HBO’s hit zombie apocalypse series The Last of Us is nominated for five MTV Movie & TV Awards this year, including one for Best Kiss. Can you guess which smooch is up for the bronze popcorn trophy? Hint: it’s not the one between Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman’s hot gay dads.
The series, based on the acclaimed video game of the same name, has been praised by critics, particularly for its third episode, which focused on Bartlett and Offerman’s characters. But the duo’s tender and passionate moments were snubbed by the MTV awards show in favor of a very different kiss between Anna Torv’s Tess and a fungus-addled extra.
At the end of the show’s second episode, Torv’s character sacrifices herself after being infected by the show’s mushroom plague, leading one of the rabid cordyceps zombies (played by Philip Prajoux) to lean in for a snog, tendrils reaching out of his mouth toward hers. And all due respect to Bartlett and Offerman’s heartrending love story, it really is one of the show’s most memorable moments.
Same-sex couples weren’t completely locked out of the Best Kiss race, however. Harry Styles and David Dawson are up for the award for their roles in the underwhelming My Policeman, alongside Selena Gomez and out model/actor Cara Delevingne for the most recent season of Only Murder in the Building.
Elsewhere, nonbinary stars Bella Ramsey and Emma D’Arcy are both nominated for Breakthrough Performance for their roles in The Last of Us and House of the Dragon, respectively. Out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson got a nod for Most Frightened Performance in Cocaine Bear, and Ramsey is also up for Best Duo with Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal. And of course, RuPaul’s Drag Race is up for three of the awards for unscripted shows, including a Best Host nomination for RuPaul.