‘Last Of Us’ Creator Says Some People Didn’t Like Episode 3 “Because, You Know, Gay Stuff”

This past Spring, I painstakingly struggled to watched the first five episodes of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” a cultural phenomenon that had millions of Americans hooked to the show’s every scene. I didn’t like what I saw. It felt like a show filled with your typical post-apocalyptic claptrap.

I know I’m in the minority here, so cut me some slack. When episode three, titled “Long, Long Time,” aired there was an absolute and total consensus that it was a TV all-timer, I thought it was one of the “better” episodes, but nowhere near the cultural attention grabber that many claimed it to be. If anything, the episode suffered from cliches, like Frank's illness and the couple's remote isolation.

The critical acclaim for episode three could lead it to winning a few Emmys. However, there was some backlash about the gay-themed romance at the center of “Long, Long Time.” The episode was review bombed on IMDb and Metacritic, which journalists claimed was due to homophobia.

Now the show’s creator, Craig Mazin, is saying there was never any doubt in his mind that homophobia is what pissed people off (via IndieWire):

“Some people didn’t like Episode 3 because, you know, gay stuff. And then they kind of retroactively try and come up with a [different and inoffensive] reason why. [But] one of the complaints I saw was, ‘Oh, it’s just a filler episode. It doesn’t advance the story.’ And I was like, ‘I think this episode advances the story more than any other episode we have’ — because it’s not plot, it’s character. It’s the letter Bill leaves behind to Joel that powers the rest of the show.”

Another person who wasn’t a fan of the episode, starring includes Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, was notorious Facebook troll Paul Schrader:

THE LAST OF US. "You gotta watch this," a friend said. "But," I replied, "it's a zombie show." Yeah," they answered, "but it's really good." So I watched. And sure enough 35min into episode one zombies were staggering around the street. So I shut it off. "But you got to watch episode three," my friend countered. So I did. It was a super shmaltzy gay bro euthanasia melo (at least there were no undead). What am I missing?

Someone responded: “Come on, man. You did a remake of “Cat People.” Funny.

The gist of episode three, titled “Long, Long Time” has flashbacks following Bill (Offerman) over the course of twenty years as he survives the Zombie apocalypse in his town and meets his partner Frank (Murray Bartlett). The episode's title is taken from the song by Linda Ronstadt, which plays an important role in the story of Bill and Frank.

“The Last of Us” is an adaptation of a Play Station game, but you wouldn’t know it from the raves it’s been getting. The show deals with Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, that are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across a post-outbreak America.