Since the season 2 premiere of The Last of Us, audiences have been wondering why Gail (Catherine O'Hara) hated Joel (Pedro Pascal). We knew it had something to do with Gail's husband Eugene (Joe Pantoliano), but we didn't know the details. In the newest episode, we got our answers.
The sixth episode of The Last of Us season 2 was an hour of flashbacks from Joel's youth all the way up to the literal night before his tragic death. Throughout the flashbacks, we learn how deep his love was for Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as the two easily fell into a father-daughter relationship within the safety of Jackson.
However, as the years pass, Ellie grew up into a full-fledged teen and irreparable cracks begin to form in their relationship. What happens with Eugene finally breaks them apart.
In this flashback to the day of Ellie's 19th birthday, Ellie had moved out of the house she shared with Joel and was living in the garage. She's desperate to go on patrols. For her birthday, Joel finally yields and takes her with him into the woods where they find Eugene, who has been bitten. Joel's initial instinct is to kill him on sight, as is the policy when someone is infected, but Eugene's plea that he be allowed to to talk to his wife one last time moves Ellie.
After Eugene passes a test Ellie herself had to undergo for years, she confirms that he has time before he turns. Joel swears to Ellie that they will take Eugene back to the Jackson gates and asks her to retrieve their horses. But alas, Joel lies, leading Eugene to a scenic view of the water and mountains, promising Eugene he will relay his message to Gail. Then Joel shoots Eugene in the head.
When Ellie sees that Joel had killed Eugene, she bottles up her reaction until their return to Jackson. There, Gail and Tommy meet them with Eugene's dead body.
Joel lies to Gail, spinning a tale about Eugene shooting himself after saying how much he loved her, which brings Ellie to the brink of tears. Ellie tells them all what really happened, prompting Gail to slap Joel in the face.
Ellie had grown since her miraculous escape from the Firefly hospital in Salt Lake City at the end of the first season and had begun to realize that Joel's story was not adding up. If Joel could so easily lie to her, Eugene, and Gail in the matter of a single day, what else was he capable of lying about?
Although Joel does not come clean with Ellie about what really happened in Salt Lake until New Year's Eve, Ellie had already begun to put the pieces together that whatever story he did tell her wasn't true. What are your thoughts on Joel lying to Gail? Did you agree or disagree with his actions?
New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 air Sunday nights on HBO and Max.
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