Spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 6
Summary
It’s fair to say that, other than episode 2 of HBO’sThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 6 of the hard-hitting post-apocalyptic series has been one rollercoaster of an emotional ride. The penultimate episode sees Joel make a return in a series of flashbacks set deep within a theme of fatherhood, trauma and forgiveness, where fans also got to see more of Joel and Ellie’s relationship unfold, involving the good, the bad and the ugly parts.
Last of Usfans got to see how Joel’s fiercely protective role over the years had evolved into who he was before he died, due to fighting to protect his little brother Tommy from their abusive father. In episode 6’s opening scene, viewers saw Joel as a boy covering up for Tommy and how he’d do anything to save the people he loved most. This protectiveness goes all the way back to episode one ofseason one ofThe Last of Uswhen Joel, Tommy, and Sarah fled their home when the Cordyceps first broke, and Joel not wanting to help a couple with a child, preferring to keep driving so he could keep them as safe as possible. Now, as fans saw the lengths yet again that Joel would go to, like killing Eugene, who had been bitten and had plenty of time to say goodbye to his wife, Gail, before he turned, the show’s creator and writer unspool the “generational trauma” in its opening scene and the impact it had onJoel and Ellie’s relationship.
Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross Break Down Joel’s Generational Trauma in Episode 6
Talking toEntertainment Weekly, Druckmann and Gross explained how viewers got to see a deeper look into Joel’s psyche inThe Last of Usepisode 6, which included an introduction to his father, Javier Miller, in the episode’s opening scene. During the impactful moment, Joel’s father talked about how his own father used to beat him and how he hoped that, even though he may not have done everything right, he was better than him. “I think I’ve done the right things, but I’m not entirely sure. I just know that I did things better than my dad, who beat me even worse.”
Druckmannexplained the importance of this particular scene regarding how Joel then went on to treat Ellie and his hellbent devotion to always protect her and those he cared about, so that he could be a better father than his own. “Joel’s doing the best he can with the tools that are in front of him, but he loves Ellie unconditionally,” Druckmann explains. The creator went on to reveal that even though he wanted to highlight what had initially set Joel on his violent and overly protective route, the scene had merged into something else that he called “not only generational trauma, but generational repair and hope.”
Halley Gross expressed thatJoel’s ability to reflect on that moment with his father while having a heart-to-heart with Ellie on the porch, where he said that he hoped that she could do a little better than him if she ever had a child, meant that there was “a glimmer of hope for the future for Ellie” and that the “generational trauma” could be broken. “To me, what the arc of this episode provides is a platform to say, when we live with intentionality, we can make healthier choices, but what that requires is reflection,” Gross said. “That requires Joel to look back at his father and his identity and say, ‘I want to be that better dad.’ What it’s going to require of Ellie is some level of reflection of saying, ‘This is who I am. Who do I want to be?'”.
The Last of UsSeason 2 streams on Max, with new episodes dropping every Sunday until May 25.
