The Last of Us: Bill and Frank from the videogame to television

In a short amount of time, Bill and Frank from The Last of Us, have become one of the most beloved love stories in all apocalyptic dramas. But how much of what we saw was in the videogame?

Well, not a lot. In the game of the same name, we saw Bill and Frank as partners.

But their dynamic had a much rougher feel to it. It was never quite clear what kind of partners they were, but what was evident was Frank’s disdain for Bill.

The man, quite frankly, had enough of living with Bill. So much so, that he risked death to get away from him.

The original Frank was found hanging by a rope. He ended up becoming infected and decided this was the way he was going out.

Joel can appreciate Bill’s pain after losing Tess, but Bill keeps up his tough, emotionless demeanor. Regardless of their falling out, you can tell the pair had something.

He is upset with the outcome, despite of what comes from his mouth. The heart of a person never lies.

Here is the letter that Frank left the lonely survivor. It is a much different vibe than what we saw on the HBO’s great love story:

Well Bill,

I doubt you’d ever find this note cause you were too scared to ever make it to this part of town. But if for some reason you did, I want you to know I hated your guts. I grew tired of this shitty town and of your set-in-your-ways attitude. I wanted more from life than this and you could never get that.

And that stupid battery that you kept moaning about, I got it. But I guess you were right. Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you.

Good Luck,

Frank

Now it could just be their dark sense of humor, but they seemed to have some problems neither were willing to fix. In the television adaptation on HBO and HBO Max, we did see some problems arise.

The two of them are very different people. Bill is set in his ways; a private man who didn’t want any outsiders in.

Frank was an outgoing person with a larger-than-life personality. He was a man who needed people.

He needed connections and friends. While he loved Bill, sometimes love just isn’t enough to be fully happy.

You also need those human connections. Even the world’s best marriages need time and space apart.

The best relationships make you a better person

In the show we go to see Bill accept those terms eventually but quite reluctantly. He grew to accept and secretly like Joel and Tess.

I believe it’s because it made Frank happy, and that’s all he wanted. In the end, a little torture was worth that.

In the game of The Last of Us: Part 1, Bill does live but he is not seen again, only spoken of. He keeps his secluded and highly secured town to himself.

I can tell you in playing the game, it wasn’t an easy task to get in and surpass Bill’s traps. It was quite a relief to make it out.

I give props to Bill both in the game and show. What he did with his town is quite remarkable for one man.

Bill does tell Joel that caring about someone in this world is dangerous and helping to care for Ellie will get him killed. Those of you who have played the game further on know Joel’s fate, but even at this point, Joel knows he has to do this Tess and for humanity.

One man’s death is a smaller cost.

Love is love, Respect it

In the show it was a love story for the ages. It was an amazing to see a middle-aged gay couple getting a spotlight like this.

The episode director Peter Hoar, even admitted to tricking the audience into watching by not giving any details about how deep the relationships went at first. He wanted people to understand that queer love is real and it’s just the same kind of love that any relationship has.

Peter Hoar did a phenomenal job with this story, but it was met with some backlash. Sadly, some were review bombing the episode.

Meaning they were purposely giving it the lowest grade, so the review percentage would drop. It’s still horrible that in this day and age there are still people who will go to such lengths of hatred.

Star of the episode who plays Bill, Nick Offerman, had this to say on the subject.

I hope there are even more episodes like this one in the future throughout HBO and all networks. Hopefully the ignorance of the world will one day cease.

But people need to understand love comes in many forms. Bill and Frank’s story ended up bittersweet in a true Romeo and Juliet form.

I believe it will go unmatched as the best episode of the series, regardless of how many seasons The Last of Us will get. But there is so much more yet to look forward to.

What they were able to do with episode 3, with really just a few lines from the game was masterful and true artistry at work. There’s so much unlimited potential for this show and we can’t wait to see more!

What has been your favorite episode of The Last of Us so far? Share your answers in the comments below!