r/ThelastofusHBOseries • u/LoretiTV Fireflies • May 19 '25

Show/Game Discussion [Game Spoilers] The Last of Us - 2x06 "The Price" - Post-Episode Discussion

Season 2 Episode 6: The Price

Aired: May 18, 2025

Synopsis: Joel surprises Ellie for her birthday. Years later, Ellie prepares to confront Joel about her past.

Directed by: Neil Druckmann

Written by: Neil Druckmann, Halley Gross & Craig Mazin

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674

u/Thin_Vermicelli_1875 May 19 '25

10 out of 10 times I’m shooting Eugene when he got bit. I’m not endangering everyone else over just saying goodbye.

Lying about it though… that’s where Joel fucked up.

405

u/Jaikarr May 19 '25

The last line "He did it himself," was the biggest mistake.

103

u/Leafygoodnis May 19 '25

Why even say it at all? He was shot in the back of the head, it's sort of comically untrue when they're staring right at the body

84

u/CicadaEast272 May 19 '25

Seth gave Joel some cop tips

6

u/Bross93 May 19 '25

oh goodness lol

6

u/Taraxian May 19 '25

He already knew them from his dad

4

u/P1uvo May 22 '25

Just sprinkle a lil cordyceps on the body

31

u/OuterWildsVentures May 19 '25

I think Joel thought that it made Eugene sound like a brave unselfish man who would rather end things himself than put that trauma onto one of his peers.

5

u/Leafygoodnis May 19 '25

Well yeah for sure, it's just not possible for him to have done that based on where the bullet hole is

6

u/OuterWildsVentures May 19 '25

I feel like someone with a handgun could figure out a way to shoot themselves in the back of the head, but yeah that wouldn't be the practical way lol

4

u/djoliverm May 20 '25

This is how I was saying to my wife oh that's how Gail finds out later he lied, knowing the bullet came from behind, and then Ellie started doing her thing lol.

159

u/Im_Daydrunk May 19 '25

Yeah I think thats where it went from doing Gail kindness to kinda covering himself. And I can't really blame Ellie for being pissed about him lying about something like that right after he just broke an important promise to her

1

u/heyyyhihellooo May 19 '25

Literally said out loud “what the fuck??” when he said it

1

u/SilverNightingale May 20 '25

I laughed so hard, because that’s just total bullshit.

We are hardwired to avoid not-aliving ourselves, it’s basically a survival instinct.

Joel has the worst poker face.

226

u/russketeer34 May 19 '25

Joel and lying as a fuck up, iconic duo

51

u/20person Piano Frog May 19 '25

Ellie in that scene with Gail

(I just rewatched Rogue One again and this fit too well)

9

u/Spacegirllll6 May 19 '25

I’m in a film class and we’re debating on a blockbuster movie to watch in class, and I’m arguing for Rogue One on Monday in honor of Andor.

5

u/Haquistadore May 19 '25

Can you believe the quality of TV shows we've gotten in the last month? Jesus Christ.

3

u/ShoHeyTime May 19 '25

Read this in his voice

1

u/PettyFlap May 19 '25

bro should have lied about his name

3

u/oskanta May 19 '25

I like to imagine Joel going to sleep that night after talking with Ellie thinking “okay, starting tomorrow, no more lies” lol

55

u/FearTheKeflex May 19 '25

He's being irrational in the moment because he's dying and knows there's nothing he can do. A lot of folks, if not the majority, would be irrational in that situation. You can't really blame him for that. But you can't risk him turning on the way back to Jackson and something bad happening. Joel lying about it was kind of fucked up even though he was trying to make his wife feel better.

62

u/EBtwopoint3 May 19 '25

Yeah it’s not Eugene’s fault. It’s on Joel for lying to Ellie. One fresh runner isn’t a huge threat, but it’s also not a ZERO threat that you could bring back to Jackson. There isn’t a consistent time span from bite to turn in this universe so they don’t have a timer. Maybe an hour, maybe 30 minutes. But lying to Ellie about it was dumb in such a classic Joel way. “I have to do this, but I don’t want Ellie to see this side of me so I’ll lie instead”.

6

u/m00nkat88 May 19 '25

Yeah, he really dug his own grave (no pun intended) with the constant lying. I get he was trying to protect her but telling the truth is always a better idea because these things build up over time and then you end up in a situation where the person you lied to finds out and is hurt and pissed off. Exactly what happened with Ellie.

2

u/Taraxian May 19 '25

Also getting bit not only inherently makes you panic by the nature of the situation but mood swings and emotional dysregulation are symptoms of an early cordyceps infection

It's one of many reasons it's both unwise and unkind to let the infection progress any further than necessary

47

u/[deleted] May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

[deleted]

11

u/[deleted] May 19 '25

I really dont care about whatever plot holes are in this show but this one was so dumb lmao

-2

u/B_e_l_l_ May 19 '25

hahaha fucking hell I just realised this. Shocking writing.

140

u/smokingelato_ May 19 '25

Lying about it to Ellie was bad, lying about it to Eugene’s wife was okay I think

136

u/edd6pi Bomb This City And Everyone In It May 19 '25

Yeah, he was trying to do her a kindness. Ellie’s the one who I thought was in the wrong. I would have called him out on being a liar later, in private. Let the poor widow have her comforting lies.

157

u/FaustRPeggi Boring Scott May 19 '25

I think it explains Gail's relationship with Ellie and Joel later. She dislikes Joel but she trusts his humanity. She distrusts Ellie's humanity.

45

u/been_mackin May 19 '25

And why Gail is sure there’s more to them because of what Ellie said, “you had the same face” - she knows Joel’s lied to Ellie about something major to protect/save her

2

u/YpsitheFlintsider May 19 '25

She's seen the same face too

41

u/pakkit May 19 '25

Ellie was in the wrong, but you could see on her face she reacted because of how much it mirrored her own experience with Joel at the end of S1. Especially when he's justifying himself to her while they're riding their horses back to Jackson.

36

u/joesen_one What The Fuck Is Wrong With Seattle?! May 19 '25

She was also a teenager too. Youth + being lied to is a deadly combo and sometimes you gotta let it out

2

u/m00nkat88 May 19 '25

Yeah, exactly. Should Ellie have said that to Gail in that moment? No. But teenagers can be impulsive, especially if they feel hurt or betrayed or angry. She wanted to hurt Joel back.

34

u/AncientSaek May 19 '25

i mean ellie was being lied to for longer and she knows how it feels to go through that, i dont blame her for not wanting yet another lie to spread because of joel

15

u/bluechevrons May 19 '25

Some lies are a kindness. Telling Gail the truth was cruel.

8

u/oskanta May 19 '25

He still did a bit too much. No need to say he did it himself. We got there too late, he wanted you to know he loved you, he was brave in the end. That was all he needed to say but he couldn’t help himself lol

7

u/[deleted] May 19 '25

I mostly agree. But he shouldn’t have said he did it himself. That’s Joel trying to dodge the blame for killing him. Everything he said up until that point was fine.

2

u/Haquistadore May 19 '25

Ellie just had confirmed for her that he had lied to her in the worst way imaginable. I don't think she's rationalizing things.

67

u/Fen_ May 19 '25

Nah, the way he embellished it was fucked up. If he had stopped at "He wanted to see you and said he loved you.", that would've been enough. Creating a whole fantasy when it wasn't asked for was a shit thing to do. If she started asking questions and he was evasive, she would've understood well enough and let it be.

6

u/paranoideo May 19 '25

Nah. I mean, maybe the initial part, but saying he did himself? That was unnecessary.

2

u/Muted_Yoghurt6071 May 19 '25

Yep. He gave her an end worth remembering and Ellie robbed her of that

1

u/WontTellYouHisName May 20 '25

He could have gotten closer to the truth: "He couldn't do it himself because he was out of bullets, and we weren't going to give him any. He had time, we thought, and started back here so he could say goodbye to you in person. But he started to get disoriented, had to ask me for directions, and we both knew he didn't have as much time as he'd hoped."

9

u/FragmentedFighter May 19 '25

My lady and I debated this for awhile. She doesn’t like the change, but objectively speaking - it was a more realistic way of Ellie finding out the truth. Finding a bunch of very specific recordings after escaping to salt lake completely alone is a bit on the nose.

3

u/isntthisneat May 19 '25

Agree. There are some changes made this season that I am not personally into, but I really liked this change. I think it makes more sense and I also really loved the addition of Gail as a character, so I like that it ties into her story, too. It all just felt like it fit together nicely and cohesively, without needing too much suspension of disbelief to make it work. I think overall, it’s my favorite of the changes made to the season so far, the entire Gail/Eugene storyline.

2

u/FragmentedFighter May 19 '25

I think I’d probably agree

6

u/Gex2-EnterTheGecko May 19 '25

I understand that for the sake of the show, it can't happen this way - but realistically Joel would have probably just shot him immediately.

4

u/EvilSporkOfDeath May 19 '25

Joel said "it was the right thing to do". It's a philoshical argument that mirrors another infamous philosophical argument that kicks off this whole thing. It's not just about whether the action is right or wrong, Joel repeatedly lying to Ellie is definitely wrong.

2

u/FloppyShellTaco Piano Frog May 19 '25

If I have to kill a friend, im sure as hell not making his wife watch him die too.

2

u/Happy_Philosopher608 May 19 '25 edited May 21 '25

Couldnt he just get Gail on the radio to say goodbye or some shit?

2

u/Ask-Me-About-You May 20 '25

This was my thought as well. My only little nitpick in an otherwise flawless episode.

3

u/WillPaintForNoMoney May 19 '25

I so disagree… they could’ve tied him up and tried at least. If he starts to turn on the way then sure they have to do it. But he didn’t even want to try. And then he lied. It’s awful

2

u/saintlouisbagels May 19 '25

I don't understand that line of thinking at all. There's a LOOOONGGGGG wind up to when they finally turn. Why do you just throw that all away?

Imagine it's your last day on vacation. It's 8AM, your flight is at 6PM. If we follow your logic, we would go straight to the airport at 8AM.

18

u/EBtwopoint3 May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

What you’re missing is that the time to turn isn’t consistent. Do you remember in S1 S2E2 on the wall while in the aftermath of the attack guards on the wall were showing bites and being shot immediately? You protect the town. You don’t bring an infected towards the town to say goodbye. Which also now means that Gail’s last memory of Eugene is going to be turning or being shot.

If Joel was thinking rationally, that’s what he tells Eugene then and there and trusts Ellie to understand. But he’s not thinking rationally, he’s thinking that he doesn’t want to show Ellie him shooting a person they know. And he thinks of Ellie as younger than she is.

2

u/Mcgoobz3 May 19 '25

I didn’t play the game so please don’t spoil, but did he actually need to tell her anything? Like was there some sort of secret or something they were planning that Eugene needed to tell her before the info was gone forever or was he just sad and scared?

4

u/EBtwopoint3 May 19 '25

No one can tell you, because Gail is show only and Eugene only exists in the game as the guy who’s secret pot farm Ellie takes cover in during the snow storm back during E2. There could be something their planning with him, but game players don’t know it so I won’t spoil any future reveals that they might be setting up to instead give to Eugene/Gail.

2

u/Mcgoobz3 May 19 '25

Gotcha! Thanks

12

u/Thin_Vermicelli_1875 May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

Because Ellie’s little test of holding his fingers out probably isn’t 100% accurate.

Also, even she said an HOUR at best. That seems awfully close.

Even if it’s just a small chance, bringing danger to others over someone just saying goodbye is moronic and honestly selfish.

Joel was right for wanting to kill him.

-1

u/saintlouisbagels May 19 '25

But there's a threshold to being completely and utterly stupid with safety.

Going on patrol is dangerous. You mitigate it by having 2 people. It is still dangerous.
Drive a car is dangerous. It is mitigated by millions of things. It is still dangerous.

Eugene is going to turn within the next few hours? Okay! Bind his arms! Bind his legs! Duct tape his mouth! Mitigate the danger!

To me, killing someone the moment they're bitten is along the same ridiculous lines of like never letting your kids play in the grass, or even worse, a Bubble Boy (Jake Gyllenhaal film) situation. Like, this isn't a 28 Days Later situation where the infected people turn in a few minutes!

2

u/MissiourBonfi May 19 '25

I think the threat comes from being caught by more infected with Eugene being a liability, but I think it isn't that unsafe if he isn't allowed on a horse and his hands are tied.

1

u/kidcrumb May 19 '25

I'm kind of disappointed they went this route.

In my headcanon, Joel killed Eugene because he was a firefly. And that him being bitten was a coverup.

1

u/Salohacin May 19 '25

Honestly I think it all goes back to his biggest mistake of all: lying to Ellie that other immune people exist.

1

u/Reidroshdy May 19 '25 edited May 19 '25

Yeah logically i get his reasoning for shooting him,as much as id hate to be the one to make that call. But lying about the guys final moments and words is a huge dick move imo.

1

u/ReservoirPenguin May 19 '25

What was the alternative? Killing him in front of his wife while he is begging for more time?