That Josh Peck Cameo In The Last Of Us Was Surprisingly Clever

Josh Peck has an unexpected cameo appearance in The Last of Us season 2, episode 4, and the show used him in an interesting way. The Last of Us season 2, episode 4 mostly focuses on Ellie and Dina’s arrival in Seattle as they set about finding the Washington Liberation Front. But the episode also introduces us to the leader of the W.L.F., Isaac Dixon, played by Jeffrey Wright. It shows how ruthless he is in the present day, and it even offers a glimpse at his backstory, which was only hinted at in the game.

In the cold open of The Last of Us’ latest episode, we see Seattle in the relatively early days of the outbreak. In 2018, five years after Cordyceps spread across the world, we see a platoon of FEDRA soldiers driving across the city. One of these soldiers is played by Josh from Drake & Josh. It’s always fun to see a famous actor pop up in a guest role in a popular TV show, but this stunt casting is particularly ingenious for a couple of reasons.

Josh Peck Plays A FEDRA Soldier In The Last Of Us Season 2 Episode 4

Peck Appears In The Cold Open

In the opening scene of The Last of Us season 2, episode 4, Peck plays one of the FEDRA soldiers riding through Seattle in the back of an armored truck. He tells a shocking story about a violent encounter with some “voters” that involved a misunderstanding of the word “disseminate.” Isaac explains that “voters” are what FEDRA soldiers call the citizens of the Q.Z.; since FEDRA took away the people’s democratic rights, they call them “voters” to twist the knife. This scene shows just how oppressive FEDRA was, and illustrates why the people rose up.

This scene also highlights Isaac’s disillusionment with FEDRA’s fascistic tactics. He’s the one who points out that the “voter” insult refers to a flagrant denial of civil rights, and he chastises Peck’s soldier for his ignorance and thoughtlessness. When the truck comes across a school bus blocking a residential street, Isaac gets out, ostensibly to talk to the protesting citizens who put it there. But really, he’s planning to chuck a couple of grenades into the truck behind him and kill all his men, reaffirming his allegiance to the anti-FEDRA protesters.

The Last Of Us Season 2's Josh Peck Casting Features A Clever Twist

Casting A Recognizable Actor Just To Get Killed Off Adds To The Shock Value

Peck’s casting as the fascist FEDRA soldier is significant for a couple of reasons. For starters, casting an actor best known as the star of a lighthearted, family-friendly Nickelodeon sitcom to deliver a profane monologue about inflicting harm on innocent people with a sadistic grin on his face is an expert subversion of expectations. Josh Nichols is one of the sweetest, most harmless TV characters ever created, so to see him cast in this light is darkly surprising. But his casting in The Last of Us season 2 goes a step further than that.

Peck is a widely recognizable actor — and not just to audiences who grew up watching Drake & Josh; he was recently seen in the massive ensemble line-up of Oppenheimer — so you’d expect him to be set up for a larger role. That makes it all the more shocking that he’s gruesomely killed off a couple of minutes after his first appearance. Seeing Isaac kill all his own men would be a shock no matter who was playing his FEDRA colleagues, but the fact that one of them is a big star made it even more shocking.

The Last of Us has featured a handful of high-profile guest stars over the last couple of seasons: Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Euphoria’s Storm Reid. But the show usually gives those guest stars a major role in an episode or two. What makes Peck’s casting so brilliant is that it sets the expectation for a major role, then kills him off seconds later.