Gabriel Luna – who plays Joel’s brother, Tommy, in the television adaptation of the last of us – spoke more of the last episode of the second season, in particular a key change made to the story of Joel.
Please be aware of spoilers for the last of us, both the game and the show below.
The most recent episode of The Last of Us takes place in the frozen and snowy desert of Jackson County, Wyoming. During the episode, Jackson’s residential regulations were attacked by a horde of infects, while Joel and Dina – played in the series by Pedro Pascal and Isabela Merced respectively – are on the surroundings.
This is a change compared to the last game in part 2, where Joel is on patrol with his brother Tommy, while Dina is on patrol with Ellie. In addition, the spectacle gives Tommy his own autonomous hero’s moment not seen in the game, because he remains in Jackson and has a rather tense confrontation with a bloater (among many, a lot other infected).
While it all happens in the show, Dina and Joel come across Abby by Kaitlyn Dever, who convinces them to return to the chalet in which she and her group is rather than returning to Jackson.
In the game and the show, it is this decision that marks the start of the end for Joel, as once his identity revealed (in Dina’s show, calling for attracting the attention of her Patrol partner, in Tommy’s game presenting them both), Abby kills him in revenge for the death of his father with his hands.
Now, reflecting on the adjustments of the source material, Luna says that he is happy that the show has changed the role of Tommy in the “ output ” Joel in Abby, adding that he did not believe that the character would have been “also attentive” in reality.
“The truth is that at the time when we were doing the first season, I spoke to (Showrunner) Craig (Mazin) and (Creator of Games) Neil (Druckmann) on this subject. Would Tommy be so negligible to reveal the identity of Joel? From his strength and skills to protect his brother, that has always cracked in my mind – I wouldn’t say that I wouldn’t know it was too. Confident to enter this trap, “said Luna in a conversation with Esquire.
The actor revealed that Mazin had already had an idea at the top of the show. “Before the strike, he began to break the stories,” said Luna. “He sent me this text from the Bible to the place where Tommy is and what he does instead. And it ended me. I was so excited. I now make the goose to think about it.”
Luna added that Dina presents Dina when Joel was killed rather than Tommy also served his story in the last of us. Dina is “someone who still loves Joel and sees him as a family, and would be devastated when it all falls,” said the actor.
We still have five other episodes of the last of us, season two to go. While this season will not cover the entire last story in part 2, the series will be back for a third season, Mazin declaring before:
“We approached season two in order to create something that we could be proud of. The final results have even exceeded our most ambitious goals.”
For more, you can consult my feature film in the last episode of the show: Joel dominates the titles, but it is Tommy who shines in season 2 of season 2.
