What ‘The Last of Us’ Season Premiere’s Final Moments Really Mean
These tensions emerge in season 2 in Jackson, Wyoming, where dozens of survivors of the Cordyceps plague have built a somewhat safe and stable existence. Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) helped establish the settlement; Ellie, now an effective fighter and sharp-shooter, helps protect it. But it has also become a microcosm of America in the early aughts. “One of the problems with Jackson,” says Mazin, “is that they’ve become a bit complacent. They feel safe enough that somebody can get drunk at a party and start tossing out homophobic slurs, to repeat the kind of shitty little sins that [people] used to feel free to commit when the world was not in an apocalypse.” Re-creating those shitty little sins—or challenging them—on television comes with complications. After HBO aired the “Long, Long Time” episode, the homophobic backlash was swift. Most of it seemed to come from a vocal minority—the episode was the series’ most-watched to date when it aired—but they were mighty enough to seemingly review-bomb the episode and take …
