‘The Last of Us’ creators reveals reason behind Joel’s saviour complex

The Last of Us creators revealed the major reason behind Pedro Pascal’s Joe saviour complex and his need to protect others through violence.

The series based on a video game of the same, revolves around the brutal journey of Joel and 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across post-apocalyptic United States, 20 years after fungal pandemic devastation.

In the recently aired episode, The Price written by showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, as well as Halley Gross, features Tony Dalton in flashbacks as Javier Miller, a local police officer and often-violent father of Joel.

In an interview with the Entertainment Weekly, The Last of Us creator Druckmann revealed that, "Tony Dalton was my first choice."

"I just loved his performance so much in Better Call Saul. I jokingly refer to him as the most charming, threatening man I've ever seen on television," he said.

In the sequence, Joel sits at the table as his dad comes home. He's expecting a beating. Tommy (Joel’s younger brother) 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.

Their dad ultimately says, "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."

Comparing the similarities between Joel and his dad, Druckmann added, "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."

He went on to say that the scene became something much bigger than they expected it to be, as it unknowingly addressed "not only generational trauma, but generational repair and hope."

The season 2 finale of The Last of Us airs on HBO and streams on Max every Sunday.