What did ‘The Last Of Us’ TV show change in season two episode one?

The Last Of Us was a largely faithful video game adaptation in its first season, but the season two premiere is already making some bold changes.

Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the HBO series follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they travel across the US in the aftermath of a fungal pandemic.

• READ MORE: ‘The Last Of Us’ creator explains how season two will differ from game: “It’s more about the drama”

In the second season, which adapts the 2020 game The Last Of Us Part 2, Joel and Ellie have settled at an outpost within Jackson, Wyoming, alongside Joel’s brother Tommy.

New additions to the cast include Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Catherine O’Hara as Gail, and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.

What was changed in The Last Of Us season 2 premiere?

Spoilers ahead for both the game and the first episode of season two.

Abby’s motivation reveal

The second season begins with a major departure from the games in terms of chronology. In the opening scene, we’re introduced to Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her group of friends as they mourn the deaths of other Fireflies’ members at a grave site.

As the scene rolls on, it becomes apparent that Joel is the one responsible for these deaths as part of his murderous spree to save Ellie. Abby is convinced by her friends to go to Seattle to gather resources, but they vow to help her find and kill Joel in the future. “Slowly,” Abby remarks. “When we kill him. We kill him slowly.”

In The Last Of Us Part 2, Abby’s desire for revenge is revealed far later in the narrative, and is one of the major twists. By putting it in the opening scene, it feels like a statement of intent to show the TV adaptation isn’t necessarily going to stick to the source material.

Joel’s therapist Gail

To help deal with his fractured relationship with 19-year-old Ellie, Joel has been seeing a therapist named Gail (Catherine O’Hara). This is an entirely new character for the TV show who never appeared in the games, and she isn’t your typical therapist either.

As we see in the episode, Gail admits she resents Joel for killing her husband Eugene. “I hate you for it,” Gail tells Joel. “I know you had no choice. I know that. I know I should forgive you. I’ve tried but I can’t because of how you did it, and looking at your face, sitting in our home, makes me so fucking angry.”

While it’s unclear what role Gail will play in the overall narrative, the first episode suggests she might be an important figure for season two.

Eugene’s death

Unlike Gail, Eugene is a character from The Last Of Us Part 2, but players never actually meet him. Instead, Ellie and Dina discover Eugene’s hidden outpost filled with weed plants, bongs and porn during a patrol mission. While there, Ellie finds Eugene’s Firefly tag along with an old photo of him and Tommy when they were both Fireflies.

They both learn that Eugene died of a stroke in the game, but in the TV series, Eugene has been shot dead by Joel. It’s unclear why Joel shot Eugene after the first episode, but based on Gail’s description, it’s likely he became infected and had to be killed.

Eugene might be dead in the TV series, but he looks set to play a key role in the future. The character is set to be played by Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos), so presumably some flashbacks are in store.

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