Friends star Jennifer Aniston offered a humorous reaction after discovering her own unexpected cameo in the second season of HBO’s hit series The Last of Us. Aniston’s surprising appearance occurred in the season’s second episode, where Ellie (Bella Ramsey) stumbles upon a remarkably well-preserved copy of a 2003 issue of People Magazine. The cover, featuring Aniston alongside fellow stars Kate Hudson and Britney Spears for the annual ‘Best & Worst Dressed’ feature, served as a tangible link to the world before the Cordyceps outbreak, as society crumbles in 2003 in the TV show universe. Aniston’s subsequent acknowledgement highlights the show’s meticulous attention to period detail and its massive cultural footprint, as even Hollywood’s biggest names keep tuning in every week for new The Last of Us episodes.
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“Of all things to survive the apocalypse,” Aniston shared on her Instagram Stories, posting an image of the scene featuring her magazine cover. Her lighthearted response underscores the fun, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature of the cameo. Ellie finds the magazine while she and Jesse (Young Mazino) shelter from a snowstorm in an abandoned location during a patrol outside Jackson.
[RELATED: The Last of Us Season 2 Already Dropped Its Best Easter Egg]
The inclusion of such specific real-world artifacts is part of what makes The Last of Us resonate so strongly with audiences. The show, adapted from Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video game series, has become a critical darling and a ratings juggernaut for HBO and Max, with its second season premiere viewership even exceeding its first. By grounding its harrowing tale of survival in a world filled with remnants of our own past — be it vintage magazines, music, or decaying landmarks — the series creates a powerful sense of verisimilitude and loss, making the dangers faced by its characters feel that much more immediate and relatable. Aniston’s cameo, while brief, perfectly encapsulates this approach to world-building.
The Last of Us Season 2 Delivers Early Shocks
While Ellie’s discovery of Aniston’s magazine cover provided a moment of relatable levity, the same episode delivered one of the most brutal and talked-about moments in recent television history: the shocking death of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal). In a sequence lifted directly from the controversial opening hours of The Last of Us Part II video game, Joel is ambushed and brutally murdered by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her companions from the Washington Liberation Front. Abby, driven by vengeance for Joel killing her father (the Firefly surgeon from the Season 1 finale), beats him to death with a golf club as a horrified Ellie is forced to watch, pinned down and helpless.
The decision to place Joel’s death so early in the season, just the second episode, stunned many viewers unfamiliar with The Last of Us games, while fulfilling the dreadful anticipation of those who knew it was coming. Fan reactions online mirrored the polarized response to the game’s release in 2020, ranging from grief and outrage to morbid fascination. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann confirmed in the show’s official podcast that adapting this pivotal moment faithfully was “never a question.” They argued that despite Joel’s immense popularity and Pedro Pascal’s star power, staying true to the source material’s exploration of consequences and the brutal reality of the world was paramount. In addition, Pascal himself acknowledged he knew Joel’s arc was primarily contained within the first season‘s narrative.
Placing this seismic event in Episode 2 immediately redefines the trajectory of The Last of Us Season 2. It violently removes the perceived “plot armor” from a main character, establishing that no one is safe and replicating the narrative gut-punch delivered by the game. More importantly, it provides the catalyst for Ellie’s character arc for the remainder of the season (and likely beyond), setting her on a relentless, all-consuming path of vengeance against Abby and her crew.
New episodes of The Last of Us premiere Sundays on HBO and Max.
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