'The Last of Us' Episode 3 Is a TV Moment We'll Never Forget
Following the shocking ending to The Last of Us’s second episode, it feels like we’ve finally completed the tutorial section of the new HBO series's video game adaptation. We know what all the buttons do—and how the infected work—so now the entire world's map is available to explore. That’s a good thing, because our hero, Joel (Pedro Pascal), must help Ellie (Bella Ramsey) reach the Firefly oasis that she believes is somewhere out there, still trying to find a cure.
The duo is now 10 miles west of Boston—which is info we receive from a very helpful location stamp at the start of the third episode—and tensions are high after losing Tess to the infected. “I was thinking about what happened and nobody made you go along with this plan,” Ellie tells Joel. “You needed a truck battery or whatever, and you made a choice. So don’t blame me for something that isn’t my fault.” Yeah Joel, remember when you thought that this was all just a side quest for the car battery you needed to find your brother? Well, welcome to the main game now.
At an abandoned convenience store, Ellie finds an infected guy still alive—but crushed under heavy concrete. He makes those weird, velociraptor-like noises that infected humans make in this world, displaying some truly impressive work from the show’s makeup and prosthetics team. Toad from Mario suddenly has some major competition when it comes to guys with mushroom heads.
Next, Joel and Ellie find something even worse: a mass grave of people, all of whom the army didn’t let enter a quarantine zone—because they either had a chance of being infected, or the QZ was just too full. Apparently, the soldiers would just execute these people en masse so that they couldn’t turn. Flashing back to 2003, I was worried that we were about to witness the horrible event take place. Instead, we meet Nick Offerman, playing a survivalist named Bill. With everyone in the town now gone, Bill pops out of a secret bunker he built below his house stacked with guns, barrels of sulfuric acid, and a stack of security camera feeds. He loots the gas station for oil, steals a massive number of supplies from Home Depot, and even jacks his neighbor’s boat. Then, he sets up a bunch of booby traps and—as he eats his dinner—watches them go to work on some unlucky infected humans. “It doesn’t get old,” he says to himself.
Bill lives infection-free in this secluded fortress town for nearly four years, until another person named Frank (Murray Bartlett), from the Baltimore QZ, stumbles into one of his traps. Frank tells him that the quarantine zone is completely gone, and Bill lets him out of a hole after testing to see if he’s infected. Begrudgingly, Bill lets him inside and offers a shower, a new set of clothes, and a home-cooked meal. Frank is in heaven. He thanks him with a song on the piano... but he’s not very good. Bill shows him up by playing “Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt, before revealing to Frank that he’s gay. Good news: Frank says, “I know,” and the two tear up as they kiss. In an interview with TV Insider, showrunner Craig Mazin revealed that he cast Offerman because he believed that “funny people have soul,” and “a connection that I think is even stronger to what it means to be human.” Nice job, Mazin. You were totally right.
Frank never leaves. The two of them live together for another three years before he starts to truly feel the isolation of their living situation. He wants to spruce up the town and play a little Sims in real life, but Bill reminds him that “we will never have friends, because there are no friends to be had.” Cut to: Joel and Tess having dinner with them outside. Timeline-wise, it’s only been roughly seven years since we flashed-back to 2003, so I’m guessing this scene takes place somewhere in 2010—still over a decade before our current journey with Joel and Ellie.
Tess thanks the couple for the beautiful meal, but Bill is still on edge. Joel talks some business and offers up some bartering deals. They trade a gun for some strawberry seeds. Later, Frank and Bill eat strawberries and giggle in delight. “I was never afraid before you showed up,” Bill tells Frank. Oh my god, stop you two! Love?! During the apocalypse?! I’m going to cry at the mushroom zombie show.
The couple grows old together in their little town, all to themselves, until Frank falls ill. He plans one final day with Bill, and it’s set to the incredibly recognizable “On the Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter. It's a song heavily used in films including Arrival, Stranger Than Fiction, Shutter Island, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, and many more. Why? Because it works wonders on those tear ducts. Frank and Bill crush up enough sleeping pills to end their lives together—and go to sleep for one last time.
When Joel and Ellie finally arrive in present day (well, August 2023), there’s a key left for them and a hand-written note. “I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died, but I was wrong because there was one person worth saving,” Bill wrote. “That’s why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do, and God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way.”
The weight of three significant losses in his life finally bears down on Joel, and he takes a moment for himself outside. Finding Bill’s car in the garage, he prepares to set out and look for his brother Tommy once again. Tommy was a former Firefly, Joel mentions, so it’s possible that he knows where this doctor outpost is located. I want to take this time to bring up the option that they could just stay here forever and be safe—but I know that it’s not in the cards for these two. Even though, you know, the town Bill made kept two people safe for nearly two decades.
Well, it’s a road trip now, folks. Let’s hope the infected can’t drive cars.
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