Pedro Pascal is in “active denial” over his character’s brutal death on The Last of Us.
The latest episode of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama follows Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) as she continues her mission to avenge her father’s death by targeting Joel (Pascal), inadvertently awakening a massive horde of infected that begins moving toward Jackson.
“Through the Valley” received universal acclaim for its faithful adaptation of Joel’s death from the game, as well as for the powerful performances by Pascal, Dever, and Bella Ramsey as Ellie and its garguantuan action sequences.
Although fans of the game anticipated Joel’s death early in the season—mirroring events from The Last of Us Part II—many viewers were surprised by how closely the series stuck to the source material.
The graphic nature of his death, which saw Abby shoot him in the leg, beat him severely, and ultimately stab him in the neck, sparked both shock and critical praise.
In a joint cover story for Entertainment Weekly with Ramsey and Dever, Pascal joked that he gets “killed a lot”, referencing the deaths of his characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Game of Thrones, The Equalizer 2 and Kingsman: The Golden Circle: “I like to die.”
While Pascal didn’t play The Last of Us, he was aware of his character’s fate when he signed on to the series.
“It’s not like they said, ‘Hey, we kill you at the beginning of season 2,’ but it was always an understanding that it would stay true to the source material in a specific way and that the, let’s say, practical and exclusive obligation would be for season 1,” he said. “It was just a matter of how and when.”
Pascal reflected on filming ‘Through the Valley’, saying he had “never experienced anything” like walking onto set in full makeup—an appearance that “completely killed the vibe” the moment anyone saw him.
“This kind of shock and heartbreak… it was weird to be on the receiving end of that,” he said. “It’s like the extreme version of, ‘Is there something on my face?’ I really could see this sort of grief take over everyone’s look in their eyes.”
Pascal admitted that he’s currently in “active denial”: “I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over.
“I know that I’m forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on The Last of Us. And, no, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad.”
In the cover story, Ramsey shared their experience reading the script for the first time, confessing they’d “never cried reading a piece of writing before,” but had a “such a gastral reaction”.
They said: “It’s almost like we’ve played that dynamic, me and Pedro, for a year, and it feels like father-daughter in some way. I think my reaction to that being over was quite a gradual feeling.
“Also knowing that that would be the end of Pedro and us two working together in this capacity.”
Dever, known for lauded roles in Unbelievable, Booksmart, and Apple Cider Vinegar, described Joel’s death scene as “heartbreaking” to watch, both as a fan of the series and of the “beautiful” relationship between Ellie and Joel. “Watching the end of you guys was really, really hard for me, as a viewer,” she shared.
The Emmy nominee admitted she’s “taking all of this as it comes,” referring to the inevitable backlash toward her character—and by extension, herself—for being the reason the show’s beloved protagonist is now gone.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to plan for it. I don’t know how people are going to react. I hope that people appreciate what I did with the role, and that’s all I can really do,” said Dever.
“I feel good sitting in that space just because I really don’t have any control. It’s done. What I did is out there, it’s going to happen. I think that in playing the role, I obviously wanted to do the game character justice, but also bring my own authenticity to the role and humanize her in the best way that I could.
“With the help of Craig and Neil developing who that character was going to be, I’m very, very proud of it.”
The rest of season two will now shift focus to Ellie’s mission to—in Ramsey’s words—“kill a bitch”.
The Last of Us airs every Sunday in the US on HBO and is available on Mondays in the UK via Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.
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