So, I wasn’t ready. I thought I was. I’ve played the game, I’ve followed every casting update, I even prepared myself for that scene. But watching Kaitlyn Dever take on Abby in The Last of Us Season 2? It completely wrecked me — in the best, most soul-crushing way possible.
You know when an actor just gets it? When they don’t act the pain — they are the pain? That’s Kaitlyn. She doesn’t perform grief. She bleeds it.
Wait… She Filmed That Right After Losing Her Mom?
Yeah. This part genuinely floored me. Dever filmed Abby’s most brutal, emotionally chaotic scene — the moment she kills Joel — just three days after her own mother passed away.
Let that sink in.
She could’ve taken a break. Honestly, she should’ve. But she didn’t. And I’m not praising that out of some weird obsession with suffering for art. I’m saying it because her real-life grief seeps into the character in a way you can’t fake. The rage? The numbness? The confusion behind Abby’s eyes? That wasn’t scripted — that was real.
And somehow, it made Abby human in a way I don’t think I ever expected.
The Abby We Thought We Knew? Yeah… Throw That Out.
Look, if you played the game, you know Abby’s not exactly the fan-favorite. She’s divisive. Complex. A walking moral dilemma wrapped in muscles and trauma. People hated her — and for a while, I kinda did too.
But Kaitlyn didn’t try to change our minds with big dramatic speeches or by making Abby “likable.” Nope. She made her understandable. You see every choice, every hesitation, every regret play out on her face. It’s subtle. Messy. Real.
And guess what? She didn’t even bulk up for the role. Which, honestly, was refreshing. Because she focused on what actually mattered — the emotional weight Abby carries around like a second skin. Her strength isn’t just in her body. It’s in her grief. Her guilt. Her fire.
That Scene. That Scene.
Even if you knew it was coming, Joel’s death hits different on screen. It’s brutal. Cold. But also… weirdly quiet? And the way Dever plays it — not like a monster, but like a girl who’s already lost too much — it’s haunting.
You don’t walk away from that scene angry. You walk away rattled.
It’s the kind of moment where you forget you’re watching a show. It feels too real. And maybe that’s because, for Kaitlyn, it was.
Can We Talk About the Emmy Buzz?
Okay, I don’t usually get caught up in awards talk but… yeah. If there’s any justice in this industry, Kaitlyn’s name will be all over those nomination lists. She didn’t just show up as Abby. She redefined her. Made her vulnerable. Messy. Quietly broken.
And Isabela Merced (who plays Dina) said it best: “Give her the damn Emmy.”
Honestly? Same.
Final Thoughts (a.k.a. me crying in the corner)
Kaitlyn Dever didn’t just play Abby. She became her — at a time in her life when she was already navigating her own heartbreak. That takes courage. That takes depth. That takes a level of emotional honesty that you don’t see often on TV.
So yeah… I’m still thinking about it. Still not over it. And probably won’t be for a while.
Rating: Infinite stars
Watch it. Feel it. Then call your mom.