‘The Last of Us' introduces Jeffrey Wright's Isaac: ‘He takes steps to reinvent himself, maybe at the expense of others'
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WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 4, 'Day One'
On Sunday's episode of The Last of Us, fans of the television series finally got a chance to meet one of the game franchise's key antagonists: Isaac Dixon, a former FEDRA member who has become the leader of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF). In the video game The Last of Us Part II and the television adaptation, Isaac is played by Emmy Award-winning actor and Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright.
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'We were very excited when we were able to cast Jeffrey Wright, so it made complete sense to us to bring him back in the same exact role because, unlike some of the other casting choices in the game, he is the right age, he does have the right look,' co-creator of the show and the video game, Neil Druckmann, told HBO in a post-episode featurette. 'It had to be this larger-than-life character. It felt like such a sweet opportunity that I, as a fan of the story, love, and I'm sure fans of the game will eat it up.'
Unlike the video game, the Isaac that the television audience first meets shows empathy for his fellow survivors against the fascist rule of FEDRA. In a scene set in the early stages of the Cordyceps fungal outbreak, Isaac admonishes a squadron of young soldiers (including former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck) for the way they mock residents of Seattle as 'voters,' a slur used because of the irony that FEDRA took away the population's right to vote after society collapsed. He then meets with a resistance leader named Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach) before killing the FEDRA soldiers and joining the WLF.
Former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck (center) cameos in Episode 4 (Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO) - Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Liane Hentscher/HBO
'At the beginning of his story in the show, I wouldn't say he betrayed FEDRA, I think rather it's the opposite. He feels FEDRA has betrayed him in terms of ethics, commitment to citizenry,' Wright told HBO. 'So he takes steps to reinvent himself, maybe at the expense of others.'
Things are remarkably different when The Last of Us catches up with Isaac in the show's present day. The character who first seemed to take a stand for his fellow neighbors is now leading the WLF on an offensive against the Seraphites, a religious cult that lives on the outskirts of Seattle. The WLF and Seraphites — or 'Scars' as Isaac and the WLF derisively call them — are engaged in an endless cycle of violence that has left countless people dead, including children.
Jeffrey Wright, Ben Ahlers, and Alanna Ubach (Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO) - Credit: Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO
'Isaac, for all of his insight, still seems to suffer from the same disease everyone has, which is either infected with Cordyceps or tribalism,' co-creator Craig Mazin said. 'Isaac is still seeing the world as us versus them, and we will see how that disease is the real contagion in the world today.'
Wright only has two scenes in the episode, but they're among the season's standouts thus far — especially his violent and ultimately deadly interrogation scene with a captured Seraphite, played by Ryan Masson.
Ryan Masson (Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO) - Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
Liane Hentscher/HBO
'What I appreciated about that scene was Ryan, the other actor, who is chilling,' Wright said. 'The vulnerability, but also the danger and the mystique that we associate with the Seraphites, he kind of embodied beautifully in that scene.'
Wright's character is mentioned in upcoming episodes, but (spoiler alert) he doesn't appear in either Episode 5 or 6. The seven-episode season of The Last of Us concludes on May 25.
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