It’s hard to remember that Outbreak Day during The Last of Us happened in 2003. The majority of season 1 takes place 20 years after the event (2023) and season 2 begins five years after that (New Year’s Eve, 2028). With everything else going on (like evil militias and killer-infected people), the year may not seem important. However, the creative team didn't forget and knows that it's crucial to the story.
Throughout HBO’s official podcast for The Last of Us, producer Craig Mazin, Troy Baker (the voice of Joel in The Last of Us game), and co-creator Neil Druckman mention that things didn’t evolve like they have today. After Outbreak Day, there weren’t LGBTQ+ Pride Parades for people to show their support or come out to the world. There also isn’t social media for people to speak up and discuss how they may feel about their identity and gender. Neverhtless, there are still gay, trans, and other queer people alive and trying to survive. Among them are Ellie, Bill, and Frank.
Frank seems to have known about his sexual preference for a while and was out. Meanwhile, Bill and Ellie were in the closet for a spell. For Bill, it was the early 2000s, and, unfortunately, it wasn’t “okay” for him to be out. Sadly, in some cases, the real world hasn't figured this out, and it's in 2025. Ellie knew who she liked, but was too insecure to show the world or tell people. You see that clearly with Riley during episode 7, “Left Behind,” and now with Dina in season 2.
Because the world has essentially stopped, you still have people who are more bigoted than they should be. They never had the opportunity to see how wrong they were. Or maybe they are ignorant and stuck in their ways. That brings us to Seth in the season 2 premiere of The Last of Us and the podcast that followed.
As the podcast trio discussed the episode scene by scene (in the video above), they came to the moment during the dance when Seth referred to Dina and Ellie as a slur. Craig Mazin points out that Seth is from a world that stopped social progression and development in 2003. And while that isn’t something to be tolerated, there is a story behind it, and Seth’s tale will be told. Whether or not it will make viewers sympathetic to him (it's hard to feel bad for a bigot) or make it worse remains to be seen.
"It was important to not pretend that the people in this world would necessarily be in a 2024 mindset about, say, queer people."Craig Mazin
In The Last of Us Part 2, Joel thought that Ellie had a crush on Jesse. There is also flashback gameplay where Joel says he hears the way Jesse talks about Ellie. When she replies that they’re just friends, Joel says he has a keen eye for this kind of thing. The conversation ends with Ellie telling Joel not to hold his breath. I fully expect this moment to happen in the game, with Ellie coming out to Joel about her being attracted to women. With Bella Ramsey being non-binary, it wouldn't be surprising if that comes up, too.
The creative team’s awareness of representation being important continues to be a wonderful trend. It may make some people uncomfortable with how honest they are, but the truth is the only way we can move as a society. I commend the creative team for doing this and hope this continues.
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