In time third episode its first season Last of us brought tears to the dachas by staging a heartbreaking story about Check (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). In “Long-Long” fans video game which the series is an adaptation, were really able to discover these symbols in depth through a tragic and touching story that was not in the original script.
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But even so it episode the most touching, the story of Bill and Frank is even more tragic in Game. We explain why. Beware spoilers!
Bill and Frank’s past on the show
What the show has the opportunity to present in Long, Long is an alternate course of the relationship between Bill and Frank. The episode begins by going back to the beginning of the pandemic to show how Frank, the “survivor”, built himself an entire neighborhood, safe and isolated from the rest of the world, in a small town on the outskirts of Boston. A few years later, this lonely man discovers that Frank is stuck on the outskirts of his estate, trying to get to the big city, and Bill opens both his door and his heart to him.
Frank and Bill’s meeting changes his life forever. He soon discovers a potential partner in Frank, and their relationship takes an intimate turn from the start. The episode shows how, over the years, the couple built a life together, relying on each other not only to survive, but also to have the willpower to do so.
Years later, it is revealed that Frank has serious health problems. He uses a wheelchair and needs medicine from Bill. In 2023, while present in the series’ narrative, Frank decides that he has had enough of this life and explains to his companion his intention to commit suicide. Pulling a pack of pills from his pocket, Frank asks Bill to dissolve them in wine after deciding that this will be his last day. But when it comes time to grant Frank’s wish, Bill reveals that he slipped the pills into Frank’s wine as well as his own, condemning himself to the same fate as her husband.
When Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) arrive at Bill and Frank’s house some time later, they find an empty house and a letter addressed to Joel. In this last one, Bill explains: “I used to hate the world and was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong, because there was a person worth saving.”
The tragedy of Bill and Frank in the game
As heartbreaking as the story of Bill and Frank on the show is, it at least deserves to give this couple a life and a “happy” ending: two men die, and it’s tragic, of course, but they’re together to the very end. the end. In the video game The Last of Us, the end of their relationship is even more devastating because Bill and Frank part ways on very bad terms and Frank decides to hang himself after being bitten by an infected.
The video game players never even saw Frank alive and only discovered him dead before learning more about him when Bill gathered some information about him. In particular, he says: “There was a time, there was a person I cared about. It was a partner. Someone I should have taken care of. killed himself.”
Bill introduces Frank as his “partner”, but the game never explicitly states whether the two men were in love or were lovers, although it is assumed to be. However, while we see Bill’s distress when he discovers Frank’s body, all of his affection for the latter, the letter, which the player may (or may not) find nearby, highlights just how much their relationship has suffered. Here is what she says:
“Well, Bill, I doubt you’ll ever find that word because you’re too scared to go to this part of town. But if for some reason you find him, I want you to know that I hate you. Tired of this shitty city and your arrogant attitude I expect more from life than this and you’ll never understand (…) But I think you’re right Trying to leave this city will kill me. It’s always better than spending another day with you. Good luck Frank.”
Bill’s character in the game is much more introverted and does not display the warmer nature of the character as shown in the series. His reaction to Frank’s death is more angry, but we can still see traces of affection that are far from insignificant. The fate of the character in the game is also more nebulous, as it is not known what happens to Bill after he comes to the aid of Joel and Ellie.
In any case, it is very likely that Bill of the Game will end his life alone and unhappy, deprived of Frank’s death after this painful separation. So, even if the two men meet a tragic end in the series, they are nonetheless lucky that they were able to stay together until the end and live happily for many years. In the context of the end of the world in a zombie environment, we could talk about a happy ending, after all…
New episodes of The Last of Us are available every Monday on Prime Video.
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