It seems like Naughty Dog has snuck a lot of references into the latest episode of HBO's The Last of Us. That's not really surprising, considering Neil Druckmann is the showrunner, alongside Craig Mazin. The show has already made some neat references to the game, with one of the major ones being a cameo by Dina, who doesn't appear in the games until Part 2. Episode 7 is based on the Left Behind DLC for Part 1, and was already filled with references to other Naughty Dog games. Evidently, the show has followed suit.In Left Behind, Ellie and Riley come upon an abandoned food court named Macho Nacho. We didn't think much of it then, except that it would probably be terrible to work in a place with a name like that. Fast forward to 2016, and somewhere amidst running through a jungle, Nathan Drake characteristically passes a quip about Elena working at Macho Nacho – surprise, surprise, she hated it. And finally we come to today, where Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid's characters come upon it in the show (thanks, GamesRadar).Does this mean that Uncharted and The Last of Us are in the same universe? Is there a Clicker version of Tom Holland's Nathan Drake running around somewhere? And, does he click way more than other Clickers, given how much he likes to talk? If you think this is confusing, early on in the episode, there's also a very evident Naughty Dog logo on a keychain. So, not only could the two IPs be in the same universe, but the studio that created them also exists in-universe. I suppose that makes the in-universe Neil Druckmann God. My brain hurts.
While those who've played the Left Behind DLC, will know how tragically it ends, it seems some fans decided to have a laugh at the expense of the HBO Max Twitter handle. The handle Tweeted an image of Ellie and Riley looking at one another with the caption "That best friend stare". If you've played the game, or watched the episode by now, you know that the two are not just friends. The replies were filled with hilarious reactions to the caption.