What ‘The Last of Us’ Season Premiere’s Final Moments Really Mean

On Sunday’s second season premiere of The Last of Us, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) experienced something familiar to queer folks of almost any generation. It’s the chill that comes when you’re showing affection to your partner in public and suddenly sense you’re being watched. Not by a Cordyceps-infected zombie but by a person who doesn’t like what they see. They sling slurs—as Seth did during Sunday’s premiere—or worse. Sometimes, you have someone like Joel (Pedro Pascal) who will have your back. Often, you don’t. The moment, show creator Craig Mazin tells WIRED, reflects The Last of Us’ key tension: Humanity is partially stuck in 2003, “because that’s when the world ends on our show.” Fear has deepened some people’s prejudices. Others, attempting to rebuild familial bonds in a world where whole families have been wiped out, accept allies they otherwise wouldn’t. What The Last of Us aims to do, then, is accurately remember the world the way it was and make its best guesses about how it would ... Read full article.