Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 1.Of all the elements The Last of Us excels at, its casting might be the best, especially when it comes to Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller. Pascal delivered some immensely emotional moments throughout The Last of Us Season 1, to the point where fans wondered how he was going to top it in Season 2. Season 2’s premiere, “Future Days,” blows expectations out of the water as Pascal delivers what isn’t just his best performance as Joel but one of his career-best performances in a single scene.
That scene comes toward the midpoint of “Future Days,” where Joel goes to therapy with Gail (Catherine O’Hara). As the session goes on, Gail reveals that she holds resentment towards Joel for killing her husband at some point between Seasons 1 and 2, but she’s willing to open up about it — and he should open up about what’s driven a wedge between him and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Joel simply says, “I saved her,” but the way he says it and what he’s hiding speak volumes due to Pascal’s body language and delivery.
Pedro Pascal Puts His Body Language to Good Use in ‘The Last of Us’
Part of what makes Joel’s declaration such a big deal is the way Pascal plays it. He packs so much emotion into a single sentence: there’s anger, there’s loss, but there’s also a hint of resolve that his decision to kill the Fireflies and take Ellie was the right one. The Last of Us co-showrunner Craig Mazin even says that Joel holds no regrets over his actions on the series’ official podcast: “But when you see him stand up and say, ‘I saved her,’ what’s clear is he has no regrets about what he did.” But what really makes this such a standout moment is Pascal’s physical performance, as he bolts upright when asked what he’s hiding. Even if his tone says he doesn’t regret what he did, it’s the movement of a man who’s haunted by his actions and what they might have cost.
It’s not the first time Pascal has brought physical elements to his performance. Throughout The Last of Us Season 1, there were plenty of moments where he displayed a wealth of emotions through body language. Season 1’s “Kin” has a great moment where Joel stands in the middle of a snowy forest, shaking as he hunches over while clutching his chest. It’s the full-blown signs of a panic attack, which was brought on by Joel being forced to kill brothers Sam (Keivonn Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson) in the previous episode. The fact that Pascal manages to deliver a nerve-wracking performance that also clues viewers into Joel’s mental state is nothing short of extraordinary, but he definitely ups the ante with his movements in “Future Days.”
Pedro Pascal and Catherine O’Hara Have Amazing Chemistry in ‘The Last of Us’
Pascal’s movements wouldn’t work nearly as well if he didn’t have someone to play off of. Enter O’Hara’s Gail, who has a unique kind of chemistry with Pascal that sets up the scene. At first, it feels like any other therapy session, albeit one that takes place in the post-apocalypse. Gail and Joel banter a bit. He offers her weed, and she corrects him on the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist (the latter gives you pills while the other talks about your mental state.) Things start to shift as they get into their session, leading to Gail’s confession…which is delivered bluntly but with a lingering bit of sadness. She misses her husband and hates Joel for killing him, yet at the same time, she’s willing to get it off her chest to try and move forward. O’Hara has always had a gift for comedic timing, and it turns out that applies to drama as well, which should bode well if future episodes continue to explore Gail and Joel’s therapy sessions.
Joel’s Actions in ‘The Last of Us’ Are the Catalyst Behind Season 2’s Events
Pascal’s performance doesn’t just show how Joel is set in his ways; it’s also laced with melancholy about how Joel and Ellie’s relationship broke down. During The Last of Us Season 1, the two formed a seemingly unbreakable bond, with Ellie working hard to save Joel’s life and his killing the Fireflies to bring her back to their new home of Jackson. But five years have changed a lot: now Ellie avoids him every chance she gets, to the point where Joel has to talk to her friend Dina (Isabela Merced) just to learn how she’s doing. It finally culminates in a dance at Jackson’s church to celebrate the New Year. When Ellie and Dina kiss, one of the townspeople, Seth (Robert John Burke), utters a deeply homophobic slur at them, which causes Joel to deck him… and Ellie to shout at him “I don’t need your fucking help!”
It’s clear that something happened to break the bond between the two, and it isn’t just the fact that Ellie grew up. A group of Fireflies led by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) is also hunting down Joel, as Abby intends to kill him for his killings in Season 1. Joel might not regret his actions, but they have a domino effect, and it’s showing in Pascal’s acting that Joel does understand it’s his fault that his relationship with Ellie took a turn — even if he won’t admit it. While the events of The Last of Us: Part II might play out differently (given how the show’s taken to expanding upon events from the game and its early Season 3 renewal), one thing’s for sure: Pedro Pascal delivered a powerhouse performance in “Future Days,” and that performance needs to be at the forefront of the conversation once the 2025 Emmy Award season rolls around.
New episodes of The Last of Us premiere Sundays at 6 pm ET/9 pm CT on HBO and Max.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Craig Mazin
