The Last Of Us Episode 7 Was Reportedly Censored In Some Regions
The newest episode of HBO's The Last of Us was reportedly censored for some of the show's audience, a move that has yet to be explained by those involved with the series. This post contains big spoilers for The Last of Us.
The Last of Us episode seven, titled «Left Behind,» adapts the game's expansion of the same name and follows the story of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Riley (Storm Reid) before the events of the main show. It was another strong episode, culminating in a kiss between Ellie and Riley. Viewers in some regions, however, apparently didn't see the smooch. Reports on social media suggest that the kiss was edited out for the show's local streaming partner, OSN+, in the MNEA region.
OSN+ was previously criticized for editing out gay romance scenes from How To Get Away With Murder and House of the Dragon. As others have pointed out, this newest instance of censorship was strange in part because a previous episode of The Last of Us, «Long Long Time,» was reportedly not edited at all on OSN+. That episode was focused nearly exclusively on the gay romance between Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett).
You can see HBO Max vs. OSN+ versions of the Ellie/Riley kissing scene below, as shared by viewers on social media. GameSpot has contacted HBO in an attempt to get more details.
In a behind-the-scenes video (watch it above), writer Neil Druckmann said the kiss between Ellie and Riley was a key storytelling moment. «Ellie gets to experience first love. First kiss. And then we snatch it away from her,» Druckmann says about the chaos and sadness that immediately follows their first kiss.
The Last of Us' 'Left Behind' episode is censored on OSN+ (MENA region), with one (pretty key) kiss scene cut out of it; and it
Read more on gamespot.com
