The Last of Us is all about big action. Disgusting zombie attacks. Failed protective acts. Successful ones that cost too many lives. But in the season 2 premiere, The Last of Us managed to give us its best scene yet with the smallest of gestures — and, in the process, tell us more about Joel than he ever could.

[Ed. note: This post discusses the scene in question, which is midway through the season 2 premiere.]

The moment comes when Joel (Pedro Pascal) goes to talk to Gail (Catherine O’Hara), Jackson’s resident therapist, and someone who’s decidedly over his bullshit. As they talk, the animosity comes into focus: Gail is a few drinks in, sadly feeling her way through her first birthday without her husband of 41 years, after Joel killed him sometime between season 1 and season 2. She’s in no mood to be delicate about her feelings or his, and pushes him to be honest with her.

The scene itself is a great example of why you hire actors like O’Hara and Pascal. There’s a history communicated here, even if it’s the first time we’ve met her. She’s acerbic and curt, a controlled skid into feeling, then thinking her way through her emotions. But she hits her target: As Joel, Pascal is visibly moved, clearly overwhelmed by the freedom of the messiness of what she feels. It’s something he could stand to........

© Polygon