There’s been a lot of speculation about who Catherine O’Hara is playing in The Last of Us season 2 – Esther? Eugene? The Prophet? – and HBO’s recently released teaser trailer seems to have confirmed her role. Most of season 2’s new cast members are confirmed to be playing major roles from The Last of Us Part II, like Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, and Jeffrey Wright reprising his video game role as Isaac Dixon. But since O’Hara’s casting was announced, her character has been kept under wraps.

The teaser for The Last of Us season 2 arrives at the end of a Max 2024-2025 preview that also teases shows like The Penguin, Dune: Prophecy, and The White Lotus season 3. It showcases plenty of exciting sequences from the game, like Abby getting chased by a horde or Ellie fighting clickers in an abandoned subway station. But the teaser is framed by Joel’s confession of what happened at the Fireflies’ hospital – and that framing device seems to confirm O’Hara’s role.

Catherine O’Hara Seems To Be Playing Joel’s Therapist In The Last Of Us Season 2

Joel confesses to her instead of Tommy

Catherine O'Hara in The Last of Us season 2 trailer

At the beginning of The Last of Us Part II, Joel confesses to his brother Tommy that the Fireflies were going to make a cure for the Cordyceps infection, but the procedure would’ve killed Ellie, so he massacred everyone in the hospital and got her out of there – or, in his words, “I saved her.” This line is even repeated in his confession in the season 2 trailer, showing how he’s framed the hospital incident in his own mind. But in the TV show, he’s not confessing to Tommy. Instead, he’s confessing to O’Hara’s character.

Based on their staging, with Joel sitting opposite O’Hara and opening up to her while she asks a lot of questions, it seems as though O’Hara is playing a Jackson-based therapist. This would be a new character, since there’s no therapist in Jackson in the game (at least not shown on-screen). The video game version of Joel probably wouldn’t go to therapy even if there was a therapist in Jackson, but the TV Joel is more sensitive, with more fragile mental health, so it makes sense that he would seek therapy.

A Therapist Character Could Drastically Change The Last Of Us

This series has a lot of characters who need therapy

Joel speaking to someone with tears in his eyes in The Last of Us season 2

Having a therapist in Jackson could massively change The Last of Us. There are a lot of characters in this franchise who could really use some therapy. Ellie can get treated for her PTSD and help with her grief; Tommy and Maria might be able to avoid separation if they can get marriage counseling. A therapist character will allow the audience to understand the characters on a deeper level, seeing them at their most vulnerable and honest.