THE LAST OF US Season 2 Director Explains Why He Toned Down Brutal Episode 2 Moment “I Wanted to Avoid Overt Torture"

This article contins spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2.

Whether you saw it coming or not, The Last of Us Season 2 delivered an emotional gut punch with Joel’s death in Episode 2, “Through the Valley”. But according to director Mark Mylod, the scene could’ve been even more brutal, if not for a conscious decision to pull back on the savagery.

"I don't have much interest in showing violence itself," Mylod told The Hollywood Reporter. Instead of fixating on the blood and broken bones, he was more interested in the why behind Abby’s attack.

"But what motivated Abby to a place where she was doling such extraordinary violence – that is endlessly fascinating. So after establishing the brutality and, hopefully, exploring some of the context to why this young person was driven to such extraordinary violence and cruelty, I wanted to keep most of it off screen – and Craig [Mazin] was very much on the same page."

That said, we do see Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) shoot Joel (Pedro Pascal) in the knee, pummel him with her fists, and beat him with a golf club. But the camera doesn’t linger forever. The moment cuts away to Ellie’s arrival (Bella Ramsey), letting the emotional weight take over where gore could’ve overwhelmed audiences.

"What was important to me was to do my best to deliver those extraordinary words on the page and to do that moment justice," Mylod said. That meant guiding his actors through heavy emotional territory.

"That becomes about working with the actors and, in this case, protecting and supporting Kaitlyn and Bella who both had to go to make themselves incredibly vulnerable."

Despite prepping for the scene for months, Mylod wasn’t ready for what Ramsey brought to the table. "Bella took it to a level where I was just destroyed.

“I can't help connect on some level, as a parent, to seeing a young person in such pain when the performance is that good. It's kind of difficult in the room to disassociate from that and think 'it's just acting' because it was transcending that."

For Mylod, the shot that will haunt him isn’t Abby’s killing Joel, it’s Ellie’s face. “That closeup on Bella” as she processes Joel’s death, he says, was both “the scariest” and “most satisfying” part of the episode. "That will stay with me forever – and hopefully with some of the audience, as well."

Toning things down didn’t dilute the impact. If anything, it gave the moment more space to breathe and hit even harder.