Spoiler warning: this article contains spoilers for the episode two of The Last of Us - proceed with caution (and get it watched if you’ve not already).
The first episode of The Last of Us contained a whole load of very faithfully recreated scenes which fans loved, and although episode two still follows the source material, one big change hasn’t gone down well with everyone.
Tess, Joel’s smuggling partner, went out in a (literal) blaze of glory, taking out a whole hoard of infected shortly after being infected herself. In the game, she was killed by FEDRA soldiers, so many viewers were pretty shocked to see a really unsettling moment occur on-screen before she eventually managed to set fire to the building, burning the infected and herself.
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As Tess struggles with her lighter, one lone infected notices her, and instead of viciously attacking, slowly approaches and goes in for an awful tendril-ly kiss. As IGN reports, many hated this.
“I will 100% say it was unnecessary having the infected kiss Tess for some stupid ass reason. Like sure it was gross and creepy but like... what was the reason lol,” tweeted @hidytxt. “That Last of Us episode was so damn good, but can anyone give me one solid reason as to why that infected had to shove its tongue down Tess' throat and deliver the one of the most disgusting looking kisses I've ever seen on live TV?” questioned @JordyD127.
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As repulsive as it was, there was a reason. One of the show’s co-creators, Craig Mazin, revealed that the infected don’t need to be violent if someone isn’t resisting them, especially when the whole point is to spread the fungus.
“We were already talking about tendrils coming out [of the infected's mouths] and we were asking these philosophical questions: 'Why are infected people violent? If the point is to spread the fungus, why do they need to be violent?’ We landed on that they don’t,” he said (via IGN). “They’re violent because we resist, but what if you don’t? What does it look like if you just stand perfectly still and let them do this to you?
“Then we landed on this nightmare fuel. It’s disturbing and it’s violative. I think it’s very primal in the way it invades your own body.”
It certainly wasn’t an easy watch, but you’ve got to hand it to the creators for how unsettling they made the scene.
Featured Image Credit: HBOTopics: The Last Of Us, TV And Film