This one contains spoilers. If you haven't watched the second episode of The Last of Us, maybe go do that first.

Said episode includes a moment which struck us as super gross and is unsurprisingly being hailed a worst (as in most disgusting) ever.

Australia's Anna Torv plays Tess, smuggling and snuggling partner of main character Joel played by Pedro Pascal.

Previously listed in the series' Wikipedia entry as a recurring role, now downgraded to guest, she came to a nasty end in the second episode.

Since the show makes frequent use of flashbacks it is possible we'll see more of her but she's now obviously no longer a part of the main story which is about Joel and Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) journey.

In this episode much is made of Tess and Joel sharing a dark past so we actually think it very likely that their history will be explored, which would mean more screen time for our Anna.

How was her end nasty?

She went out in an heroic flaming blaze of glory but not before one of the show's unique take on zombies began to kiss her.

Fungal threads emerging from her pustulant paramour's mouth and wiggling towards hers hungrily.

It really is quite a moment.

Drawing obvious comparison's to Sigourney Weaver's near kiss from a xenomorph but this one might connect and she doesn't survive the experience.

Interestingly this moment is a departure from the game's story which reviewers have remarked the series is largely incredibly faithful to and the showrunners have been questioned about it.

Where did that clicker kiss come from?

Mazin: We were doing early research on how fungus appears in reality, and we had a really good template for what it looked like in the game. We wanted to go further and say, “OK, what are the different forms and functions?” I found this image that an artist had created of somebody that had become subsumed by fungus and in their mouth there were mushrooms. We were already talking about tendrils coming out and we were asking these philosophical questions, “Why are infected people violent? If the point is to spread the fungus, why do they need to be violent?” We landed on that they don’t. They’re violent because we resist, but what if you don’t? What does it look like if you just stand perfectly still and let them do this to you?

Then we landed on this nightmare fuel. It’s disturbing and it’s violative. I think it’s very primal in the way it invades your own body. To use an overused word, it’s triggering. It’s remarkable combination of Neil’s direction, Anna Torv’s acting when there isn’t obviously anything there and our visual effects department doing this gorgeous work to make it all come together and feel real and terrible.

Druckmann: Part of it was the deviation from the game, where Tess is killed by soldiers. We had a long conversation about what’s more thematically appropriate for this episode, which is called “Infected” and is about the threat of the outside. We’ve left the quarantine zone and that led to this other version where she’s giving an opening to escape to Joel and Ellie by blowing up a bunch of infected. Because we’re cruel to the characters we love so much, it felt like she knows she’s done for, and then the lighter doesn’t work, and we take her all the way to the edge of horror before we finally give her an out.

So Anna Torv may now be queen of the sci-fi horror kiss.

Almost certainly not a title she ever sought or imagined being crowned with but life can be very unexpected.

The Last of Us is streaming now on Binge.

[ Main Image: The Last of Us - Anna Torv, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. Credit: Warner Bros. via IMDb.com. ]

References

Martin, Laurie (January 23, 2023). That 'The Last of Us' Episode 2 Kiss: the Worst in TV History? Esquire.

Moreau, Jordan (January 22, 2023). ‘The Last of Us’ Creators on THAT Clicker Moment, Flour Theories and Changes From the Game: ‘If People Are Upset, I Don’t Blame Them’ (EXCLUSIVE). Variety.

Wikipedia. The Last of Us (TV series). (viewed January 24, 2023)