This article contains spoilers for both HBO’s The Last of Us episode three (“Long Long Time”) and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part I. Please proceed with caution if you have not seen this episode or played the video game!
TW: Mentions of in-universe character suicide
Beloved side character of The Last of Us video game, simply named Bill, makes his live-action debut in the third episode of HBO’s adaptation. Played by Nick Offerman, Bill’s place in this retelling of the story is likely not what fans of the game were expecting. However, the show’s changes result in an arguably much more profound and heart-wrenching message that exemplifies the true power of adaptation.
About Bill
The Bill players meet when Joel and Ellie request his help is very similar to the Bill we first see in the show. He’s grumpy, grungy, and more than a little wary.
He’s also gay.
Though including a gay character in a game in 2013 was a welcome inclusion, Bill’s relationship here is vastly different from the show. The game finds Bill at extreme odds with his partner Frank, who players later discover has died by suicide. To further complicate this relationship, Frank leaves a note for Bill claiming that he would prefer death over having to spend another day with his partner.
Bill and Frank were the only established queer couple in the game until the DLC Left Behind was released in 2014. It has always been unfortunate that their relationship is also one of the most toxic and ill-fated.
HBO’s adaptation changes this for the better.
A Second Chance
In the show’s version of this story, Frank (played by Murray Bartlett) never leaves Bill. He never sets off on a spite-fueled quest to get away, never gets bitten by an infected in the process, and never dies a horrible death alone and angry. He never leaves that note.
Not only do viewers get an extended look into Bill and Frank’s life together, but because Frank never leaves, we also see a new side to Bill. He’s still grumpy, still grungy, still incredibly wary of everyone and everything. But he’s also softer around the edges, caring and loving in ways players of the game never get to experience. Bill is a man transformed by love in the midst of a world transformed by fear.
It, therefore, makes a poetic sense that this Bill, who has known such a great love, cannot cross paths with Ellie the way he does in the game. Not when he has another choice.
When Frank’s illness takes over his body, leading him to decide his own fate, Bill is beside him every step of the way. The beauty of this relationship doesn’t lie in the end, but in the journey. As Bill himself says to Frank, “This isn’t the tragic suicide at the end of the play. I’m old. I’m satisfied. And you were my purpose.”
Love Will Abide
Bill and Frank’s journey in the show as compared to the game will undoubtedly be the focus of some discourse. Should Bill have acted differently? Should the writers have let him meet Ellie?
I’m not sure those are the questions that really matter.
The title of this episode, “Long Long Time”, is also the title of a 1970 song by Linda Ronstadt that plays an important part in Bill and Frank’s scenes. But the lyrics seem to reflect much more closely the outcome of Bill’s story in the game: “Wait for the day / You’ll go away / Knowing that you warned me / Of the price I’d have to pay”.
In both the game and the show, the person he loves leaving him alone once again is Bill’s fear. The only difference is that in the show, he never has to miss Frank for a “long long time”. Instead, he gets to love him. That is the power of adaptation: a queer relationship that was once doomed for a tragic end now flourishes and never falters, even in death.
One of the great messages of The Last of Us has always been that love is a choice. There is, perhaps, no better way to exemplify that than by centering Bill’s story around love rather than hate.
Even in a post-apocalyptic world, love can (and will) abide.
The Last of Us airs every Sunday at 5 pm (EST) / 9 pm (PST) on HBO Max.
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