TLOU viewers say Nick Offerman 'changed their minds' about straight actors playing gay characters

This article contains spoilers for the third episode of The Last of Us - proceed with caution.

Episode three of The Last of Us has been a huge hit. Just when you thought that the series couldn’t get any better, the showrunners gave us the perfect backstory to two under-appreciated characters, and conditioned viewers everywhere to become very emotional upon seeing strawberries. Or maybe that’s just me.

‘Long, Long Time’ was the biggest departure from the games so far, but you won’t find us complaining - GAMINGbible’s Ewan hailed it as “one of the finest hours of TV so far this decade”, and you only need to take a peek online to see that many fans are in complete agreement. Viewers have been calling for every available award to be thrown in Nick Offerman’s direction for his phenomenal performance as Bill - there's no doubt that it'd be very deserved.

Take a look at what’s coming up next on The Last of Us below.

Offerman’s performance has been going down so well, in fact, that some viewers claim that he’s changed their minds about straight actors taking on the role of gay characters (thanks, LADbible).

“Not Nick Offerman changing my mind about straight actors playing gay roles,” @NickStopTalking tweeted. “Though it obviously would have been nice for both Frank AND Bill to be played by a gay actor… Offerman was PERFECT. His performance was phenomenal, raw, beautiful, and 100% believable. You can tell nothing but love and respect was put into his role,” wrote @TWDeadDaily.

Just in case you needed your heart breaking any more by the episode, showrunner Craig Mazin has revealed the tragic meaning behind the use of Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long Long Time’, explaining that it was meant to “show the arc of commitment”. None of us are ever going to hear that song in the same way again, that is for sure.

The fourth episode of The Last of Us is set to air on Sunday (5 February) in the US, and Monday (6 February) in the UK.