Forget the infamous Starbucks cup, this massive editing gaffe on the latest episode of HBO’s The Last Of Us suspends disbelief way more than a cup of coffee.
Is it even a massive HBO show if there isn’t a wild editing error fans can turn into a cultural moment?
The Last Of Us experienced such a scene, which I reckon was bound to happen. One eagle-eyed fan spotted it when Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) trekked to The River Of Death through snowy terrain in Episode 6.
In an aerial shot showing the vast, ice-covered expanse, if you look closely you can actually see members of the film/camera crew standing near the tree line. RIP.
Here’s a closer look:
How people even notice this stuff is beyond me. The crew blend in so well with the trees I would never have even noticed.
You’d think this is just a fun little gaffe for The Last Of Us fans to chortle over while we cope with the crushing cliff-hanger Episode 6 left us with, but in true Twitter style, debate is already raging on whether it was ~problematic~ to point out the error because it somehow takes away from the show/unfairly targets the editor (whose literal job is to avoid things like this).
I was really scanning the gorgeous wide drone shot when I caught it. I just wanted to let them know. I never expected all of this though. Ugh. 🤦🏼♂️
— Scott T. Jones Guitarist/Composer (@stjguitarist) February 22, 2023
Look. Editing gaffes are FUN. They give fans an inside joke and in doing so build a bit of community. Plenty of shows have them, all of them are memes, and if anything, it makes people go back to the episode and rewatch it.
It’s really not that deep, and I sincerely hope this editing error is left in the show (unlike the one in House of the Dragon) so future viewers can accidentally stumble across it and feel like they’ve struck gold, too.
