The Last of Us HBO is an adaptation of the video game that follows two protagonists: Joel Millerinterpreted by Peter Pascal (also seen in The Mandalorian of the Disney+ platform) ed Ellie (Bella Ramsey). The two must traverse a post-apocalyptic wasteland after the outbreak of the Cordyceps pandemic. Despite the fidelity shown with the first two episodes aired, episode 1×03 represented a change of course for the TV series, as it follows the characters of Frank e Bill instead of the two protagonists. The episode tells of the two men who survived the first days of the worldwide infection and fell in love in the midst of the pandemic.
The poignant episode of The Last of Us explored romance in a world of infected and devastation and earned the love of critics but, unfortunately, not of all video game viewers and fans. Sadly, it also earned the attention of reviewers who took to IMDb to hammer the project, providing over 27,000 reviews rating the episode a 1 out of 10. Currently the episode has an 8.0 rating, far below that. to that of the first two episodes, which respectively have a rating of 9.2 and 9.3.
The HBO TV series is receiving review-bombing. What is that?
One of the many reasons the episode is gaining affection is the fact that The Last of Us it avoided clichés, telling a gay love story without unnecessary tragedy or violence against the central characters.
On the contrary, to Bill e Frank they were allowed to grow old together and respectfully bow out even in the midst of the apocalypse. Their romance basically lasts the entire episode and is the emotional underpinning of a major arc on the show, which is why reviewers are lashing out at them. Many of the comments on the episode talk about “agenda“, “ruffianeria” e “alternative reasons“, and are largely driven by blatant homophobia.
While some reviewers argue that the episode slowed down or strayed too far from the source material and journey of Ellie e Joel, homophobia is the leitmotif of many online reviews, leaving outright criticisms empty. Episode 3 of The Last of Us it changed expectations by providing a new way to look at the apocalypse, so there’s some reason to anticipate the massive backlash, but not on this scale. However, with over 50% of reviewers giving the episode a perfect ten at the time of this writing, the episode still maintains a solid 8.0 overall rating, despite attempts at negative review bombing.
The HBO television series isn’t the only media product to fall victim to review bombardment, and it likely won’t be the last. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power underwent a review-bombing campaign aimed at targeting its cast and feminist representation. Also Ms. Marvel e She-Hulk: Attorney at Law have suffered these kind of reviews by leaving Ms. Marvel with an overall rating of 6.2 on IMDb, with nearly 20% giving the show a rating of 1 out of 10, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law it has a 5.0 with 30% giving the show a 1 out of 10 rating.
The latest episode of The Last of Us continues to thrive despite this attitude from fans or viewers, which is a very good sign for the project as a whole.
What did you think of the episode?
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