Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 1.
Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby only appears at the beginning and end of The Last of Us’ season 2 premiere, but the actor has already captured everything that this complex character requires. In The Last of Us Part II, players don’t find out who Abby is or what her motivation is until halfway through the game. But The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, “Future Days,” introduces Abby right from the outset. In the opening scene, it tells us why Abby wants to kill Joel: she’s a survivor of his Firefly massacre who wants revenge for her fallen brethren.
After Abby’s introduction, The Last of Us season 2 jumps forward five years to show Joel and Ellie fully settled into their new lives in Jackson, but with a mysterious rift in their relationship. Abby isn’t seen again until the end of the episode, when she and her friends approach Jackson in the midst of a blizzard. Five years later, she’s finally found Joel, and she’s more ready than ever to exact vengeance. In just these two scenes, Dever has already proven she’s the perfect casting choice to play Abby.
In Just Two Scenes, Kaitlyn Dever Captures Everything About Abby
Dever Captures Abby’s Rage, Her Vulnerability, & Her Chemistry With Owen
Although she only makes brief appearances to bookend the season 2 premiere, Dever has already captured everything that makes Abby such a great character. She shows Abby’s rage in the aggressive look she gives as she turns her head away from the Fireflies’ graves, but she also shows the character’s well-guarded vulnerability as she holds back tears. She nails Abby’s overwhelming grief, even though the show doesn’t reveal whose loss she’s specifically grieving.
The Last of Us season 2 airs new episodes every Sunday on HBO and Max.
Dever might not have Abby’s muscular build, but she still captures her violent impulses as she specifies that she doesn’t just want to kill Joel; she wants to kill him “slowly.” She only shares a couple of moments with Spencer Lord’s Owen, but the looks they give each other prove that the actors share the on-screen chemistry required to pull off this key relationship. And the look of vengeful determination that Dever gives in the final shot as she sets her sights on Jackson is pure Abby.
The Last Of Us’ Next Episode Will Give Dever More Of A Chance To Shine
The Ending Of Episode 1 Suggests Episode 2 Will Bring Abby Face-To-Face With Joel
At the end of The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, it’s revealed that, after five long years of searching in a world without phones or the internet, Abby and her friends have finally tracked down Joel to his new settlement in Jackson. This seems to suggest that episode 2 will bring Abby face-to-face with Joel. When Dever’s Abby is faced with Pedro Pascal’s Joel — the boogeyman she’s been chasing for half a decade — The Last of Us’ most important new cast member will get even more of a chance to shine.
