The ‘Last of Us’ fandom obliterates yet another icky take

wegotthiscovered.com:

The first season of The Last of Us is nearing its conclusion, and fans have largely enjoyed every episode of the stellar HBO series.

That is, with the exception of two episodes. The season’s third and seventh episodes, titled “Long Long Time” and “Left Behind,” are distinctly less popular on review aggregation sites like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic. The latter, which provides a handy breakdown of each episode and its individual scores, makes it clear to see the separation between these two episodes and its peers, which typically land in the 7 – 8 range. The show’s two “gay” entries, however, sit at a matched 5.2, far lower than any other season one episode.

People can argue that its about pacing, or filler, or whatever they want, but it’s clear exactly what issue some viewers have with these episodes. Namely, both are self-contained stories that establish characters and stories that are not heteronormative. “Long Long Time” follows a side character from the games, Bill, in a much more fleshed-out manner, detailing his love story with Frank from start to end, and “Left Behind” covers the game’s DLC of the same name, helping explain Ellie’s backstory with her closest childhood friend, Riley.

In both, people of the same sex share at least one kiss. Ellie and Riley’s moment was brief, but elating, and gave viewers a deeper glimpse into who the character of Ellie is as a person. And, considering that — despite complaints — Ellie is the true protagonist of this story (sorry Joel) it makes sense to dig deeper into her background, and explain the series of events that led to the discovery of her immunity.

But it’s more than that. It’s also an examination of a person that helped make Ellie who she is, and a moment that