Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us
It's time to accept that HBO’s The Last of Us is heading into its twilight, with the lauded video game adaptation catapulting itself through the events of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II. Season 2 wasted no time in getting that big death from the game out of the way, and with it, critics have complained there's a Pedro Pascal-shaped hole in the series. Still, like the game offed Joel Miller early on, fans will have to get used to a life without the gruff father figure.
Thankfully, The Last of Us has one half of the dynamic duo leading the charge, with Bella Ramsey’s Ellie stepping up to the plate. Much like the game, Ellie’s obsession with getting revenge for Joel is what spurs the story forward. However, the show's history of tweaking the story for its own means suggests that things are set to play out a little differently. The aptly named fourth episode of the season, "Day One", loosely adapts the ‘Seattle (Day 1)' chapter of Part II, although there are some major changes. With it, The Last of Us is in danger of sidelining Gabriel Luna’s Tommy.
All roads lead to Seattle
The Last of Us is known for making some big swings away from the source material, like Joel’s brutal death in season 2 episode 2. This wasn’t the only change from the games, with Tommy being noticeably absent from his big brother’s grisly demise. In the game, Tommy is the one who has information on Abby and her W.L.F. comrades, which leads to him stealing away from Jackson to hunt her in Seattle. The show is trying to forge the relationship between Ramsey’s Ellie and Isabela Merced’s Dina in the fires of Seattle. Having Dina at Joel’s death allows her to become Ellie’s own W.L.F. Rolodex, although it looks like it’ll come at the cost of Luna’s season 2 arc.
As far as we’re aware, Tommy is tucked up in Jackson and is living something of a happy ending with his wife and son. Video game Tommy ends up in a pickle in Seattle, getting in some major moments like torturing Nick at the Serevena Hotel and an epic sniper scene where he goes after Manny. It’s also Tommy who tries to persuade Ellie to take a pregnant Dina back to the safety of Jackson, but we don’t expect things to play out beat for beat. For a start, Tommy is seemingly in Jackson after helping Ellie and Dina head out to Seattle. Narratively, it made sense for Tommy to be back in Jackson while Joel was having his head bashed in. Without this change, he wouldn’t have been able to defend the community from the massive Infected attack that was unique to the show.
We’ve already skipped over some key Tommy moments, and as much as we’d like to see a Tommy-centric episode where he stalks Abby’s crew around Seattle, the fact that there are only three episodes left doesn’t fill us with much hope that Tommy will get the spotlight he deserves.
Tommy's time to shine
In the absence of Joel, Tommy doesn’t exactly step up as a replacement father figure for Ellie, although he becomes a similar sounding board who helps shape her future. The dramatic theater scene where Abby kills Jesse and gets the upper hand over Tommy before shooting him in the head sounds like a suitable cliffhanger to end season 2 on. This would be a great way to leave those who’ve not played the game wondering whether The Last of Us had struck us with another big death. Of course, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin could really pull the rug from underneath us and actually kill Tommy. Video game Tommy becomes little more than a bitter war veteran in the aftermath of the attack, returning for the crucial moment that sends Ellie on her final mission of vengeance against Abby and ruins her relationship with Dina. Despite being crucial to the final arc of Part II, it could easily play out differently.
There are hints that Tommy will eventually head to Seattle. Notably, one exchange between Ellie and Tommy had the latter referring to what Joel would do in this situation and saying: “He'd be halfway to Seattle to save my life.” There was also Tommy's lingering gaze on Young Mazino’s Jesse, suggesting that the Jackson council could see the error of their ways and send a posse to save Ellie and Dina. Like Tommy, Jesse is a key part of the Seattle chapters, with things coming to a head in Day 3. Whether we’ll get to the end of the three-day Seattle arc in season 2 remains to be seen, but either way, expect to see Luna back for The Last of Us season 3. Having Tommy be gravely wounded in Seattle after trying to rescue Ellie could work in the show’s favor, with Joel’s embittered brother blaming Ellie for his injuries.
Even if The Last of Us is currently sleeping on Tommy, there’s still time to turn things around and show what Luna can really do with the role.