Joel from The Last Of Us, played by Pedro Pascal

This article contains spoilers for the Last Of Us.

If you’re raising teens, you might’ve watched the first episode of The Last Of Us (season 2) with interest – and maybe even a touch of dismay.

The show gives viewers a glimpse of a fractured relationship between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a pair who, while not biologically related, have established a father-daughter bond.

Throughout the episode we see how Ellie is increasingly shutting Joel out of her life and wants space, autonomy and freedom.

Meanwhile Joel is increasingly overprotective and overbearing – he tries to protect Ellie by giving indirect orders that she can’t do certain things (like not allowing her to go on recons), but she goes and does them anyway.

He also punches someone who is homophobic towards her when she kisses her best friend (turned love interest) Dina at a New Year’s party. It does not go down well.

“why is ellie so mad at you?”

“i figure it’s normal. her being 19 and me being… what i am. no one likes their parents at that age.”

joel’s just trying to navigate being a father again i’m going to sob… pic.twitter.com/6dOgBkZAls

On top of this we also know Ellie suspects Joel is lying to her about what happened five years previously, when he stopped her from being operated on (and killed) at a hospital run by The Fireflies, where he then butchered a load of people and fled. (Whew.)

Joel lost his biological daughter Sarah during the start of the zombie apocalypse so naturally, he doesn’t want that happening again.

But Ellie is not Sarah. She is also – at 19 years old – an adult.

Joel really had such a hard life. He raised his daughter on his own, then lost her in his arms & spent 20 years of his life immersed only in pain & guilt. Then he couldn't allow himself to fully love tess, then lost her. He met ellie & saved her only to then lose her too #tloupic.twitter.com/o9cmHa2wWy