The Last Of Us fans demand HBO release the 2-hour cut of episode 3

HBO's The Last of Us, an adaptation of the acclaimed game from Naughty Dog, has maintained the immense momentum from its first two explosive episodes.

This article has no spoilers for The Last of Us 'Long, Long Time.'

So, it was a surprise to see that the third episode wouldn't focus on the two central characters, Joel and Ellie. Instead, we met Bill, a cantankerous survivalist, who saves the upbeat and charming Frank from one of his many, many traps. It's love at first-oops-I-could-have-nearly-killed-you, and over the course of two decades, Bill and Frank navigate the new world and their contrasting yet complementary personalities. Really, it heightened what is yet to come in The Last of Us, as the emotional impact of their story has led to floods of tears from fans that are practically biblical on their scale.

Their story is very different in the game - check out the trailer for The Last of Us Part I below:

It turns out that showrunner Craig Mazin had a two-hour director's cut of 'Long, Long Time.' "I cried so hard that at one point, I actually said out loud, 'Ow.' I mean, it hurt. I cried so hard; it hurt," he said in an interview to Deadline. Given the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the third episode, fans are curious over what this original cut would have been like.

"Episode 3 really threw me off and I loved it," said Reddit user FreshScratch asking after that elusive two-hour episode. "Please release it."

"I'm all for a spin off of Bill and Frank's life over their 17 years," praised one. It's unknown whether or not some of these deleted scenes will be revealed in a spenny boxset for the show once all of the episodes have premiered, but there's definitely a demand for it.