The Last of Us Season 3 Has A Lot Of Work To Do To Win Fans Back, And It Starts With Abby
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Summary
- Season 3 of The Last of Us needs to focus on developing Abby’s character to engage viewers.
- Kaitlyn Dever’s portrayal of Abby could impress viewers and carry the show in season 3.
- Abby’s complexity as a character makes it challenging to get viewers invested, but good writing could make season 3 successful.
While The Last of Us season 1 was exciting, compelling, and moving, the second season failed to impress fans. Although fans of the popular video game knew that Joel (Pedro Pascal) would die, no one thought it would happen so early on in the season. Season 2 was very different from the first, from Ellie (Bella Ramsey) no longer having Joel by her side to the introduction of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). By the end of these seven episodes, it was clear that Abby would be the center of The Last of Us season 3, which some are unsure about.
There are many changes in store for the HBO drama, including Naughty Dog studio head/The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann’s decision to leave the series. While season 3 hasn’t begun filming yet and there is no release date, fans are concerned about what could come next. Is there a way to make Abby more interesting in the upcoming third season?
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The Last of Us season 2’s Kaitlyn Dever opens up about the backlash Abby has received as she steps into her shoes.
The Last Of Us Season 3 Needs To Tell An Impressive And Strong Story About Abby
If The Last of Us season 3 is going to win viewers back, it needs to dial in Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby performance, and she needs to become an engaging anti-hero character. Season 2 disappointed fans and felt different from the first. Instead of focusing on Ellie and Joel’s bond as they move throughout the U.S. and deal with the terrifying Cordyceps fungus infecting people, the show shifted its focus to Abby. She’s a divisive character, and while the criticism of Dever is unfair, viewers are right to wonder if season 3 can match the quality of the first season. If it was challenging to make viewers care about Abby in season 2, how is it going to work when season 3 seems to be all about her?
Dever is a talented star with an impressive background in TV dramas, and she has excelled in many roles. She recently played food blogger/influencer Belle Gibson who pretended to have cancer in the Netflix limited series Apple Cider Vinegar. Her performance in the clever 2023 sci-fi film No One Will Save You as a lonely young woman hiding in her house from aliens was also great. There’s no doubt that, if Dever is given a chance to shine in The Last of Us season 3, she can impress viewers. But this hinges on good writing, a compelling storyline, and whether the show can still be good without Druckmann’s creativity and talent.
Abby is a complex and unique character because she’s unlikable but, at her core, has the same fears and worries as beloved characters like Ellie and Joel. The struggle is to make viewers invest in Abby’s character arc while admitting that she’s done terrible things and it’s hard for fans to get on board with her. Since Dever is an accomplished actress with a long list of credits behind her, including the sitcom Last Man Standing, she’s used to portraying characters who have rich inner lives and backstories that paint a more complete picture of who they are. As long as the script is great and all the puzzle pieces fall into place, it’s possible that The Last of Us season 3 could be much less disappointing than season 2.
Kaitlyn Dever Has Shared Some Insight Into Abby And Talked About The Last Of Us Season 3
In an interview with IndieWire, Kaitlyn Dever talked about Abby’s grief over her father’s death and her quest for revenge. She knows who Abby is and perfectly explained her. She said:
“It’s all of the things that are underneath and what fuels the revenge. For Abby, she is just someone who is desperate to make it all go away and make something bad feel better. And the reality is that there really isn’t anything that’ll make that go away.”
In a May 2025 interview with GQ, Dever talked a little bit about The Last of Us season 3. While she mentioned that her character will get a lot of screen time, she hadn’t heard more about it at that time. She said:
“I think I’ll be in it a lot… I think Craig [Mazin] is still trying to write the season. I have no idea what their plans are. Craig says it’s even more intense than season two, which I don’t know how… [But] that’s all he told me.”
Hopefully, along with crafting a great story for Abby, The Last of Us season 3 could include the haunting rat scene that fans are familiar with.
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Last of Us Fan Discovers Surprising Detail Connecting Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby to 11-Year-Old Sitcom
A Last of Us fan has discovered a surprising Abby reference to a TV sitcom that starred Kaitlyn Dever long before HBO show.
