The internet really pisses me off sometimes.

Watching season two of The Last of Us week by week has definitely been an experience. I've never played the video games that the show is based on, so everything that happened in the first three episodes has been a complete surprise. I would suggest that you keep it that way if you can. There will be spoilers here, but not just yet. I have some stuff I need to get off my chest first.

In the finale of season one, when Ellie's life is at stake, Joel slaughters the Fireflies, the very people that they have spent the whole season trying to find. Ellie is unconscious during this scene, and when she comes to in the back of Joel's truck, he tells her a lie whose ramifications will echo through the next season. He tells her that the Fireflies let them go. He tells her, essentially, that nothing happened. Joel takes away Ellie's agency. I believe that at that point, Ellie would have made the decision to die in order to create a vaccine. But because Joel loves Ellie, because he isn't willing to lose her, he takes that choice away.

Despite how much charm and pathos Pedro Pascal brings to the character, make no mistake. Joel is not a good person. He knows it, but for some reason the people watching the show, at least the loud ones on the internet, don't seem to get that. Just because he is the lead doesn't mean that you have to accept his actions without question. In season one, literally every character that has encountered Joel is afraid of him. He has the reputation of a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. Yes, he did what he had to do to survive in impossible situations. Yes, he is still a sympathetic character. You feel for Joel throughout season 1. I feel for Joel. The whole point of the first season is how far people will go to protect the ones they love, and Joel does whatever he feels he needs to in order to protect Ellie. But violence has consequences.