Three episodes in, obviously by HBO Our Last is a faithful adaptation of the original video game from 2013 – so much so that the lines and frames may have been straight out of the game. However, that does not mean there are no changes. Series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are making strategic adjustments to several elements of the game for the new vehicle and to keep up with modern sensibilities. The first change is with Joel’s partner, Tess, and How did her story finally end in volume 2. Whether that’s an improvement is debatable, but for a program dedicated to preserving the anatomical structure of the original, it’s remarkable.
The filmmakers made another big change in the third episode, and it’s one that’s clearly 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 have been mentioned a few times in the previous two episodes, seen as collaborators in Joel and Tess’s smuggling ring. If you haven’t played yet Our Last, those names mean nothing to you, but to those who were, Bill was, at least, a beloved character. Bill is gay in the game, but it’s vaguely mentioned so many players miss it.
The decision to remain silent, alluded to in a line of dialogue and a hidden letter, is both praised and criticized – it’s easy to overlook, but it’s also largely avoided. gay-character tropesand allow Bill to be a human being and not “a sexual expression,” as Danielle Riendeau of Polygon said at that time. Naughty Dog earned GLAAD recognition for his role as Bill in the organization’s film. list of the “hottest new LGBTQ characters” of the year.
However, the game’s plot is not without its irony: It was criticized for “burying its homosexuals”. Bill didn’t die, but Frank did – he was found hanged in a house. While Bill was left in a less safe part of town, he didn’t explicitly die; he never heard the news again.
In the “Bill’s Town” section of Our Last, Joel and Ellie meet Bill in Lincoln, Massachusetts, a small town northwest of Boston. Apparently Bill had been preparing for a long time, he had set ropes and traps around his area of town to keep out humans, infected or not. (And the area around Lincoln has a ton infected.) Joel and Ellie need help — a car specifically. While Bill doesn’t have a car, he does have parts that they can use to fix cars. As you might expect, things got a little worse. There is a lot of movement in the town and fighting the epidemic; it was very intense compared to episode 3 of the show.
“Bill’s Town” is a fun part of the game with lots of action — including a bloater! — but it also has many smaller moments and quips between Bill, Joel, and Ellie; It’s clear that they both have complicated relationships, but still feel gentle with each other. Bill and Joel’s relationship mirror each other, which you can see as we continue this chapter and we learn about Frank’s fate. After some close calls with the infected, the group hides in a house. Frank’s house. That’s where they found his body, hanged. He was bitten, they knew, and wanted to die before he turned.
There is a coin that the player can pick up near the body, but it is easy to miss. In the letter, Frank chastises Bill for fear of leaving his safe zone, and tells Bill straight out that he hates him. Frank says Bill could never give Frank the life he wanted to live.
You don’t have to give the letter to Bill, but you can—and that obviously upsets him: “So that’s how you feel,” Bill said. “Well, fuck you too, Frank. Damn fool.” Bill and Frank’s relationship in the game, depending on how the player deduces, is a tragic one, but it’s not nearly as appreciated objectively.
It’s a stark contrast to Bill and Frank we see in the show, where a tender love grows in the apocalypse. Episode 3 is filled with sweet, petty moments between the two, and while arguing, their argument definitely takes on a different tone. It’s a romance that makes up one of the best episodes of Our Last, and also stand out among the prestigious TVs. Sure, Bill and Frank both died in the end, but it was the end of a challenging but beautiful life.
