The Last of Us showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have revealed that season 2 will "get a little deeper" into the character of Seth, the homophobic guy who called Ellie and Dina a slur and promptly got his a** handed to him by Joel.
According to the official podcast shared on the Max YouTube channel (embedded below), the showrunners will expand on Seth, a character in the game. Mazin said we will learn more about Seth before the outbreak and "where he came from."
What's the point of putting a character like Seth in the show? Mazin explains that they wanted to show viewers that the world within this universe stopped developing socially in 2003 when the cordyceps infection became widespread.
"There was simply not the acceptance of gay people or lesbian people or anybody on that flag."
Mazin points out that the culture created in this community is probably not going to be as accepting of queer people as most people are in 2024, although the real world has also taken several steps back in terms of progress, so Seth's rebuke feels even more timely than it did when the game first released.
It was important to the writers not to pretend that things have radically changed. Druckmann chimes in, saying, "Even within this small community, there is still dissent."
And Mazin adds that they want viewers to recognize how these prejudices impact the characters. "Ellie carries this with her. She knows how people feel."
I highly recommend listening to the full podcast, as it's very insightful. At that particular moment, Mazin and Druckmann discuss more about how Joel is still controlling Ellie from afar. The stuff about Seth and that scene starts around the 37:30 mark.
Who is Seth in The Last of Us games?
In the video games, Seth is introduced in Part I, working for Maria and Tommy in Jackson, Wyoming. During the "Jackson" chapter in Part II, players can find a letter that is believed to be from Seth and describes the hardships he faced before coming to Jackson, including his wife and oldest son being murdered on their journey from San Francisco, California. Also, in the letter, Seth describes his other two sons facing starvation amid the snowfall and struggling to survive. The games don't disclose what happened to his other sons.
The scene between Ellie, Dina, Seth, and Joel plays out almost exactly the same in the game as in the show. In the game, Seth later apologizes to Ellie and tries to make amends for lashing out at her. But it sounds like the show will go even further to flesh out his character.
In the HBO series, he's played by Robert John Burke, whose previous credits include Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Boston Strangler, Gossip Girl, Project Blue Book, and more.