SPOILER WARNING: The next article accommodates some main spoilers for The Final of Us Season 2. You will get caught up with a Max subscription if you have not already.
Let me simply get this out of the way in which: being a mum or dad is hard. Extra occasions than not, we’re pressured to decide on between making a foul determination or an excellent worse name. We attempt to do the precise factor, even when everybody (together with our conscience) tells us it’s incorrect. I say all of this as a result of Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller made a troublesome name within the penultimate episode of The Final of Us Season 2, and I can’t actually justify his actions.
Don’t get me incorrect, I do know the favored 2025 TV present, very like the primary season and the video video games on which they’re based mostly, is about making horrible selections that nobody desires to face, coming to phrases with our actions, after which being robust sufficient to face any and all penalties. I’ve been defending Joel since first enjoying the favored PlayStation recreation greater than a decade in the past, however he crossed a line in “The Worth,” and I can’t fairly justify what he did or how he did it.
I Perceive And Justify Joel’s Resolution To Save Ellie From The Fireflies
Ever since I first performed “The Firefly Lab,” the ultimate mission in The Final of Us, which was later revisited in the present’s Season 1 finale, I’ve been capable of perceive and justify Joel’s determination to save lots of Ellie from the Fireflies and stop them from utilizing her to make a treatment (one that will or might not have labored).
Years after dropping his personal little one initially of the outbreak after which discovering himself once more after being employed to move Ellie throughout the nation, he didn’t wish to grieve one other little one. He was blinded by his feelings and selfishness (completely justified, by the way in which), which led to him making a horrible determination within the grand scheme of issues.
Regardless of that, and regardless of the work by the Fireflies presumably resulting in society turning round and beginning a greater tomorrow with out worry of being contaminated by cordyceps, I can actually say that the broken-down smuggler and morally ambiguous father determine did what he thought was proper. Whereas some might not be capable of facet with him on this occasion, I did, even earlier than I had youngsters of my very own.
Do I agree with him mendacity to Ellie about it in an try to guard the younger lady from carrying the load of understanding she was humanity’s one shot at redemption and that society is just about screwed? No, however once more, I perceive why he made that decision earlier than returning to Jackson, even when I don’t completely agree with him.
Nonetheless, Joel Killing Eugene Like That Crossed The Line
It was a very completely different story close to the top of The Final of Us Season 2, Episode 6, the place Joel shot and killed Eugene (Joe Pantoliano) after he and Ellie stumbled upon the injured Jackson resident whereas out on patrol. One of many many flashbacks featured all through the extremely emotional episode, this sequence additional explored the tense relationship between Joel and Ellie, and the way occasions like this led to them rising increasingly distant, and never simply in a “my daughter is rising up and I don’t know tips on how to relate” sort of method.
Begging, not for his life, however to see his spouse one final time earlier than the an infection took maintain and he was shot, Eugene knew his time was up. He simply wished to have one final good second earlier than crossing over to the Nice Past. A easy request was made, however Joel denied it. As a substitute, he took a special and darker path.
However, Joel killing Eugene is just a part of it. The place he actually crossed the road was telling Ellie he wouldn’t kill the person earlier than he noticed his spouse, which was a lie. If that wasn’t dangerous sufficient, Joel proceeded to mislead her once more on their strategy to city, tried to get her to cover the reality from Gail and others, after which lied to Gail (Catherine O’Hara) anyway. If not for Ellie, enraged by the deception and Joel’s poor judgment, spilling the beans, nobody would have recognized, and Eugene’s last moments would have been unknown to everybody else.
I Have Been Attempting To Rationalize Joel’s Resolution, However I Cannot
Within the minutes, hours, and days since watching Joel kill Eugene, I’ve tried time and time once more to make sense of his actions, however I simply can not rationalize his thought course of. Somebody as skilled with the contaminated (and watching family members slowly flip into ravaged monsters) as Joel ought to know that his fellow Jackson resident had sufficient time to make it again to city and see his spouse earlier than turning. So, I’m left questioning why. Why did Joel do that? I actually don’t know.
You possibly can say he didn’t wish to danger Eugene turning proper once they made it to city, however even then, Joel, and everybody on the gate might deal with one contaminated. I imply, the large battle on this season’s second episode confirmed that persons are greater than able to dealing with an enormous horde of contaminated, so one shouldn’t be an issue. You possibly can say he was sticking with protocol. That does make some sense, however Joel needs to be extra compassionate.
It Did Present A Lot Of Context For Two Key Relationships, Although
Although I don’t agree with Joel’s determination, the gut-wrenching flashback did present quite a lot of context for 2 key relationships featured in The Final of Us Season 2. First, we lastly received to see why Gail hated Joel a lot and was so imply to him in the season’s first episode again in April. Within the weeks between the 2 episodes, we have been pressured to fill within the blanks and guess what occurred to Eugene. I believed it was going to be one thing dangerous, however nothing ready me for what really occurred.
Second, and extra importantly, the incident supplied one other clue to the disintegration of Joel and Ellie’s relationship, and additional arrange the emotional interplay the 2 had after the chaos of the New 12 months’s Eve dance and his surprising and tragic loss of life shortly after. Once more, I can’t justify Joel’s alternative, however watching it unfold gave me a higher appreciation for the remainder of the present.
By the point you’re studying this, The Final of Us Season 2 can have concluded, and the ready for the present’s third (and potential fourth) season has begun. Within the meantime, although, there are nonetheless loads of promising upcoming online game diversifications to carry us over.