Who Is Eugene In The Last Of Us Season 2 & What Did Joel Do To Him?

Eugene is a new character introduced in The Last of Us season 2, and there’s some surprising context revealed regarding his fate that relates to Joel. Following The Last of Us season 1’s ending, season 2 picks up after a five-year time jump with Joel and Ellie now living in Jackson, the commune established by Tommy and Maria. We visited there briefly in season 1, but season 2 offers a more thorough glimpse at the inhabitants and lifestyle in the town, which proves to be far more civilized than anywhere else the show has explored.

The Last of Us season 2’s cast includes Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey returning to their lead roles, but it also features several additions, filling out the Jackson ensemble. Season 1 introduced several characters, but it was all in passing as the traveling protagonists traversed America. No one stuck around for long, and most characters were tethered to the show’s same central themes in some capacity. This form of storytelling proved to be interesting with one-off characters like Bill and Frank, but there will now be more mainstays.

Eugene Was Gail’s Husband In The Last Of Us: Has He Appeared In The Show?

Eugene Has Yet To Make An Appearance In The TV Show

In season 2’s premiere, audiences are introduced to Catherine O’Hara’s character, Gail, who is original to the TV adaptation. The opening scenes of the season show that Joel is seeing a therapist to help him work through his struggles with Ellie, and Gail is the one working with him. She reveals some critical details about her husband, Eugene, who died before the season’s events. We haven’t seen Eugene yet in the TV show, but he is a character from The Last of Us Part II, so game players might be familiar with him.

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Eugene isn’t fully present in The Last of Us games, but Ellie and Dina find an abandoned library that he had been using as a solitary outpost outside of Jackson. Since Gail doesn’t exist in the game, he isn’t tethered to any other character, though a letter the player can discover reveals that he once had a wife named Claire, whom he left to join the Fireflies. His outpost was filled with electronics he had been tinkering with, pornographic films, and an underground room for growing marijuana. It’s unclear if those details will impact the TV version of his character.

The Last Of Us Season 2 Premiere Reveals That Joel Killed Eugene

Joel Shot Eugene On A Patrol, Meaning He Was Likely Infected

The therapy scene between Gail and Joel takes a turn for the worse when she reveals a deep disdain for her patient. While she knows she shouldn’t hate Joel, she states that she feels that way due to his role in her husband’s death. It’s mentioned that Joel shot Eugene, which would have landed him in jail if not for a good reason. It seems more than likely that Eugene was infected on one of the patrols, and Joel was forced to put him down lest he become one of them.

This is another departure from the game’s version of Eugene, whom Dina claims died from a stroke. Eugene is meant to be a quirky older man, so the fate described in the games doesn’t seem impossible. The additional element of Joel killing Eugene likely adds to the show’s theme of revenge, as Gail, a person who likely has a great emotional understanding, is met with an internal conflict where she feels innate hatred for Joel despite knowing she’s not entirely justified.

Eugene’s Role In The Last Of Us Part 2 Game Explained & Who Plays The Character

Joe Pantoliano Plays Eugene In HBO’s Adaptation

Immediately, the fact that they cast an actor for Eugene suggests that he’s bound to have a more prominent role in the TV series than he did in the video game. Despite not having an appearance in season 2’s first two episodes, The Sopranos star Joe Pantoliano joined The Last of Us’s cast to fill the role. With season 2’s premiere revealing that the character is already dead, it seems clear that they’ll be using flashbacks to offer a few pieces of his story, especially since The Last of Us Part II frequently utilized flashbacks to look back at dead characters.

It will be strange to see more of Eugene, given that he doesn’t actually appear in the game aside from two photos. He’s primarily just a character who’s explored through secret discoveries in the game, which isn’t too dissimilar to how the TV show developed Frank. HBO’s The Last of Us is fleshing out as many characters as possible, and it seems like Eugene will have some time to shine.

Eugene Was A Firefly

Eugene’s Past Could Help Explain His Death

While fans are still waiting for Joe Pantoliano to make his first appearance as Eugene in The Last of Us, season 2’s second episode, “Through the Valley,” provided a little more insight into the character and more clues about his past. When Ellie and Jesse (Young Mazino) visit an abandoned convenience store, it is revealed by Jesse that this is where Eugene used to grow his marijuana. He also explains that he was close to Eugene, being his patrol partner.

Jesse also reveals that Eugene was a member of the Fireflies, the resistance group that is featured throughout the first and second series, who were also behind the attempts to use Ellie to find a cure for the infection. Eugene was said to have given up that life when he got tired of the killing. This adds to the tragedy of Eugene’s character as Jesse reflects on how unfair it was that Eugene made it through such a violent experience only to be killed by Joel while living a quieter life.

Jesse once again reiterates that Joel had no choice but to kill Eugene, but this backstory could hint at the truth behind his death. It is possible that, through Eugene’s connections with the Fireflies, he found out about Joel’s massacre of the group in order to prevent them from killing Ellie. It could then be that Joel purposely got Eugene infected and killed him in order to protect his secret. As The Last of Us season 2 is already proving, such secrets will eventually be revealed.

The Last Of Us

8/10

Release Date

January 15, 2023

Network

HBO

Showrunner

Craig Mazin

Directors

Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado

Writers

Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin