HBO’s The Last of Us Episode 3 Spoiler Free Review

Series Premiere: January 15, 2023
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey
Episodes Commissioned: 9
Studio: HBO

Long, Long Time...

In what is the most anticipated episode thus far in the series, Long, Long Time strays far from the original tale told from its source material. Nick Offerman's portrayal as conspiracy theorist and anti-socialist Bill, was an excellent casting choice of the former Parks and Recreation actor. From the character's off-putting personality, stoic demeanour and careless attitude, Bill's story in HBO's adaptation has an incredible backstory that gamers were not privy to prior. Admittedly, the interactions between Bill and Ellie entailed some of the biggest laughs in the game yet are sacrificed for an elongated focus to Bill's story of survival, finding love, friendship and the ultimate heartbreak. A teaching moment for the character itself, the diversion gives viewers an alternate timeline of sorts to what its original audience once knew the scavenger as, to a survivalist.

There's a specific detail that gamers would have picked up on while playing The Last of Us, with Bill's relationship with Frank, whom also has his story told alongside Bill and how their sporadic love grew from their mutual loneliness. Not intending on having Frank become a permanent fixture to his life, Bill shows compassion, an uncharacteristic facet of his behaviour. It's an intriguing display as someone that had only assumed that Offerman's portrayal would ultimately be a supporting character instead of a lead in his own episode. This chapter in HBO's The Last of Us, primes viewers for segregation between its character arcs, giving backstory to how each imperative personality survived the outbreak. While Bill's tale in the game was that of an archivist that held goods for trade, his existence within this world means a lot more to its premise than what was initially perceived.

Within the episode’s respective plotline, we see an extreme deviation of not only Bill’s introduction to Joel, but how Frank made Bill seem accepting toward people, despite his hateful nature. The comradery between Joel and Bill was never tight, just as it was shown in the game, with one key difference here being Bill’s unwavering pride being broken, for his one sole purpose to live – we’ll let you figure that one out. However, the episode does deliver an interesting premise and mixture of emotions that detail Bill and Frank’s relationship of living in isolation from the rest of the world, while humanity is dying around them. Lapping up a life of luxury by comparison, Bill’s privilege becomes second nature when things turn south, and the only person that can tend to him is his partner. But he juxtapose of its events do not hinder Bill in the long term, rather an unidentified ailment that renders his partner immobile.

While Bill’s guard is always high, he comes to accept that they will need people outside of their bubble to trust, which becomes Joel who he considers an acquaintance. But the scenario of Bill and Joel’s strange relationship is only shown for an extremely short period, if anything it’s barely told in the episode until its climax. Then and there, we see Bill and Frank portrayed as elderlies – a departure from the game, where Bill’s age may not have been divulged, yet seemed a lot younger. But no matter what the outcome from the episode, the narrative continues to follow the same goal as its gaming counterpart where Joel and Ellie seek Bill’s assistance, to bring the immune youngster toward their next stop in their trek. The episode itself is marvellous. Extremely touching and ultimately solemn, with lasting melancholy that lingers after its closing scene and credits.

Noteworthy Mentions...

  • No cold opening, it’s just right into the episode and after last week’s events, I can sincerely appreciate why this was, and how Ellie had put Joel in his place. It was a needed wake-up call, and a request for mutual respect from the teen.

  • We begin to see Joel opening up to Ellie more, from educating Ellie on the cordyceps outbreak and attempting to avert her from horrific images of decaying adult and children corpses-turned-bones. It’s a start, but a glimpse of the prefaced ‘father-daughter’ relationship between the two.

  • I love the fact that episodes such as this gives those familiar with the original story some insight into the origins of characters that are only seen in the game for short periods. While it’s far gone from what the tale perceives Bill and Frank’s relationship was, it’s still fantastic to see it in a different light or an alternate telling.

  • Linda Ronstadt’s Long, Long Time will leave you on the verge of tears as the episode comes to a close.

The Last of Us is an upcoming American post-apocalyptic drama television series created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO. Based on the 2013 video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog, the series will follow Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with escorting the teenage Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States. It will feature Gabriel Luna as Joel's younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge as resistance leader Marlene, and Anna Torv as Joel's smuggler partner Tess.

Summary: Wikipedia

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