Warning: This article contains spoilers for HBO Max’s The Last of Us episode three, “Long, Long Time.”
Nick Offerman just pulled off an amazing performance in HBO’s The Last of Us, and the similarities to his character Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation are unmistakable. Offerman played Ron for all seven seasons of NBC’s hit comedy series. He was the head of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department, a loner, and did everything he could to avoid working because he hated the government that much.
His character Bill in The Last of Us isn’t so different. Bill is a survivalist, and when the world is falling apart as a result of an outbreak of the cordyceps infection, he’s prepared with weapons, a security system, food, traps, a generator, and more to ensure he remains alive at all costs. It’s not until a man named Frank (Murray Bartlett) comes that he realizes that he realizes that being alone isn’t what’s best for him.
Neither Ron nor Bill like people all that much, or at all. Whenever someone would ask Ron about his house, he’d get defensive about it and didn’t like anybody to know exactly where he lived. Similarly, Bill isn’t open to the idea of inviting over friends when Frank mentioned that he’s been talking to Tess (Anna Torv). Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess come over anyway, and it goes about as awkwardly as you’d expect with Bill holding a gun throughout most of the meal.
Ron and Bill both have a deep love for food. When Frank arrives, Bill makes him a delicious meal that looks worthy of a five-star restaurant. His culinary prowess is on full display and even the presentation is impressive. In Parks & Rec, Ron Swanson isn’t one to turn down food, especially a complimentary breakfast buffet.
The list literally goes on. They’re both outdoorsy, rough-around-the-edges, and they both love their alcohol, (though thankfully Bill doesn’t have any access to snake oil juice).
They have awkward friendships, Ron calls people by the wrong name when they get too “chummy,” and Bill left Joel a goodbye note with a backhanded compliment about not really liking him. Similarly, Ron shows Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) his will for the man or animal who kills him.
In romantic relationships, they dramatically change who they are. And the characters hide items in unexpected places. Ron had several hiding spaces for bacon, and Bill did the same but for weapons.
If Ron and Bill ever met they’d be fast friends (and still mistrustful of each other), seeing as they’re basically each other’s multiverse variants.
