The Last of Us continued its hot streak with last night’s fourth episode, “Please Hold to My Hand,” which saw Joel and Ellie take a shortcut through Kansas City, where they were ambushed by bandits and met some new friends along the way. After the heartbreaking third installment, this was a return to the urban exploration and high tension familiar to anyone who played the game, and once again has gone down a treat with fans.
However, let’s just say a particular subset of The Last of Us fans are taking their passion for the characters way, way too far. A show this big is guaranteed to attract the shipping community and, well, you can guess which two characters are top of the list. Pass the sick bag.
Anyone familiar with how fandom works will have known this pairing was inevitable, though that doesn’t make it any less gross to see. Com on people, Joel is 51 when we meet him in episode one and Ellie is just 14. As such, the now timeless The White Lotus clip of a panicked Jennifer Coolidge frantically blasting away is totally appropriate.
Thankfully the wider fanbase is united in hating this:
The right reaction:
This has been a ‘thing’ since the first game’s 2013 release:
Now we all want Pedro Pascal to “blow our backs out,” but there has to be limits:
*soundless screaming*
So, if you absolutely have to feed your compulsion to write erotic fiction set during a fungal apocalypse, at least made sure both participants are of legal age. We can’t believe we just had to write that.
The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO Max.