This article is completely spoiler-free.

The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a fungal pandemic has wiped out much of humanity. The story follows Joel, a hardened survivor, and Ellie, a young girl who is immune to the virus, as they journey across the country to reach the resistance group known as the Fireflies. Along the way, they encounter hostile survivors and dangerous mutated creatures as they attempt to survive and find a way to reach their destination. Throughout the game, the relationship between Joel and Ellie deepens as they rely on each other for survival and support. In the third episode of the TV series, new characters are introduced among which prepper survivalist Bill and his partner Frank.

The first episode of the TV adaptation aired on the 15th of January and received immense praise from fans and critics, currently standing at 9.2/10 on IMDB with over 50 thousand votes. The series itself is currently rated 9.3 by 115K users, making it one of the highest-rated TV series ever. But last Sunday, after the third episode aired, some reviews praised the episode as one of the best television episode ever.

Here are some of the headlines you can find in the press at the moment (beware - if you click the links you may get a few spoilers):

• IGN: 10/10 - Episode 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us is a sensational hour of television.
• Esquire - The Last of Us Episode 3 Is a TV Moment We'll Never Forget
• Dexterto - One of the best TV episodes of all time
• GamesRadar - An early contender for one of 2023's best episodes
• CNet - A gut-wrenching masterpiece

I could go on. Yet, as you can see on the above IMDB ratings chart, with the high number of 1-star ratings, the episode stirred quite a controversy. If you have watched the episode, you can easily understand (but not necessarily condone) why a certain part of the population may have had a hard time with this episode.

What about you? Have you watched this episode? Are you one of the lovers, or the haters? Comments may contain spoilers - be ready for it. Most importantly, please stay civil and respect each other's point of views.

 

[peteruk]

I thought it was an excellent episode, without spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I definitely felt very emotional at one particular point. Wasn't expecting to feel that much emotion but it was fantastic.

 

[yusuo]

It's not supposed to be a mirror telling of the games storyline, the whole storyline as a whole is supposed to be reimagined somewhat with certain storybeats forming the ark of the story. The game still exists if people really want to relive that tale.

As far as the episode though, i thought it was extremely well written, could they of expanded on certain aspects, sure, but they only had 45 mins to an hour to tell that story and I thought they did an amazing job. Was it going to please everyone, hell no, biases exist, people don't like the whole "gay agenda" as some idiots keep putting it, but guaranteed if it was a straight relationship there would be alot fewer complaints. I still thought the story as a whole demonstrated that even in dark times its our humanity that shines through.

Some people are just idiots, plain and simple.

 

[Metoroid0]

Yeah, that's what we need after COVID, a Netflix series about desease wiping of humanity... yeah. That will make people feel better after COVID!

 

[Costello]

What do you mean by “controversial”

I mean that a good part of the homophobic american far right-wing is rating the episode 1 star whereas critics as well as a lot of regular people are rating it 10. That's the textbook definition of controversy I guess?

 

[Marc_LFD]

Yeah, that's what we need after COVID, a Netflix series about desease wiping of humanity... yeah. That will make people feel better after COVID!

Michael Bay made a movie about Covid in December 2020.

Songbird it was called.



It's like they were excited to release the movie or something. Not very good, imo.

 

[ut2k4master]

On a scale of 1 to 10 with Game of Thrones' sex scenes being 8, how explicit or pornographic is episode 3?

no action and nothing under the belt. just kissing a few times. so, maybe a 2 or 3?

 

[duwen]

I'm as straight as straight can be, and I thought it was a great episode.
I can see how it could be objectionable to less open minded people, but regardless of the gender and nature of the couple, all that matters from a story point of view is the relatability of the characters - and we've pretty much all had someone special in our lives at some point that's affected the focus of our existence. To make me care about these characters as much as I did in such a short duration is a testament to the writing, direction and performances.
This is how to do diversity correctly; don't just shoehorn it in to tick boxes and satisfy agenda's - tell meaningful, compelling stories.

 

[Vine-gar]

no action and nothing under the belt. just kissing a few times. so, maybe a 2 or 3?

Thank you. Post #15's screencaps had me wondering.

 

[ZeroFX]

Let me guess: the same kind of that stuff the game is full of? Lmao
Also game tv series are made to suck.

 

[Xerokard]

Stunning and Brave

 

[smilodon]

How is the series independently of identity politics? I have been thinking of watching it.

 

[Marc_LFD]

How is the series independently of identity politics? I have been thinking of watching it.

They race swapped Sarah from being of European descent to an African, but otherwise it's been kept fairly neutral.

Bill on the game gave hints he was gay and on the show the creators embraced it and dived into it.

 

[RedColoredStars]

I don't know if I am getting old and I am just not interested in other things anymore but as someone who absolutely loved the original since its launch, I never played 2 or watched an episode of this. All I had to hear is that it doesnt really have the same story as the game and I instantly lost all interest in it.

I've never understood that line of thinking. People do it all the time with book vs movie too. Why do people want to see the same exact thing as in the game or book? That means I already know EVERYTHING thats going to happen the entire way through. The changes give me MORE of a reason to watch. and the books and games still exist.

 

[holypuma]

I mean that a good part of the homophobic american far right-wing is rating the episode 1 star whereas critics as well as a lot of regular people are rating it 10. That's the textbook definition of controversy I guess?

-phobia means scared, terrified etc

I think you'll find that the people you're describing are more disgusted than afraid.

 

[AlexMCS]

-phobia means scared, terrified etc

I think you'll find that the people you're describing are more disgusted than afraid.

The correct term for this would be something like "Misohomia", instead of "homophobia".
But the mainstream embraced the wrong term, and here we are.

 

[RedColoredStars]

Waah, waah, gay agenda
Waah, waah, woke
Waah, waah, forced diversity

(Gbatemp threads, every day)

I swear conservatives had become more obsessed and triggered over a few gay characters in media than the leftest left.

As x65943 mentioned, the first game implied Bill was gay with the sticky gay porn and the mentions of his partner, so no real controversy in that. If people feels the compulsion of rating with a zero a good TV show just because they have a (more openly) gay character, the real problem is inside those guys, not in the show.

Fact is, the most woke people out there are the anti-wokers that constantly go around telling everyone how woke everything is. "HEY!!! LOOK HOW WOKE THIS SHIT IS!!! WAKE UP!!!"

 

[Valwinz]

fans sure love garbage

 

[Localhorst86]

I've never understood that line of thinking. People do it all the time with book vs movie too. Why do people want to see the same exact thing as in the game or book? That means I already know EVERYTHING thats going to happen the entire way through. The changes give me MORE of a reason to watch. and the books and games still exist.

My best guess is that when you're reading a book, you have nothing but the words and letters trying to paint a picture. A lot of people will inevitably use their imagination to play out the book visually in their mind. And when it is adapted into a book, they want to see if the directors were imagining it the same way or close to what they themselves thought it would look like.

For game adaptations - particularly ones that already tell their story through extensive cutscenes - I don't fully understand the appeal. It was already told in a visual medium.

 

[Marc_LFD]

phobia means scared, terrified etc

Oxford Dictionary defines it as:

an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something

So it's more an irrational fear than actually scared or terrified.

 

[Windaga]

One of my dissertations was on phobia! Both you and holypuma are correct! While phobia can refer to a strong, irrational fear and/or physical/psychological response to something (hydrophobia/aquaphobia), the world itself can also mean a strong aversion against something (such as hydrophobic). In this case, the former is an extreme fear of water, while the latter refers to something that has anti-water properties, like a hydrophobic coating. When someone is described as homophobic, I don't think they're being labeled as "afraid" of gay individuals, but rather that they possesses a noticeable, extreme disgust/aversion for them. In common English though, these two use cases often overlap.

You could argue it's a strong aversion against them, or that it's a completely irrational physical/psychological response, (or that they're one in the same) and I think you'd have a good argument either way!

And that's 800 hours of etymology, stress, and juggling too many Greek textbooks condensed into a single paragraph!

Also, I haven't seen the show yet. My friend wants to binge watch the whole show when it's over, so I guess we're waiting until then. The fan response seems to be great though, so I can't wait!