Warning: The following article contains spoiler for episode 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us.
HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us has earned a reputation for staying dutifully faithful to its video game counterpart. The few deviations it made have paid off tenfold, proving to audiences that it can expertly walk the tightrope between regurgitation and re-imagination.
Aside from altering the way humans are infected, the show’s biggest deviation came during the first season’s third episode, “Long, Long Time,” when we witnessed the unexpected – and previously unexplored – romantic storyline between the gruff, closed-off survivalist Bill and his kind, personable partner Frank.
In the game, Frank is only ever mentioned briefly. We see his decayed corpse, his accompanying suicide note, and discover that he offed himself shortly after becoming infected. In the show, however, we get to see how he stole Bill’s heart.
In the dystopian aftermath of the cordyceps outbreak, Bill is left alone on his own island in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Preferring isolation to company, his reaction to Frank stumbling onto his property is a hesitant one. Bill reluctantly allows him to take a shower back at his place, cooks him a hot meal, and in a tender moment of vulnerability, ever so gently sings him a song on the piano. What follows is an achingly beautiful love story that sees the pair live out the rest of their lives in peace, free from the apocalypse and the bigotry of others.
Will Bill and Frank make another appearance in The Last of Us?
Bill and Frank’s storyline comes to a satisfying, albeit heartwrenching, conclusion in episode three of The Last of Us. The pair make the executive decision to end their own lives and die lying in each other’s arms. For Frank, this was a matter of passing on his own terms, for it was only a matter of time until his physical ailments became too much to withstand. For Bill, it was a matter of ending on a good note; loving and caring for Frank with his whole purpose. Living without him was not an option.
In both the game and the show, Joel and Tess develop an unspoken pact with Bill and Frank in that they trade and smuggle goods and supplies for each couple’s specific needs. In the game, Joel’s taking of the car battery he so desperately wants is the final favor Bill owed him. After that, he’s only ever heard from once more, but never seen again.
In the show, episode three concludes with Joel and Ellie turning up at Bill and Frank’s house only to discover that they are dead. Joel gets the car part he needs and hits the road with Ellie, in search of his brother. For both reasons, this is likely the last time we’ll see Bill, Frank, or the town of Lincoln.
However, due to the fact that Joel and Ellie could only transport so many supplies on their way out of Lincoln, it’s always possible that they will return to grab more, and with their return, we just might see some flashbacks between Bill and Joel, or even Frank and Tess.
That’s a big if, though. Bill and Frank’s storyline was concluded in such a way that touching it would be the equivalent of a desecration. Like the isolated life they lived, their storylines remain frozen in time, preserved in our hearts to return to whenever we need a jolt of joy.
New episodes of The Last of Us release weekly on HBO Max.
