The third episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us” is a significant departure from what got here earlier than it. That’s as a result of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) solely seem originally and the tip of the episode. Most of the episode issues Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (“The White Lotus“‘s Murray Bartlett) and their relationship all through the pandemic brought on by the fungus that modified all the pieces on the earth. The collection exhibits us a lot, way more than the online game the present relies on did, and it expands their lives significantly — and modifications their ending. Ahead, we’re breaking down what occurs to them within the present, the modifications the collection made to their plot, and why it is all of the extra devastating for Joel and Ellie.
Bill and Frank in “The Last of Us” Show
At the start of the episode, Ellie and Joel are touring on foot to the place Bill and Frank stay in Lincoln, MA. There, they’ll get provides and perhaps even a automobile with Bill’s assist to allow them to hold going west and attempt to discover Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Joel explains that when the outbreak started, the army herded up individuals in small cities to deliver them to quarantine zones. But in the event that they came upon there wasn’t sufficient room for the brand new individuals, the army killed them as an alternative.
The present then switched to a flashback and exhibits Bill again when the outbreak first began. He watches because the army rounds up the remainder of his village’s residents, however since he is a prepper together with his personal stockpile of provides, together with a generator, he hides till they’re gone. Then, he raids the city for much more provides and spends a very long time on their lonesome, shoring up his defenses. He builds subtle traps to maintain each the contaminated and human scavengers out. He’s on their lonesome, and his home and city each fall into disrepair round him. But he is alive.
Four years later, a person set off one in all his alarms and falls right into a ditch he dug. That man is Frank, and he isn’t contaminated; he is simply making an attempt to make it from Baltimore to Boston. He asks Bill if he may simply have a meal earlier than heading out. They argue, however ultimately Bill agrees and even lets Frank bathe. Frank is in awe of Bill’s home, despite the fact that it is coated in mud. After they eat lunch, Frank finds Bill’s piano, which he says belonged to his mom. Frank searched the sheet music and finds a group of Linda Ronstadt songs. He begins taking part in “Long Long Time,” however he performs a bit too quick and is not a very good singer. Bill takes over and performs it slowly. Frank asks what woman Bill is singing about, and Bill admits there is no such thing as a woman. “I do know,” Frank replies, and so they kiss, each of them shaking and teary. Bill lastly tells Frank his title.
Frank waits in mattress whereas Bill showers. Once they’re in mattress, Bill admits that he is solely ever slept with one girl earlier than. Frank says that he isn’t “a whore” so he’ll be staying a pair days so he would not really feel like he traded intercourse for lunch.
The present jumps three years into the long run, and so they’re totally collectively. Frank slowly makes use of Bill’s provides to enhance the city, which Bill thinks is a waste of time. Frank says if you happen to love one thing, you care for it. Frank can be an artist, and shortly their home is roofed in drawings and work he is accomplished of Bill. Then Frank reveals that he is been taking part in round on the radio, and he discovered a pleasant girl whom he needs to ask to go to. Bill is livid, however Frank wins. The girl is Tess (Anna Torv), and she or he brings Joel along with her, a scenario neither Joel nor Bill is comfortable about it. They agree to assist one another with smuggling but additionally with friendship.
One night time raiders assault the city and set off Bill’s alarms. Trying to defend them, Bill is shot and Frank carries him again inside. Ultimately, they’re protected, and Frank nurses Bill again to well being.
The present cuts to 10 years later. Frank is sick and makes use of a wheelchair, and Bill takes care of him. He decides he needs to have one final nice day with Bill after which for Bill to place painkillers in his wine so he can die in his sleep. Reluctantly, Bill agrees. But as soon as they each drink their wine, Bill reveals he put ache killers in each their wines in order that they’ll exit collectively. They go to mattress collectively and die of their sleep.
In the current, Joel is comfortable to have reached Lincoln with Ellie, however realizes rapidly due to the rundown nature of the city that one thing very flawed has occurred. Bill and Frank’s home is falling aside, and their final dinner has gotten moldy on the desk. Ellie is clearly amazed by their home although, and Joel tells her to remain in the lounge whereas he investigates.
Ellie finds a letter Bill wrote, addressed “To whomever however in all probability Joel.” It contains the important thing to his automobile. Ellie reads the letter to him, which asks them to not go into the bed room the place the our bodies are. Bill guesses that Joel discovered the letter, since nobody else may have gotten previous all his traps and protections. “Take something you want,” he writes.
“Anyway, I by no means appreciated you, however nonetheless, it is like we’re mates. Almost,” the letter continues. “And I respect you. So I’m going to inform you one thing since you’re in all probability the one one who’ll perceive.”
“I used to hate the world, and I used to be comfortable when everybody died,” Bill writes. “But I used to be flawed. Because there was one individual value saving. That’s what I did. I saved him, and I protected him. That’s why males such as you and me are right here. We have a job to do.”
Ellie continues to studying, “And God assist any motherf*ckers who stand in our method. I depart you all of my weapons and tools. Use them to maintain . . .” Ellie pauses. Joel takes the letter from her and reads Tess’s title. Bill takes the letter and sadly reads it exterior the home earlier than crumbling it up.
How Bill and Frank Are Different From “The Last of Us” Video Game
Bill and Frank’s storyline is by far the largest change to the plot of “The Last of Us” the TV present has made to date. In the sport, when Joel and Ellie get to Lincoln, Bill continues to be alive. Bill is a lonesome, surly, and paranoid survivor who hesitantly agrees to assist Joel and Ellie get a working automobile to proceed their journey west as a result of he owes Joel a favor. His city can be overrun with zombies, and so they should combat them off to get all of the provides they want.
Bill always warns Joel in regards to the risks of getting near individuals. “Once upon a time, I had somebody I cared about. It was a companion,” he says. “Somebody I needed to take care of. And on this world, that type of sh*t’s good for one factor: gettin’ ya killed. So, you recognize what I did? I wisened the f*ck up. And I spotted it is gotta be simply me.”
Near the tip of their quest, they discover the physique of somebody who died by suicide in an deserted home. Bill reveals this was his companion, Frank. Frank wrote in a notice that he bought sick and bored with Bill and tried to depart, however gave up as an alternative. “Trying to depart this city will kill me. Still higher than spending one other day with you,” he writes. Joel and Ellie ultimately get a automobile and depart.
Why Did “The Last of Us” Change Bill and Frank’s Story?
Frank and Bill’s storyline within the tv present has a very completely different that means than the one within the sport. In the sport, the storyline focuses on how arduous it’s to stay with different individuals and the way in which that relationships are so fragile within the midst of the apocalypse. It’s a really cynical take a look at love, affection, and partnership. But Bill and Frank suppose they’d have been higher off alone. It reinforces Joel’s personal fears about conveying Ellie west and getting too near her.
But the TV present’s storyline is about how that cynical view of humanity — even throughout an apocalypse — is flawed. Bill and Frank made a good looking life collectively, carved out amidst a lot ache and chaos. They modified one another’s lives.
Their relationship, and Bill’s change of coronary heart then, has deep results on Joel. It reminds him of the individuals he is misplaced — Sarah (Nico Parker), Tess, and his brother, Tommy — and the way he failed to guard them. And it brings into sharp reduction the issue of Ellie. Should he probability rising near her, two individuals who’ve misplaced actually all the pieces and might solely rely upon one another? Or ought to he keep away from her, lest he fail at defending her, too, and it simply leaves him in ache and alone as soon as once more? Joel and Ellie will each battle with their loss and trauma because the collection continues.
What Is the Significance of Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” in “The Last of Us?”
“Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt is not only the music Bill and Frank play on piano collectively; it is also the music that Ellie performs within the automobile as she and Joel depart city. Ellie has no thought who Ronstadt is, in fact, and Joel says it is high-quality to play it. He appears affected by the music’s lyrics. “Long Long Time” is how Bill and Frank first join. It cuts by way of their deep loneliness to their emotional core.
The music is about loneliness within the face of tolerating love. For Joel, it is a warning and a requiem. “And I believe I’m gonna love you / For a protracted, very long time,” Ronstadt sings. His love for his daughter and for Tess won’t ever go away, and it is a reward and a curse each. To let himself take care of Ellie would ease a few of his ache, however at what value?
Did Offerman and Bartlett Really Play the Piano in “The Last of Us”?
Offerman could be very musical and grew up taking part in piano and saxophone (as his “Parks and Recreation” character, Ron Swanson, confirmed off a number of occasions). In the 2018 movie “Hearts Beat Loud,” his character performed guitar, bass, and drums.
Bartlett, in the meantime, hasn’t talked about piano-playing abilities earlier than, however there’s a trace that he may need realized only for this position. In a September 2021 interview with The Guardian, he advised the reporter that he’d had an anxiousness dream about producers critiquing his piano-playing abilities. If we learn between the traces, these producers haunting his desires may need been “The Last of Us” producers. At the very least, he actually tried to play piano for the position.