Joel is tortured and killed, almost exactly as seen in the show. A big problem fans of The Last of Us had with this moment in the second game is that they didn’t believe Joel and Tommy would willingly let themselves get backed into a corner like this.
Of course, they didn’t really have much choice so some were willing to excuse that, but they really focused on the fact that Tommy gives away their identities to strangers. Some fans believed that Tommy and Joel would never do this given their history of robbing, killing, and being extremely cautious of who they trust. Jackson has likely softened them as they are now part of a community where they have to trust each other and work together. Sadly, they let their guard down and it results in one of them dying and the other one being beaten.
The Last of Us Season 2 goes to great lengths to make sure fans couldn’t be upset over this again. For starters, Abby only learns of Joel’s identity when Dina calls out for him without knowing Joel has found another survivor. It’s much more of a coincidence and accidental than Tommy trying to be buddies with everyone. On top of that, when they do make it to the lodge, Joel isn’t sizing anyone up or paying mind to Abby’s group. He’s worried about Jackson being attacked by infected and is trying to radio for Tommy. Joel believes these people are going to help him get back to town to fight the infected and leaves his back turned to them while he looks out the window, making it easy for Abby’s group to get the jump on him and Dina.
While not everyone took issue with how this scene was presented in The Last of Us Part 2, it was a big talking point when the game came out among players. It seems like the TV show saw an opportunity to revise this scene and took it. Of course, there’s likely a lot of other reasons why Dina was added to this scene in place of Tommy too. It gives Dina a bit more agency in the story and gives her motivation to go after Abby’s crew with Ellie.
What did you think of Joel’s death scene in The Last of Us Season 2?
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