Joe Pantoliano’s Eugene Lynden is a deceptively pivotal part of The Last of Us season 2’s story, fleshing out the source material in a way that many who haven’t played the games might not appreciate. Appearing in just one episode of the HBO live-action adaptation’s second run of episodes, he contributes a great deal to the fracture in the relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). While Eugene is also relatively important in the second Last of Us game, his role in the show inflates his significance in a way that makes certain storylines more impactful.
The Last of Us season 3 probably won’t present an opportunity for Pantoliano to reprise his role, but it’s unnecessary for him to return. The impact he made during his limited screen time has already rippled out to cause irreparable damage to the once-unbreakable bond between Joel and his surrogate daughter. The source material creator, Neil Druckmann, and his TV collaborator, Craig Mazin, worked closely together to introduce Eugene to the show at a time that was both logical and rewarding. Compared with the character’s video game counterpart, Pantoliano’s version of Eugene has far more to do — even in just a single episode.
Eugene In ‘The Last of Us’ — The Biggest Differences Between The Show & The Games Explained
Starting with the most glaring divergence between the two versions of Eugene: he doesn’t ever appear on-screen in the games. Instead, his entire story can be pieced together by the player as they discover things like photographs and journal entries. Some of these discoveries can, in theory, be completely avoided. That said, for players who look for information about him, Eugene is gradually revealed to have been a beloved figure in Jackson’s community, but he has already passed away from a stroke before the events of the second game. He’s never mentioned in the first game, suggesting he wasn’t part of the original plan for the larger storyline. He never had any kind of real connection to Ellie, but Dina and Eugene shared a close bond.
In the live-action adaptation of the second Last of Us game, which formed the basis of The Last of Us season 2, Druckmann and Mazin reworked Eugene’s backstory to make him a character who’s actively present in the show — even if only via flashback. Also dead at the start of The Last of Us season 2, Eugene’s demise is a far more compelling point of focus, rather than just being an unseen event that predates the story. In the episodes leading up to Pantoliano’s sole appearance in episode 6, “The Price,” Eugene’s death is referenced several times as something far more sinister than an unexpected stroke. When he finally appears, the show establishes a connection between Eugene, Joel, and Ellie that never existed in the source material.
Why Eugene’s Death Is So Much Darker In ‘The Last of Us’ TV Show
As mentioned earlier, Eugene’s original death happened in old age due to a stroke, and it’s only deemed unusual because deaths so late in life are rare due to the post-apocalyptic setting and the ongoing dangers that come with it. As such, the character is little more than a contribution to the game series’ world-building efforts. The thought of a deceased character whose legacy is the only real sign they ever lived is a great way to flesh out the canon in the context of a video game. In a medium like a TV show, which can’t really be padded out with hours of walking from A to B, any minor character like Eugene could be considered a waste of narrative resources.
So, the show’s writers decided to rework Eugene’s arc in a way that still felt authentic to the games and enhanced the narrative rather than completely transforming it. The HBO adaptation changes events so that Eugene dies by Joel’s hand, and that Pantoliano’s character didn’t voluntarily take his own life after being bitten by the Infected, as per Joel’s initial lie. With Eugene wanting to return to Jackson one last time to say goodbye to his wife before the infection took hold, Joel wasn’t willing to put the rest of the community at risk and so took matters into his own hands, against Eugene’s wishes.
It’s a dark turn on its own, but it’s made even more layered when it’s considered that Bella Ramsey’s Ellie was willing to grant Eugene’s final request, and Joel humored her by also feigning agreement before killing Eugene while Ellie wasn’t looking. The betrayal of Ellie’s trust sits with Ramsey’s character and is one of the biggest reasons why she and Joel aren’t on speaking terms at the beginning of The Last of Us season 2.
In the games, Joel and Ellie are also going through a rough patch at the beginning of the story, but Eugene’s death isn’t the reason why. Instead, the sole explanation for why they aren’t speaking is that Ellie has figured out that Joel killed countless Fireflies to liberate her from the hospital at the end of the first game/season 1, preventing humanity from developing a cure to the infection that has devastated the world by capitalizing on Ellie’s immunity. This is also true in the HBO adaptation, but by pairing it with Joel’s murder of Eugene, the emotional rift between Ellie and him is even greater.
Eugene’s Enhanced Role In ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Spawned A Brilliant New Character
The death of Joe Pantoliano’s character was impactful for reasons beyond how it damaged Joel and Ellie’s relationship. When Eugene died, he made Gail Lyden a widow. Played by Catherine O’Hara, Gail was created specifically for the HBO show and was never even mentioned in the games. Instead, the source material mentions a wife named Claire who was left behind when Eugene joined the Fireflies. Like Eugene, Claire has very little impact on the games, but Gail is an integral character in The Last of Us season 2.
O’Hara’s character is Jackson’s therapist, a role that is made more nuanced by the fact that she has her own trauma in the wake of her husband’s death, with no other therapists in the town to help her through it. Unlike Eugene, Gail is in present-day scenes in the show, racking up appearances in three episodes, tripling the count of her late husband. Her tense interactions with Joel are one of the best parts of The Last of Us season 2, and those scenes wouldn’t have been possible without Eugene’s arc being reworked quite so extensively. The Last of Us seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max. Season 3 is on the way, but has no official release date.
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado