'The Last of Us' Season 2: Who is Eugene, the man Joel killed? (2025)

The Last of Us Season 2 introduces us to a few new faces, from surviving Firefly Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) to Joel's (Pedro Pascal) new therapist, Gail (Catherine O'Hara).

But Gail also has a husband, Eugene, who's fairly recently died — and although we never got to meet him, it seems as though he'll still play a role in Season 2.

So, what do we know about him so far?

What does Gail say about Eugene?

When Joel arrives for his therapy session with Gail, he pays her with a bag of marijuana that she complains is "shake and stems." When he tells her it's winter, she replies, "That never stopped Eugene. January, February. That man would grow buds the size of pine cones."

A few moments later, when Joel asks her about her choice of whiskey, she says she woke up feeling sad. "It's my first birthday without my husband in 41 years."

Joel doesn't say anything, but he looks uncomfortable. When Gail unburdens herself partway through their therapy session, we find out why.

"You shot and killed my husband," she says. "You killed Eugene. And I resent you for it. No. Maybe a little more than that. I hate you for it. I hate you for it. And yes, I know you had no choice. I know that. I know I should forgive you. Well I've tried, and I can't. Because of how you did it. And looking at your face, sitting in our home, makes me so fucking angry."

Why did Joel kill Eugene?

We don't have much information to go on yet, but there are a few clues. First, we know roughly when Eugene died. Gail says it's her first birthday without him, which means Joel killed him at some point in the past year. We don't for sure why it happened, but it seems like a safe guess to say that Eugene was probably infected. This is implied by Gail saying, "I know you had no choice," plus the fact that Joel hasn't been ousted from the community for murder.

The larger mystery, however, is what Gail means when she says she hates Joel for how he did it. That scenario is trickier to guess at. Did Joel kill Eugene before Gail was certain he was beyond saving? Did he do it with the same surly detachment he does everything else? We don't know for sure, but we doubt we've heard the last of this mystery.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres April 13 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.