Love finds many expressions, but its sole certainty is that it always ends. This inescapable reality underpins much of human culture: what is most art, music, theatre, cinema and television other than an attempt to grapple with the emotional turmoil that results?
A devastating new contribution to this artistic tradition finds an unlikely home in episode three of the new HBO series The Last of Us. Unlikely, because it is based on a popular video game, set in an apocalyptic alternative universe in which most of humanity has been reduced to zombie-like cannibals. What remains of our species is confined to totalitarian quarantine zones and desperate raiding parties. This is not conventionally fertile ground for romance.
