Warning: spoilers ahead for The Last of Us episode 7.
As episode 7 delivered another wonderful plotline that had fans in tears, The Last of Us stars are eloquently putting down homophobic haters left, right, and centre.
The latest episode of the iconic video game series’s TV programme, based on the popular video game franchise, tells what occurred to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) before she met Joel (Pedro Pascal), when she and her best friend-turned-romantic interest Riley (Storm Reid) enjoy a disastrous night together.
Riley sneaks into Ellie’s bedroom at Fedra military school to take her away on a fun-filled excursion in the mall, where they have free run to muck around in stores, on playground rides, and at the arcade after being absent for weeks.
Ellie kisses Riley on the lips after urging Riley not to leave her on a mission with the Fireflies rebel movement, and Riley then reveals that she feels the same way.
Before the episode aired, Euphoria star Storm, 19, spoke out about the homophobic backlash she expected from the storyline, despite the overwhelming support, after episode three of the show, which told the beautiful story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), received both love and vitriol from trolls.
‘As Bella said when episode three came out: If you don’t like it, don’t watch,’ Storm remarked, referring to Bella’s recent statement on individuals who oppose LGBT+ themes.
The actor underlined that if someone is ‘concerned about who I love’, then they need to get their ‘priorities right’.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Storm pointed out that there are ‘so many other things to worry about in life’, which is why it’s so confusing why anybody would have an issue with young people expressing their love for each other, calling the negative comments ‘nonsense’.
She continued: ‘I’m not only representing women. I’m representing young Black women and I’m representing young queer women that are experiencing new feelings and new relationships.’
Storm opened up about how Riley and Ellie are ‘on the tightrope of a friendship and having a crush’, sharing ‘flirtatious energy’ with each other in the flashback episode.
Describing the characters’ relationship as ‘beautiful’, she added: ‘I’m sure people are gonna have things to say on Sunday, but I don’t care because I’m proud of what we did and I’m proud of the story that we told and I’m proud of the people that we’re representing.’
Earlier this month, Bella, 19, told GQ that she didn’t feel ‘particularly anxious’ about trolls who had an issue with LGBT+ storylines.
‘I know people will think what they want to think. But they’re gonna have to get used to it,’ said the Game of Thrones star, who identifies as gender fluid and previously said she doesn’t mind what pronouns are used to describe her.
‘If you don’t want to watch the show because it has gay storylines, because it has a trans character, that’s on you, and you’re missing out.’
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW, with new episodes released on Mondays.
Source My Celebrity Life.