We already know The Last of Us Season 2 is going to get another standalone episode, similar to the one we got with Bill and Frank in Season 1. There are a lot of questions surrounding this upcoming episode, though, as Eugene’s character seems to have deviated quite a bit from the game.
Who Is Eugene in The Last of Us Part II?
In The Last of Us Part II, we don’t see Eugene at all. Ellie and Dina find his old hideout while trying to take cover from the snowstorm, and they discover his little marijuana garden. By all accounts, Eugene sounded like a pretty solid guy. He’s described as funny, and Dina even says a lot of her technical knowledge came from him.
On the flip side, Eugene had his moments of darkness as well. Through anecdotes and notes, we learn that Eugene was estranged from his wife because he got in too deep with Fireflies business alongside Tommy. Eugene and Tommy were known for brutally torturing and killing FEDRA soldiers, before they eventually settled at Jackson together.
By the sounds of it, though, it seems that Eugene never reconnected with his wife and family.
How Does Eugene Change in HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2?
Just like they did with Bill and Frank, The Last of Us Season 2 is taking some creative liberties with Eugene’s story too. For starters, it sounds like Eugene’s death is a very recent occurrence. His wife Gail (Catherine O’Hara) mentions that this is the first time she’s celebrating her birthday without him, during her therapy session with Joel.
In addition to that, Gail also harbors a very deep sense of resentment and hatred towards Joel for killing Eugene. Later on in episode 2, Jesse mentions that Eugene left the Fireflies because he got tired of killing people. We don’t know what happened between him leaving the Fireflies and his eventual death, but it sounds like there’s a lot to unpack there.
Why Did Joel Kill Him?
That’s the question, isn’t it? From the way Gail has spoken about it, it’d be easy to assume that Eugene had gotten infected, leaving Joel with no choice but to kill him. Jesse also mentions that it was “a shame” for a guy like Eugene to go out like that, after having survived a war.
Considering how angry Gail seems to be, though, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a lot more to the story. Maybe he wasn’t infected. Maybe he snapped and ended up hurting innocent people. Or maybe Joel had a very good reason to kill him, but the story he tells the people of Jackson is that Eugene got infected. I guess we’ll see when the episode airs.
Who Plays Eugene in the Show?
Joe Pantaliano will take on the role of Eugene Linden in The Last of Us Season 2. Pantaliano is best known for playing Ralphie in The Sopranos, and he also played Cypher in The Matrix. Other credits include Risky Business, Memento, Bad Boys, and Sense8, where he reunited with the Wachowski siblings.
The Last of Us is now available for streaming on Max.
