(Spoilers for The Last of Us episode 2) Changes from source material could make fans scratch their heads. Discourse is going all over the place regarding The Last of Us episode 2, which featured a weird kiss scene between an infected and Tess (Anna Torv), changing her iconic death scene from the game. No matter where people stand on it, showrunner Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann of Naughty Dog, who directed this episode, broke it down in an interview with Variety.
In the game, Tess is confronted by Joel (Troy Baker) and Ellie (Ashley Johnson) about being bitten. She goes out in a gunfight with FEDRA, the government military agency keeping order, to let her companions escape. In The Last of Us episode 2, it comes from a horde of infected, and as she does not resist, the zombie gives her a kiss with its tendril-filled mouth. She drops a lighter into a pool of fuel to blow the building up, giving her companions space and time away from the flesh-eating fungal creatures.
Mazin tried to look at the science and grounded reality of this fantastical zombie apocalypse. A piece of art of fungus coming out of someone’s mouth and the talks of the show having this be a part of the zombies was coming to fruition. That led to philosophical questions about the violence from the infected, which led to the idea of the kiss in The Last of Us episode 2 if someone were not to resist.
“We were already talking about tendrils coming out and we were asking these philosophical questions, ‘Why are infected people violent? If the point is to spread the fungus, why doย they need to be violent?’ We landed on that they don’t. They’re violent because we resist, but what if we don’t?”
The Last of Us episode 2 creates discourse over infected kiss
Mazin called the scene “nightmare fuel” that is “disturbing” and “violative.” Changes were known to come for the adaption, testing fans on what will or will not click with them. People have been divided on the choice, while many still being high on the episode regardless of their feelings. Overall, the show is still staying true to the game, even with its alterations.
The Last of Us hits HBO and HBO Max every Sunday at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET.
