The first season of The Last of Us presented some new characters and storylines that weren’t in the original game, and the same is expected to happen with Season 2.
In TLOU 2, a new character is introduced in the form of Joel’s therapist played by Catherine O’Hara, and as it turns out, this was something that showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann wanted for Joel way back in the first season.
Neil Druckmann on Joel’s Therapist
During a recent chat with THR (via @TheLastofUsNews), game creator Neil Druckmann talked about how they wanted a therapist for Joel back in season one, but they just decided to cut it and save it for the second season instead. Druckmann explains:
“That was a Craig Mazin idea from the previous season, Joel was going to see a therapist inside the Boston quarantine zone. For a bunch of different reasons, it didn’t work out for that season; and now that Joel and Ellie have settled into Jackson, we really wanted to make Jackson a character—this sense of community, and it felt like, ‘Oh, a therapist could be part of Jackson.’ It’s something actually everyone would need in the apocalypse after the trauma they’ve experienced.”
The therapist isn’t just a one-off character either; apparently, she’s been written to be the wife of Eugene—a character that was dead by the timeline of the game, but will be given an expanded story for the series; he’ll be played by Joe Pantoliano. Druckmann continues:
“We had some ideas for this character, we found a way to tie her into the lore of The Last of Us because she’s Eugene’s wife—this character that comes from the game; and then we got so lucky by getting Catherine O’Hara to play this role and play it brilliantly.”
What is Eugene’s Story?
Though Eugene never had a wife in the game, it’s possible his backstory could give a clue as to what we can expect from O’Hara’s therapist character.
In The Last of Us Part II¸ Eugene is one of the resident tinkerers of Jackson and has a collection of all kinds of tech that he tries to fix up. Ellie and Dina also run into his secret laboratory where he grows pot.
One key thing about Eugene is that he’s a former Firefly who had joined the organization with Tommy (Joel’s brother). The two were said to have quit around the same time and then settled in Jackson. What’s interesting about Eugene is that he died of a stroke due to his old age, and is considered one of the rare natural deaths in the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us.
Though fans don’t expect too many therapy sessions between Joel and Catherine O’Hara’s character, it’s possible she could play a bigger role in Eugene’s backstory. Fans will just have to wait and see what happens.
Catch the second season of The Last of Us when it premieres on Max on April 13.