The Last Of Us Episode 5 To Air Three Days Early

This post contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" season 1, episode 3 "Long, Long Time."

You won't have to wait a "long, long time" for the next episode of "The Last of Us." HBO has decided to air it three days early, presumably to avoid competing with Super Bowl LVII next Sunday. That means "The Last of Us" season 1, episode 5 "Endure and Survive" will be available to stream on HBO Max starting Friday, February 10 at 9 p.m.

This is only applicable to streaming viewers. If you watch "The Last of Us" on TV, the HBO channel will still air in its regular programming slot on Sunday, February 12 at 9 p.m.

"Endure and Survive" is written by co-showrunner Craig Mazin and directed by Jeremy Webb ("The Umbrella Academy"), the same duo behind this week's "Last of Us" episode 4 "Please Hold to My Hand." Mazin ("Chernobyl") has so far been involved as a writer on all episodes of "The Last of Us," and he even directed the pilot.

Alongside the new release date for "The Last of Us" episode 5, HBO has given us a 30-second preview — see it after the jump — that is heavy on voiceover from Melanie Lynskey's Kansas City revolutionary leader, Kathleen, who made her debut in episode 4 this week and is an original character to the TV show.

Following the Sunday night premiere of episode 4, the official "Last of Us" Twitter account announced the early streaming date for episode 5 "Endure and Survive:"

Stream it early.

The next episode of #TheLastOfUs premieres FRIDAY 2/10 at 9PM on @HBOMax. pic.twitter.com/1jgFmxCLol

— The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) February 6, 2023

Personally, I'm still reeling from last week's episode "Long, Long Time," which took a break from the main action to tell the story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), two survivors of the fungal zombie apocalypse who managed to carve out a piece of happiness away from quarantine zones.

On the one hand, the highly-acclaimed episode packed an emotional wallop in its depiction of human mortality, mostly because it had me projecting my relationship with my own spouse onto Bill and Frank. On the other hand, while I've read several think pieces arguing that "Long, Long Time" subverted the Bury Your Gays trope, I was left questioning whether it really did subvert that trope or just did an expert job at maneuvering within it.

By the end of the episode, Bill and Frank are effectively buried in a one-and-done fashion, while Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are left to raid their house for supplies and continue their adventures for the rest of the series.

Still, whatever little qualms any of us might have, I think it's safe to say this series has joined Netflix's "Arcane" in breaking the video game adaptation curse.

Once more for the road: "The Last of Us" season 1, episode 5 "Endure and Survive" hits HBO Max early on Friday, February 10 at 9 p.m.