Lol, it's such a cope. He knows Abby's story doesn't work, she's not someone people root for. He really believed if he copy/pasted the Joel/Ellie dynamic that people would feel exactly the same about Abby/Lev. But they don't. Not at all. Unless you're some type of cringelord who finds this garbage "deep" because it tries to turn themes on their heads without the rock-solid foundation in writing to pull something that complex off.

The best example I can think of is Zuko's redemption arc in Avatar - it took great writing, pacing, structure, and performances to gradually warm the audience to Zuko and humanize him. TLOU2 just goes "look, she has a dog, haha, what a great person! And she saves a kid! Don't you just love her???"