The Last of Us Without Pascal Is HBO's Boldest Bet, If It Commits

What happens to a hit show when the face that sold it is no longer the center of the frame? HBO is about to find out. The third season of The Last of Us is shooting now, and the Joel-and-Ellie duo that made the first season a phenomenon is no longer the engine.

The latest nudge came from Gabriel Luna, who told Variety (as AOL's syndicated coverage of the interview notes) that Bella Ramsey is now "the general" of the set after Pedro Pascal's departure. He also said "a lot of different perspectives shift" this season, and that people who played the game will know what that means. Filming began in British Columbia in March 2026 and is due to wrap in November, with a premiere expected in 2027.

The gamble is structural, not just about one actor

It's tempting to frame this as "can the show survive losing its star?" We think that's the wrong question. Losing Pascal matters less than what the series chose to do before he left. According to Wikipedia's season overview, season 3 adapts the second half of The Last of Us Part II and follows Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever, along with the people around her, such as Manny and Isaac. Ellie reportedly has a smaller role than in earlier seasons because of that shift.

That's the real bet. Most prestige dramas change a cast gradually. This one is changing its emotional center on purpose. Craig Mazin, per that same overview, thought the change was risky but felt HBO executives understand the show "is going to be a different show every season." We admire that confidence. We'd also note that confidence is cheap until the audience shows up.

Ramsey as "the general" is a nice story, but a story is not a structure

Luna's praise is generous ("They're one of the world's greatest actors," he said), and a leader on set is a good sign for morale. But a set-side anecdote tells us nothing about what viewers will feel in episode three. The danger is that Ellie is treated as the anchor, with everyone else orbiting her, while the script wants the opposite. If the season splits its loyalty, it will please nobody.

Here's the uncomfortable part for HBO. Even friendly coverage is wary. An OutKick column on Fox News argues season two declined in quality and that fans will "punch out quickly" unless season three goes all in on Abby. That's one writer's opinion, not a measurement, and we'd push back on the harsher personal verdicts about performers. But the underlying warning is fair: the goodwill window is narrow.

The risk is only justified if the show trusts its ensemble

So what should HBO do? Commit. Half-measures would be the worst outcome here. If the season is about perspective, then Abby, Isaac and even Tommy have to feel like full people, not obstacles. Luna himself says, as the Wikipedia overview records, that Tommy "becomes kind of like the boogeyman to these other people" after being a hero for two seasons. That's exactly the kind of inversion that makes ensemble television worth doing: the same character, seen from the wrong side of the fence.

There's also an irony worth noting. Collider has floated the idea that Pascal could return to remind audiences of the core story. That's a headline, not a plan, and we wouldn't count on it. If anything, leaning on flashbacks to a departed star would undercut the thesis. A show that asks us to switch loyalties can't keep glancing back at the old one.

Our verdict

The gamble is justified, but only on one condition: no hedging. The sources say this is expected to be the final season, which frees the writers from protecting a franchise and lets them tell a mean, uncomfortable story about who gets to be the hero. If the series pulls that off, the loss of its marquee name will look like a feature, not a bug. If it flinches, it will look like a very expensive subtraction. We're cautiously optimistic, and we'll judge the season on one thing: whether we care about Abby's side as much as Ellie's.