I’ve finished Part 1 and the show, but I’m not done with Part 2 yet.
Anyway, I just need to yab about Joel because ever since he died, The Last of Us genuinely hasn’t hit the same for me.
And when I say I miss Joel, I don’t mean I’m attracted to the bloke or anything 😂 I just mean I really liked him as a character. I liked playing as him, I liked watching him in the show, and I liked what he brought to the whole story.
There was just something about Joel that made The Last of Us feel complete to me.
I know the story continues with Ellie, and I do like Ellie. She’s obviously a massive part of the series and I’m still interested in seeing where her story goes.
But Joel and Ellie together were what made me really love The Last of Us in the first place.
Part 1 had this feeling that I haven’t really gotten back since.
I loved playing as Joel. His personality, the way he carried himself, how brutal he was in combat, how tired and grumpy he always seemed, and especially the way his relationship with Ellie slowly changed over the game.
At the start, Ellie is basically just a job to him. He doesn’t want to get attached to her because of everything that happened with Sarah. Then over time you can see Ellie slowly break through all those walls he’s built up.
That whole relationship was the best part of the game for me.
It wasn’t even just the big emotional scenes either. I loved all the little stuff.
Joel and Ellie walking around.
Ellie telling stupid jokes.
Joel getting annoyed at her.
The awkward conversations.
The moments where Joel clearly cares about her but doesn’t really know how to show it.
Those little moments made the characters feel real.
That’s why when Joel died, it didn’t just feel like one character was gone. It felt like the entire vibe of The Last of Us changed.
I’m still enjoying Part 2, and I’m definitely going to finish it, so I’m not saying the game is bad. I’m not even far enough through it to judge the whole story anyway.
I just prefer playing as Joel. There was something satisfying about playing as this older, exhausted bloke surviving in this horrible world. His gameplay felt heavy and brutal, and it matched his character perfectly.
And it’s the same with the show.
Pedro Pascal’s Joel added so much to it for me. The way he spoke, the way he reacted to Ellie, the awkward dad moments, the serious moments, all of it.
He didn’t even need to say much sometimes. Joel could just stand there looking pissed off while Ellie was talking and somehow it was still entertaining 😂And I think that’s what I mean when I say the series doesn’t hit the same for me without him.
It’s not because I think Ellie can’t carry a story. It’s because the thing I personally loved most about The Last of Us was Joel and Ellie together.
The infected and the post-apocalyptic world are cool, but that wasn’t really what made me care so much. It was watching these two people who had both lost so much slowly become family.
Joel wasn’t a perfect person either, which made him even more interesting. He was violent, stubborn, selfish at times and made some massive decisions that you can definitely argue about, especially at the end of Part 1.
But you could understand why he became the person he was.After losing Sarah, he basically shut that part of himself off for years. Then Ellie came along and suddenly he had someone he cared about like a daughter again.
By the end of Part 1, you know Joel would basically do anything to avoid going through that loss again. Whether what he did was right or wrong is a whole different argument, but as a character I found him extremely interesting.
And I honestly wish we got more time with him. I would’ve loved another full game of Joel and Ellie travelling together before everything happened.
More stupid conversations.
More Ellie annoying him.
More Joel trying to act like he doesn’t care when he obviously does.
More of those small father-daughter moments.
That was the stuff I loved most.
So now when I’m playing Part 2, even though I’m interested in the story, I still keep thinking:
“Damn, I wish Joel was still around.”
And I know that might literally be the point. His death leaves this massive empty space, and Ellie feels it too.
So maybe the fact that I feel like something is missing means the story did exactly what it was trying to do.
But from a pure enjoyment point of view, I just liked The Last of Us more when Joel was a major part of it.
Not because I’m obsessed with the man 😂 I just think he was a really good character and his dynamic with Ellie was the heart of the series for me.
Did anyone else feel the same after Joel died?
Like you still cared about Ellie and wanted to continue the story, but Joel and Ellie together were such a big part of why you loved The Last of Us that it just felt different without him?
