The Last Of Us Just Had Its Game Of Thrones Starbucks Cup Moment
"The Last of Us" has maintained its high quality throughout Season 1, with each episode scoring at least 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and multiple critics deeming the series Emmy-worthy. Viewership has also been high: The show essentially 'outpaced' "House of the Dragon" in streaming numbers when it premiered (via Deadline). Meanwhile, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal have become beloved internet stars, with Pascal even earning an SNL sketch alluding to his success among adoring teens and tweens.
But that doesn't mean the series is perfect. Despite the beautiful wide shots, stirring character development, and heart-pounding action, "The Last of Us" is apparently capable of slipping up sometimes. In the series' latest episode, which followed Ellie (Ramsey) and Joel (Pascal) through a wintry wonderland toward a Firefly outpost, one tiny detail caught the attention of eagle-eyed viewers. Even with a pristinely produced show like "The Last of Us," the internet can find the slightest mistake.
Some of the crew are seen in a snowy overhead shot
"Kin," the sixth episode of "The Last of Us" Season 1, features some spectacular scenery. As Ellie and Joel traverse the snowy wilderness, the camera drifts across long expanses of untouched snowy hills and massive craggy mountain ranges. And fans certainly noticed the excellent cinematography, with one Twitter user even saying that the episodes' shots were among the best on television.
But nothing is sacred on Twitter, and another fan pointed out a flaw in one of those beautiful wide shots. Apparently, some crew members of "The Last of Us" can be seen in the far bottom left of one of the episode's striking overhead shots (pictured above). It's a tiny error, but of course, on a show like "The Last of Us," nothing is tiny. This momentous occasion may even be the "Starbucks cup" moment of this otherwise spotless show.
For those who may not remember, HBO's Starbucks cup moment occurred during the highly controversial eighth season of "Game of Thrones." During a celebratory scene at Winterfell, a modern-looking coffee cup was plainly seen on the table in front of Daenerys (Emilia Clarke). Of course, that Starbucks moment was heralded as another indication that "Game of Thrones" had jumped the shark, whereas "The Last of Us"' error is more of a minuscule misstep in an otherwise great series. However, we digress. The good news is that other shows competing for Emmys can now breathe easy, knowing that "The Last of Us" can sometimes do wrong.
Check out the gaffe while you can
Funny errors in big-budget productions are nothing new. In addition to the "Game of Thrones" coffee up, "The Mandalorian" had its own goof in Season 2, Episode 4 when in the background of an action sequence, viewers could see a person wearing jeans trying to hide. Apparently, they didn't get far enough out of the way of the camera, and they made their way into the episode and into "Star Wars" lore.
Of course, it wasn't long until "Jeans Guy" was taken out of the episode. If you go to Disney+ now to try to catch them, you'll be sorely disappointed. Thankfully, the goof exists with numerous pictures online, which is also the case with the "Game of Thrones" cup, which actually isn't from Starbucks despite the fact the company got $2.3 billion in free advertising online from the gaffe. As such, it probably won't be long until HBO catches wise and removes the crew from the shot in question from "The Last of Us."
Thanks to streaming platforms and digital releases, many projects appear to be continual works in progress. Disney patched some CGI for a scene in "Thor: Love and Thunder" when the movie went up on Disney+. Netflix also fixed a "Stranger Things" detail after an episode's release to address a continuity error. Who needs to get it right the first time when you can fix it in post? Or in this case, post-post.