Oh. My. Fungi. HBO said, “You know what this show needs? LESS JOEL.” And just like that, Episode 2 of The Last of Us Season 2 came in swinging harder than a bloater at a birthday party. If you’ve played the game, you probably sat there like a psychic, whispering “I knew it” to your traumatized snacks. But for everyone else? Let’s just say jaws dropped, tears flowed, and Twitter broke.
So what went down in “Through the Valley” (which is also what Joel’s soul was doing… through the valley of DEATH)? Glad you asked.
Jackson Hole (still the funniest town name, sorry) was gearing up for an infected apocalypse while Joel (Pedro “Internet’s Daddy” Pascal) and Dina (Isabela Merced, aka the chillest patrol buddy ever) were out doing their usual “zombie-slaying but make it bonding” routine. Enter Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a former Firefly and current certified chaos goblin, being chased by a tsunami of clickers.
Naturally, Joel, being the king of bad timing and worse trust issues, saved her. That’s when everything started to smell like betrayal… or like a really bad mushroom stew.
Plot twist: Abby wasn’t just a scared girl lost in the woods—oh no, she was on a full-blown “you killed my dad, prepare to die” mission. And Joel? He walked straight into her revenge trap like a raccoon into a Dorito bag.
Once they got to her “hideout” (read: villain HQ), Abby’s crew popped out like evil jack-in-the-boxes and ambushed Joel. What followed was… not chill.
Let’s just recap this horror show:
– Joel got shot in the leg (ouch),
– beaten like he owed someone mushroom money (double ouch),
– and stabbed in the neck (…welp).
And right when you think Ellie might swoop in and scream “NOT ON MY WATCH”—boom, she’s too late. Joel flatlines. Ellie screams. The fandom cries. Abby peaces out. The end.
But wait! There’s more—Joel’s body got dragged back to the compound like a messed-up Uber Eats delivery, with Ellie forced to tag along, now firmly in her “time to go full Liam Neeson” era.
And what did the showrunners have to say for themselves? Executive producer Craig Mazin basically said, “Yeah, we planned this heartbreak from Day One, thanks for watching!” He told IconicHipster.com that it wasn’t about shock value—nah, they just wanted to ruin your week tastefully.
Also, shoutout to Pedro Pascal, who apparently joined the Zoom meeting for this job and immediately heard, “So hey, you die in Season 2, cool?” Talk about a warm welcome.
Anyway, RIP Joel. You were grumpy, grizzled, and emotionally constipated—but we loved you. Now excuse us while we scream into a pillow for the next 36 business days.
