Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us seasons 1 and 2.
One of HBO’s biggest hits, The Last of Us has been hailed for brilliantly adapting the best-selling and award-winning video games. It’s set in an alternate world where, in 2003, a deadly fungal virus swept the world, killing millions and mutating others into vicious monsters.
The main storyline follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), mourning his late daughter and working as a gun for hire. He’s employed to watch over Ellie (Belle Ramsey), a teenager who is somehow immune to the virus and might hold the key to a cure. The pair take a journey across the ruined United States, facing multiple dangers together.
Season 1 ended with Joel discovering that to harvest the cure, Ellie would have to die. He went to extremes, killing the scientist in the lab to take Ellie away and lying to her about the cure never working. Season 2 opened years later with the pair living among other survivors with a strained relationship.
Even those who had played the games were still taken aback by the second episode of season 2 when Joel and Ellie were attacked by a pack led by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), whose father was among those killed by Joel. In a shocking scene, Abby murdered Joel before Ellie’s eyes.
The season took more twists and turns, with the final scene showing Abby entering a military camp in a stadium with the chyron of “Day 1,” meaning this was a flashback to her in the early days of this camp. Now, it looks like season 3 is giving Abby the spotlight!
What’s coming for Abby in season 3 of The Last of Us?
At the Emmys FYC event, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann discussed The Last of Us’s success and plans for season 3 with Druckmann confirming that season 3 will star Abby:
“I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way, meaning like, we just ended Season 2, and Season 3 is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn.”
The Last of Us Part II had begun with gamers playing as Ellie only to shift the perspective to Abby following Joe’s death. It was jarring, yet players soon realized this deepened Abby from a villain to more sympathetic with her own struggles and why she did what she did.
Some gamers had wondered if the series might deviate from the games and allow Joel to live given the popularity he had with TV viewers (as well as the star power of Pascal). But Mazin told the panel that killing off Joel was needed to keep the series going.
“I think plot armor is a real problem and in a show where we try and keep things as grounded as possible, and we want people to feel in real danger, then yes, sometimes the people that we can’t imagine dying die. Because, for me, this is not a show about revenge, it’s a show about grief. Well, how are we supposed to grieve if nobody we truly, truly are invested in dies?”
Dever herself chimed into the panel via video chat to note how she was fully aware of the backlash against Abby but still committed to the role:
“I guess the controversy surrounding Abby was never really a concern for me, just given my first meeting with Craig and Neil and how wonderful they are and how talented they are.”
It’s no shock that the producers are braced for how divisive a season focusing on Abby can be. After all, rooting for someone who killed the main hero of a TV show can be jarring for viewers. Yet game fans know there’s more to Abby than there seems and this could be a good way to get them back after the mixed reaction to season 2.
Dever is a very capable actress who excels in showing deeper facets of her characters. She’s already proven adept at the role of Abby and deserves a bigger showcase to deepen it. Either way, it sounds like The Last of Us season 3 gives Abby the starring role to show the series continues to be daring in its storytelling.
The Last of Us streams on HBO Max.