I was just rewatching the episode (coz I like pain) and getting to this scene again I was really thrown off by Joels actions
The first thing he notices is the look of fear on Ellies face. Not the pain in his abdomen, no, he's focused solely on Ellie and making sure she's okay
You can see the look of confusion on his face when he realises where Ellie is looking, and thats when it finally clicks
You can see in his eyes that he starts panicking, his conversation with Tommy comes rushing back. He makes eye contact with Ellie and picks up on the abject horror displayed across her face. He's panicking, he doesn't know what to do, he doesn't want to fail in proctecting another daughter.
Is this fear of failure why he forgot basic first aid knowledge? Like I'm 100% sure even Ellie knows not to take something out that's stabbed you, and Joel has been surviving in the apocalypse for 20 years, so he should know this too. But his first reaction to the problem was to remove the thing that was making Ellie scared.
And then he looks up at her again, sees how shes looking at him, and I think thats when he realised "oh shit, I fucked up", but theres no time to worry about that now because Ellie is yelling again and she needs him again and he can't fail her now after all this so he's just going to have to deal with it later, once Ellie is safe.
this episode accentuated the fact that joel is the type of person who needs to be needed. he finds purpose in caring for and protecting the people he loves. so when he loses someone he loves, he sees himself as a failure and it haunts him. joel has been numb for 20 years avoiding his trauma and now that he has another person that needs him, all of it is coming to light. that monologue broke my heart. someone needs to run pedro his emmy i stg
The Last Of Us, trying to trick you into a sense of safety. We're a show about a girl and her father figure crossing a long and dubious advertisement for Wyoming!
Craig Mazin: And there is something weird in the air here in Jackson. And it happens right away when they enter Jackson and Ellie watches Joel run over to his brother. There you can see a jealousy in her, or a fear, "Wait..."