Three episodes, it’s clear that HBO The last of us is a faithful adaptation of the original 2013 video game – so much so that the lines and frames may have been pulled straight from the game. That’s not to say there aren’t changes, though. Series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are making strategic adjustments to certain game elements for new media and to catch up with modern sensibilities. The first of those changes was with Joel’s partner, Tess, and how her story ultimately ended in Episode 2. Whether that’s an improvement is debatable, but for a show dedicated to the preservation of the anatomy of the source material, it was remarkable.
The filmmakers made another major change in the third installment, and it’s unequivocally for the better.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for the third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us and the original The Last of Us video game.]
Bill and Frank were mentioned a few times in the last two episodes, referred to as collaborators in Joel and Tess’ smuggling ring. If you haven’t played The last of us, these names mean nothing to you, but for those who have them, Bill, at least, is a beloved character. Bill is gay in the game, but he’s referenced so loosely that many players missed him.
The decision to keep it muted, hinted at in a single line of dialogue and a hidden letter, was both praised and criticized – it was easy to ignore, but it also avoided many gay character tropes and allowed Bill to be human and not “a manifestation of sexuality”, as Danielle Riendeau of Polygon said at the time. Naughty Dog has been recognized by GLAAD for portraying Bill in the organization’s list of “Most Intriguing New LGBTQ Characters” of the Year.
However, the game’s storyline does not completely avoid tropes: it has been criticized for “burying its homosexuals”. Bill does not die, but Frank does – he is found hanged in a house. While Bill is left in a less safe part of town, he does not explicitly die; he never heard from him again.
In the “Bill’s Town” segment of The last of us, Joel and Ellie meet Bill in Lincoln, Massachusetts, a small town northwest of Boston. Bill has clearly been preparing for some time, having suspended his part of town with a host of tripwires and traps meant to keep out humans, infected or not. (And the area around Lincoln has a tonne infected.) Joel and Ellie need help, especially a car. Although Bill doesn’t have a car, he has parts they can use to fix a car. As you can imagine, everything is going a bit crazy. There’s a lot of moving around the city and fighting the infected; it’s very intense compared to episode 3 of the series.
“Bill’s Town” is an exciting section of the game with loads of action – including some bloat! – but there are also a lot of little moments and banter between Bill, Joel and Ellie; it’s clear that they all have complicated relationships, but still feel a fondness for each other. Bill and Joel’s relationships mirror each other, which you can see as the chapter progresses, and we learn of Frank’s fate. After a few close calls with infected, the group hides in a house. Frank’s house. That’s where they find his body, hanged. He got bitten, they learned, and wanted to die before he turned around.
There is a note the player can pick up close to the body, but it’s easy to miss. In the letter, Frank berates Bill for being afraid to leave the safety of his area and bluntly tells Bill that he hates him. Bill could never have given Frank the life he wanted to live, Frank says.
You don’t have to give Bill the letter, but you can – and that clearly upsets him: “So that’s how you feel,” Bill says. “Well, fuck you too, Frank. Fucking idiot. Bill and Frank’s relationship in the game, by how players deduced it, is tragic, but almost objectively underserved.
It’s a stark contrast to the Bill and Frank we see on the show, where tender love grows into the apocalypse. Episode 3 is filled with sweet little moments between the two, and while they bicker, their arguments definitely have a different tone. It’s a romance that makes for one of the best episodes of The last of us, and also stands out among prestige TVs. Sure, Bill and Frank both die at the end, but that’s the end of a tough but beautiful life.
