The Last Of Us director was determined not to show Bill and Frank’s dead bodies in episode 3

The Last of Us director Peter Hoar has explained why he didn’t think it wasn’t “necessary” to film Bill and Frank’s corpses at the end of the third episode of the hit series.

Based on the popular video game, HBO’s post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us won favour with both the critics and public alike for its brilliantly adapted plot and moving performancex from leading cast members, including Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey and Melanie Lynskey.

The standout episode for many LGBTQ+ viewers, however, was undoubtedly “Long, Long Time”. Directed by Peter Hoar – for which he landed an Emmy nomination – it starred Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) as gay lovers Bill and Frank.

Detouring away from the main plot, the audience followed the nuanced and tender romance between the two pandemic survivors over two decades. In the end, the pair decided to reclaim their power and die peacefully in each other’s arms after Frank was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Fans praised the show for subverting the toxic “bury your gays” trope, and notably appreciated the sensitive decision to not show Bill and Frank’s dead bodies at the end of the third episode.

In an interview with Deadline, Hoar explained why the team upended expectations in the otherwise death-ridden world of The Last of Us.

Frank and Bill in The Last of Us. (HBO)

“That was always on the page, never to show the dead bodies,” he explained. “It’s also something we discussed as a group at the very beginning. It’s not gratuitous.

“I think what [executive producer] Neil Druckmann would probably say is that the world of The Last of Us is a very brutal one. And in a brutal world, people are gonna get hurt and people are gonna experience horrendous trauma to their bodies and their minds.”