The Last of Us season 2 finally premiered in April, and people are already theorizing about the new characters. While we saw the introduction of essential game characters like Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and Dina (Isabela Merced), the season 2 premiere also introduced a few new faces that even gamers won't recognize.
Most notably, that includes Gail, played by Emmy-winning actress Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek). In the premiere, we learn that Joel has been getting therapy with Gail, but their relationship is much more complicated than your typical therapist-patient.
The short answer is that, no, Gail is not a character in the games. She was created specifically for the show and is one of many people living alongside Joel and Ellie in the Jackson, Wyoming, community.
Like in season 1, creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are adding content to the show, expanding on certain characters and concepts from the games. It's a great way to keep game fans engaged because they won't know everything that will happen if the show diverges from the source material.
Eugene in the game vs. the show
We first meet Gail during one of her sessions with Joel. It immediately becomes apparent that Gail is not someone to be messed with. She almost gets Joel to confess what happened at the Salt Lake City hospital and his massacre of the Fireflies.
It turns out that sometime in the last five years, Joel killed Gail's husband, Eugene. We haven't met Eugene, at least not yet, but Gail implies that he might have become infected. She admits to knowing Joel didn't have a choice in killing him, though she still hates Joel for doing it and is struggling to forgive him. We know we'll eventually see Eugene because Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos) was cast to play him in season 2. It seems likely we'll get a flashback sequence showing what happened that led Joel to kill him.
Eugene is an interesting character because he was in the game, or at least a version of him was. Eugene Linden is mentioned in The Last of Us Part II, though we only see him in a photo. Eugene died from a stroke. During an interview with Variety, Druckmann said they liked the idea of expanding Eugene's story similar to what they did with Bill and Frank in the first season.
“I get excited when I see these opportunities. I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Eugene that well!’ The story we told [in the game] was somewhat superficial. The way this character comes in really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.”
Druckmann's comment is interesting and hints at Eugene's purpose in the show. Fans are theorizing that Eugene will be the reason that Joel's secret regarding the Fireflies massacre and the fact he killed them to prevent them from killing Ellie—therefore possibly preventing the creation of a cordyceps vaccine—is exposed, thus causing Joel and Ellie's rift.
While we haven't met Eugene in the HBO series yet, Gail reveals some information about him, like the fact that he was excellent at growing marijuana and would often give it to his wife. They were together for more than 40 years.
New episodes of The Last of Us season 2 premiere Sunday nights on HBO and are also available to stream on Max.