The leisure biz has a nasty behavior of presenting queer characters as borderline Christ-like figures of goodness, a method to humanize us to a hostile world that debates whether or not or not we should always even exist. And so, it’s refreshing that “The Final of Us” not solely declares queer characters as a few of the most pivotal to the story however permits them to keep up their worth with out having to grow to be some bizarre avatars for innocence and purity. Any unhappiness or pity we really feel for these characters shouldn’t be as a result of of their queerness, however as a result of they’re human beings enduring unspeakable circumstances. Whether or not she’s studying diarrhea puns or smashing up glass show circumstances, Ellie’s feelings are all the time validated by the present.

Sadly, the identical cannot be stated for the Black characters on the present, and as stunning because the retconning of Invoice and Frank’s story was, it additionally adjustments how their deaths will influence Ellie shifting ahead. We can’t know till season 2 particularly how this may all play out however given the express queerness offered in “The Final of Us Half II,” it is protected to imagine that the HBO collection will solely be getting gayer and even messier. We’re at the moment dwelling via so-called “unprecedented instances,” and contemplating the continued legislative assault towards the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood, specifically transgender folks, I perceive why so many individuals are afraid of permitting queer characters to be sloppy, messy, or frankly, human.

However “The Final of Us” would not happen throughout unprecedented instances, it takes place throughout the finish instances. This is hoping we do not want a zombie outbreak in actual life to make folks understand a queer particular person current imperfectly is a non-issue.