The third episode of HBO's The Last of Us premiered on Sunday, January 29, 2023, and it was so sad! I was bawling my eyes out by the end of it. So, lets talk about it—spoilers included!
Trigger Warnings: Death, Suicide.
Before getting into this week's episode, I'd like to share that, unfortunately, the voice actress in the game for Tess passed away after a two year battle with cancer. Not only did she voice so many iconic characters in the gaming Industry, she was a beautiful person full of love and kindness. This is very unfortunate news amongst us in the gaming community and for anyone who was close with her.
The third episode was very different from the game, yet this story line for Bill and Frank is even more outstanding and heart wrenching. For anyone who has played the game, you know we only saw frank when he was already dead. We never met him or were able to understand the kind of person he was other than from what Bill said, which was never kind. They transformed Frank's sad ending into a very loving, happy and well-deserved ending for both characters. They created such a beautiful relationship between Bill and Frank.
Instead of Frank being bit and him ending his own life, and Bill growing old and grumpy without him, we get the chance to see into their relationship. We get to see their love and how beautiful they were in a world full of hate. Bill protected Frank with everything he had, while Frank did the same until the very end. Seeing the parallels between the beginning and the end was outstanding. The first dinner they had together, Bill prepared a Rabbit with a glass of wine. This was also be their last meal together. On their last day, they got married. I cried so hard, and I am even tearing up typing this.
Listening to he HBO Podcast, I learned about their interactive start idea where each episode would have a start menu for the game.There would be a window and you'd have to press start in order to watch the episode and then also end with a window. I'll admit, I was disappointed to learn they were thinking about doing this but didn't. I think it's a brilliant idea, and they could have tied in this idea with the end of this week's episode where we look through the open window from Bill and Frank's bedroom.
We were reunited with Tess this week, but only through a flashback, of course. We see a flashback to when Frank invited Tess and Joel to their town for lunch. This answered the question of how Joel knew Bill from the game and the significance they had to one another. Seeing Tess again was nice, and the relationship she grew with Frank was fun and adorable. We also were able to see how the music codes originated. Unfortunately, this is when we piece together that the music they heard over the radio was signaling Bill and Frank's deaths a few weeks before Joel, Tess and Ellie set out on their mission. Bill's radio was designed to go off if it wasn't touched for a few weeks. The 80s music heard at the end of episode one was because of this.
This episode was both amazing and terribly sad. I felt like my heart was ripped out and thrown on the ground after watch it. This was beautiful twist on the original story, and I do believe it was for the better. As always, I am recommending everyone to watch The Last of Us and play the game. I encourage you to form your own opinions, but so far, I think this is the best show adaptation of a video game. I truly think that everyone can enjoy this show. If you don't at least give it a show you'll miss out on stories like in this week's episode!
