We are now officially more than halfway through the first season of The Last of Us, and the show just keeps getting better and better.
Spoilers ahead!
This week's episode saw Joel (Pedro Pascal) finally reunite with his brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna).
It brought to life one of the video game's most famous scenes.
And gave us some monkeys on the loose, which was kind of fun!
But one scene in particular really had fans talking, and it's as understated as it is important: Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finding a menstrual cup.
Having met up with Tommy and his partner, Maria (Rutina Wesley), they offer Joel and Ellie shelter, supplies, and new clothes. Maria not only leaves out a "super fucking purple" jacket for her, but also a Diva Cup with a little instruction manual.
Ellie picks it up, and has an a-ha moment where she realizes what it's for, and follows it up with a simple "gross" as any 14-year-old would.
Unfortunately, what's remarkable about this scene is that it addresses menstruation at all. So few shows (especially in this genre) will even address the existence of periods, let alone give any amount of screen time to it.
In a previous episode, we saw Ellie find a box of tampons in a basement (where that fucking infected was wheezing under rubble and giving me nightmares), and it shows the reality of being a person with a period in a world that is falling apart.
In an interview with Vulture, TLOU showrunner Craig Mazin talked about the scene, saying, "In a post-apocalypse, it’s annoying to have to deal with that and have a shortage of options. Why wouldn’t we show it? Especially because our co-lead is a 14-year-old girl. This is part of her life!"
He went on to say, "We do this all the time in shows with things like guns. People don’t know how to load guns, and we don’t explain it to them. Why should we have to explain this?"
Fans of the show and game loved the scene, and they were quick to get on Twitter to talk about it.
I am so obsessed with #TheLastOfUs finally showing us how people deal with menstruation in the apocalypse
menstrual cup representation on this week’s The Last of Us… that’s what we like to see
They had a menstrual cup on the latest episode of The Last Of Us. That is very practical in a zombie apocalypse.
a menstrual cup finally the last of us showing how it works having a period in a post apocalyptic world #TheLastOfUs
The menstrual cup thing in the last of us was a really sweet touch. A lotta zombie/apocalypse media just ignore the whole thing, was nice to see it acknowledged openly
i really like how the last of us just acknowledges period products. like they’re just there. existing. i’ve never seen a menstrual cup in tv before then
The Last of Us's storytelling continues to exceed everyone's expectations, and I can't wait to see what's next (even though I know I'm gonna cry...AGAIN).
