Blanket's cameo in The Last of Us wins new fans for Kingston-area farm
CBC
Jacob Murray has a piece of advice for anyone preparing for the worst: "If you want a blanket that'll survive to the apocalypse, you need Canadian wool."
He can back up his claim — well, sort of — thanks to HBO's hit show The Last of Us.
Murray and his partner Rachel Hawkshaw were sitting on the couch a few weeks back when they decided to give the series a try.
The show is based on a video game of the same name and is set during a pandemic triggered by a fungus that turns people into zombie-like creatures called "the infected."
The couple planned to start with the pilot, but accidentally clicked on episode eight. Moments in, they pressed pause when they spotted a familiar object — a green and grey checked blanket.
"We looked at each other like, no way — is that ours?" Murray recalled. "We were doing high-fives on the couch."
Murray co-owns Topsy Farms on Amherst Island near Kingston, Ont., where they raise sheep and sell wool products.
Seeing the blanket brought back a memory from more than a year earlier when an entertainment industry props buyer had reached out about purchasing one.
After seeing the show, Murray said the farm emailed the company and confirmed the blanket wrapped tightly around Pedro Pascal's character Joel was indeed one of theirs.
The blanket made more than a passing appearance, showing up about 30 times in the episode — so often that Murray said he began to think of it as a "character" instead of a prop.
The show's other star, Bella Ramsey, has since shared a photo of the blanket on social media along with some heart emojis.
Murray said the farm has a strong social media presence and a large fan base of its own, but it still means a lot to have one of their products figure so prominently on a show that's been watched by millions.
"We're just a family farm trying to keep the farmland from getting sold off as cottage country," he said. "We're trying to keep it wild, but we know that in order to save the farm, we have to share the farm."
