One of the best characters in The Last of Us has had their arc changed for the worse in Season 2 of the HBO series. For the most part, The Last of Us TV show has stayed relatively close to its video game source material up until this point. While there have been some slight deviations and new characters introduced, the broad strokes of the TV series have remained identical to the story seen in The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. Unfortunately, Season 2 has opted to change one of the show’s most prominent characters when compared to their role in the games, and it has been to their detriment.
**Warning: Spoilers for Season 2 of The Last of Us and the entirety of The Last of Us Part II are mentioned below. Read onward at your own discretion.
Tommy is the character in question in The Last of Us who has seen some major departures from how he appears in The Last of Us Part II. Outside of Ellie, Tommy is the most prominent character in The Last of Us who also played a big part in Season 1. Despite this, Tommy’s character has undergone some overhauls that have left me wondering where he’ll be at by the time the series ends.
Likely the biggest change that has been made with Tommy in The Last of Us Season 2 is that he’s not present during Joel’s death. In The Last of Us Part II, Tommy is with Joel when Abby and her crew capture, slowly torture, and eventually kill Joel. Comparatively, in the TV series, Dina was the one with Joel at the time of his torture, while Tommy was back in Jackson defending the town from hordes of the infected. Even then, though, Dina didn’t have to witness Joel’s death as she was knocked unconscious, while Tommy in The Last of Us Part II was forced to at least watch the initial attack on his brother before being knocked out.
This tweak, while seemingly a minor one, completely changes the arc that Tommy ends up having in The Last of Us Part II. In the wake of being present during Joel’s death, Tommy ends up becoming consumed by rage and a need for revenge, more so even than Ellie. This leads to Tommy becoming the first one to leave Jackson for Seattle to track down and kill Abby and her gang. Ellie and Dina then depart behind him, not only to try to murder Abby, but also to find Tommy and bring him home.
Comparing these events to those presented in The Last of Us Season 2 couldn’t be more different. While Tommy is still upset and grieving Joel in the wake of his death, he’s much more pragmatic about what has to be done afterward. Tommy isn’t hellbent on seeking “justice,” and instead tries to talk some sense into Ellie, who is dedicated to pursuing Abby at all costs. This conversation still results in Ellie and Dina leaving for Seattle to find Abby, but the fact that Tommy isn’t in lockstep with Ellie when it comes to this decision is an enormous shift from the games.
In The Last of Us Part II, Tommy’s throughline arc ends up being about revenge and what it can do when it fully consumes someone. By the conclusion of the game, Tommy is still desperately seeking vengeance for Joel’s death and has pushed aside those close to him, leaving him bitter, angry, scarred, and alone. He serves as a warning, primarily to Ellie, about what she, too, could become if her quest for revenge doesn’t subside.
My concern moving forward with the TV show version of Tommy is that I don’t know what his story now becomes. There’s still a lot of The Last of Us left to watch as Season 2 is only roughly halfway over. Tommy will surely end up playing a part in future episodes, not only in Season 2, but Season 3 and beyond. Even with this being said, I fear that Tommy’s impact on The Last of Us TV show could end up being a fraction of how important he is in The Last of Us Part II. Hopefully, I end up being wrong, but for now, I am greatly disappointed by the changes that have been made to his character.
The Last of Us Season 2 continues to air each Sunday at 9pm ET across HBO and Max.
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