‘The Last of Us’ Director Explains Decision Not to Show Gay Couple Bill and Frank’s Dead Bodies

TV Series USA

2023-08-25
11:50

‘The Last of Us’ director Peter Hoar has explained why he thought it was “unnecessary” to show Bill and Frank’s dead bodies at the end of the third episode of the series.

In an interview with Deadline, Hoar explained why the production team defied expectations in the grim world of ‘The Last of Us.’

The director said that the decision not to show the corpses was always on the plan and that it was something they discussed at the very beginning. “It’s not gratuitous,” he remarked.

Hoar went on to explain that it was ultimately series showrunner and writer Craig Mazin who decided that the episode could stand without a depiction of the corpses of Bill (played by Nick Offerman) and Frank (played by Murray Bartlett), something that the show was praised in the context of subverting the “bury your gays” trope.

Unlike the death, brutality, and gore that we see in abundance in the show, the third episode ends with the memories of Bill and Frank’s idyllic life together featuring many quiet and beautiful moments between the couple, including playing the piano together, growing their own strawberries, shopping, and even get married.

“I certainly didn’t set out to tell a story that would make the world cry uncontrollably, but I did [so],” Hoar said on whether the episode became too emotional. “The simple answer is it can become too tear-jerky. There’s a straightness to this gay love story. It’s not flamboyant. It’s genuine and it’s authentic.”

“Long, Long Time,” the title of the third episode, ended up becoming one of the most popular and fan-favorite episodes from ‘The Last of Us,’ and has earned Hoar an Emmy nomination for Best Directing for a Drama Series, as well as Guest Star nominations for Offerman and Bartlett.

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