The online discourse surrounding The Last of Us season two was entrenched in unwarranted outrage, sparked by outrage over the show’s centering a gay love story and killing off the franchise’s leading man. The trolling, which resulted in the show getting review bombed, of course, is weird considering that both these major plot aspects are also present in Neil Druckmann’s series of Naughty Dog games.
Recently Bella Ramsey, the show’s Emmy Award-nominated lead (alongside Pedro Pascal), discussed with The Awardist podcast their reaction to the reactive rage-baiters who took issue with Ellie’s lesbian relationship.
“Because there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. The show is out. There’s nothing that can be changed or altered. So I’m like, there’s not really any point in reading or looking at anything,” Ramsey shared. “People are, of course, entitled to their opinions. But it doesn’t affect the show; it doesn’t affect how the show continues or anything in any way. They’re very separate things to me. So no, I just don’t really engage.”
Ramsey addressed how that vocal minority of vile-spewing can sincerely excuse themselves from engaging with season three, which will see showrunner Craig Mazin, helming solo after Druckmann stepped back, follow the show’s antagonist Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who killed Joel (Pascal). The story twist has been around since it debuted in the game, but it still continues to divide The Last of Us fandom and shock casual show viewers during season two.
The shift in leading characters will delve into Abby’s world to inform her worldview. How Ellie comes into play is under wraps but Ramsey affirmed that they hope haters steer clear if they won’t approach the story with an open mind: “You don’t have to watch it. If you hate it that much, the game exists. You can just play the game again. If you do want to watch it, hope you enjoy it.”
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