From review-bombing to burying its gays: The Last of Us and its epic history of LGBTQ representation, explained
"The Last Of Us keeps burying its gays - but that's OK," opines writer Tom Chapman in this season-wide recap
By Tom Chapman
While the greying mushroom monsters and crumbling concrete of HBO’s The Last of Us don’t make for a colourful backdrop, showrunner Craig Mazin paints a rainbow of hope over the apocalypse with one of the most diverse shows around. Adapting Naughty Dog’s 2013 game of the same name, game director Neil Druckmann is on hand to help Mazin bring the colourful cast of characters to life on the small screen.
At a time when the network is known for queer shows like Euphoria and becoming a memeable obsession thanks to Jennifer “These gays, they‘re trying to murder me!” Coolidge in The White Lotus, a shuffling series about a zombie apocalypse is the last place you’d expect to find LGBTQ representation.
Still, The Last of Us is doing the community proud… and the homophobes hate it.
The Last Of Us buries its gays – but that’s OK (spoilers ahead)
As the name suggests, February 27’s Left Behind adapts the Left Behind DLC from the original game. Serving largely as a flashback episode, Euphoria’s Storm Reid plays Riley. Riley is the best friend of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and a character that was name-dropped all the way back in episode one.
Left Behind proved divisive when it was released in 2014 because Ellie and Riley shared a kiss. There had been no hint of Ellie’s sexuality before that. But with the moment being a defining part of Ellie’s video game arc that cued her being queer in 2020’s The Last of Us Part II, Mazin and co. promised it would be part of the live-action series.
Those who’ve played the game will know how things end for Ellie and Riley. (With both being bitten by an Infected, but Ellie surviving due to her immunity.) The episode ends with the same tragic twist. And although we don’t know exactly what happens to Riley, the fact Ellie told Joel (Pedro Pascal) she’d killed someone before heavily implies that she put Riley out of her misery.
Following the deaths of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) in episode three, The Last of Us could fall into ‘Bury Your Gays’ territory. Indeed, fellow zombie series The Walking Dead and the apocalyptic The 100 helped popularise the phase in 2016. But with The Last of Us, these deaths feel like natural progression without being used for shock factor.
We spent 85 minutes getting to know Bill and Frank’s story across a span of 20 years. Elsewhere, Ellie and Riley got one last night of innocence away from the horrors of the apocalypse. The Walking Dead was too focused on action to give us a heterosexual romance on the same level as these. (Let alone donate two episodes of a nine-episode season dedicated to LGBTQ representation.)
HBO drops the ball on Ellie’s sexuality
It’s not perfect, though. Before episode seven, HBO tweeted a picture from the iconic carousel scene and captioned it: “That best friend stare.” While it’s true Ellie and Riley are best friends, the account was called out for glossing over their romantic feelings. Even though they only shared a kiss before their fates were sealed, it’s clear this was more than just friendship.
For those wondering about the sexuality of Ellie and Riley, Mazin cleared it up in the post-episode podcast. Mazin stated they were both gay, but “their sexuality is confusing to them and scary to them.” Reminding us how the devastating Outbreak Day occurred in 2003, Mazin explained the world hasn’t gone through the “revolution” of “accepting homosexuality and whatever we’d call non-heteronormative sexualities.” Well, everyone has been busy battling zombies.
HBO seems equally afraid to confirm Ellie is gay, and we’ll hazard a guess why. At the time of writing, episode seven has a user rating of 8.1/10 on IMDb. Looking at the reviews, there are 5k five-star votes and 1.1k one-star votes review-bombing it. Despite Bill and Frank’s episode looking like an early frontrunner for the Emmys, it was much the same.
While Left Behind stuck close to the source material as the most game-accurate episode yet, critics slammed episode three for expanding the backstory of two minor characters. The game confirmed Bill and Frank were a gay couple. But when spun out into an epic love story, the homophobes sharpened their pitchforks. It’s sadly ironic that these two episodes are currently the worst-rated of the season.
Reid has a message for those who have a problem with The Last of Us’ LGBTQ representation. She recently told Entertainment Weekly: “It’s 2023. If you’re concerned about who I love, then I need you to get your priorities straight.” Reid’s words were echoed by Ramsey. She recently told GQ: “If you don’t want to watch the show because it has gay storylines, because it has a trans character, that’s on you. And you’re missing out.”
Season two will keep flying the flag
Ramsey warns those who have a problem with The Last of Us’ LGBTQ themes should turn off now. The star said she’s excited to explore Ellie’s romance with the character called Dina. Druckmann seemingly confirmed the theory that we met Dina in episode six when Ellie accosted an unknown character watching her in the town of Jackson.
Beyond that, actor Ian Alexander, who is trans, has told Insider they’d love to reprise their role from The Last of Us Part II for the recently confirmed season two. The inclusion of a trans character caused a vocal minority to review-bomb the game, so we dread to think what backslash there will be in season two.
Either way, The Last of Us cast is showing a united front. Pascal has a sister who is trans and supported her when she came out in 2021. Meanwhile, Ramsey recently revealed she’s non-binary. She also told The New York Times she doesn’t care what pronouns are used for her. Despite being straight, Offerman clapped back at one homophobe on Twitter, saying that this hate and ignorance to gay storylines is the reason people keep making them.
Basically, the message is thus: The Last of Us is here, it’s queer, get used to it.