HBO Warning: This article contains spoilers fromThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 6, "The Price." The exploration of Joel and Ellie's relationship led the writers ofThe Last of Usto new questions. How did Joel get his programming? How did he get his savior complex? How did he get the idea to protect with violence? The answers resulted in the opening sequence of season 2's sixth episode, "The Price," written by showrunners Neil Druckmann andCraig Mazin, as well as Halley Gross, who worked with Druckmann as a writer on the 2020 video gameThe Last of Us Part II. Tony Dalton, an actor seen recently onDaredevil: Born AgainandHawkeyeas "the Swordsman" of Marvel comics, arrives in a flashback to Austin in the year 1983 as Javier Miller, a local police officer and the often-violent father of Joel (played as an adult byPedro Pascal) and Tommy (played as an adult byGabriel Luna). "Tony Dalton was my first choice," Druckmann tellsEntertainment Weekly. "I just loved his performance so much inBetter Call Saul. I jokingly refer to him as the most charming, threatening man I've ever seen on television." Jamie McCarthy/Getty Druckmann was so pleased with Dalton's performance inThe Last of Usthat he went and cast him inIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, the next original video game from the developers at Naughty Dog, where Druckmann serves as president and the head of creative. Dalton will appear in the game alongside Tati Gabrielle, whoplays Nora onThe Last of Us. "He immediately came to mind, and I just offered it to him on the spot," he says. Andrew Diaz, who appeared in the filmWe Can Be Heroeswith Pascal, plays younger Joel, but Druckmann says he wasn't ware of that connection when casting the role. "We were just looking for a good actor that, if you squinted, you could kind of see Pedro. And he has a very Pedro vibe to him." David Miranda, of the recentSaved by the Bellrevival, plays younger Tommy. In the sequence, Joel sits at the table as his dad comes home. He's expecting a beating. Tommy tried to buy drugs but had an incident with the dealer. Joel saw it happen and intervened, beating up the dealer and getting in trouble with the cops. Now he's trying to take the blame and protect his brother from their father's fists, but he's caught off guard when Javier offers him a beer instead. "What Joel has done now is different," Druckmann explains. "He used violence to protect his tribe, to protect Tommy, and now it's almost like there's something for them to relate to and they connect on this level. What the dad ultimately says is, 'I think I've done the right things, but I'm not entirely sure. I just know that I did things better than my dad, who beat me even worse.' His insecurity about that stays with Joel as well. Joel's doing the best he can with the tools that are in front of him, but he loves Ellie (Bella Ramsey) unconditionally." Liane Hentscher/HBO Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free daily newsletterto get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. It's something Druckmann thought about when he became a father — this idea of not wanting to repeat his parents' mistakes but, in doing so, making new mistakes. "As we kept working on that scene, it became about something else," he says, "which is not only generational trauma, but generational repair and hope." "It also provides us a glimmer of hope for the future for Ellie," Gross adds. "We know Joel. We've spent a season and a half with Joel. We understand that this man has done horribly dark things and, also, when living with intentionality, risen above his nature. To me, what the arc of this episode provides is a platform to say, when we live with intentionality, we can make healthier choices, but what that requires is reflection. That requires Joel to look back at his father and his identity and say, 'I want to be that better dad.' What it's going to require of Ellie is some level of reflection of saying, 'This is who I am. Who do I want to be?'" The season 2 finale ofThe Last of Usairs on HBO and streams on Max next Sunday, May 25, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
