We’re only one episode into The Last of Us’ second season and the memes are already flowing, with one line from Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby feeding into the internet’s thirst for Joel actor Pedro Pascal.
In retrospect, I should have expected fans to latch onto someone commenting on Joel’s good looks. When she called her dad’s killer “handsome,” something she presumably must have heard from people who saw him doing mass murder, I said “you’re so right, bestie.” I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that it’s being used as a lead-in to thirst edits, I feel like someone in the writer’s room knew exactly what they were doing.
In context, the line is kind of silly. Abby, a woman who would go on to lose years of her life to a violent vendetta against this man, pointing out that witnesses also said that he’s good-looking, just feels more like a knowing nod to the internet’s love of Pascal than something Abby would ever care to bring up. Also, like, what Firefly is telling Abby, after the death of her father, that the guy who shot him was a looker? Why would you say that to a child? I’m not alone in that sentiment either, as some viewers have also expressed their own disbelief. But my issues with the line aside (I swear I’m not gonna be a party pooper all season), the truth of this observation has made it one of the first big inside jokes of the season.
There are still six episodes to go this season, so there will be plenty more chances for the internet to create more jokes out of the horrible tragedies these characters are about to be put through. For more on the season, check out Kotaku’s review.
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