The Last Of Us
Summary
The Last of Uswill ruin its respectable season 1 episode if it stick with through with a twirl - off idea that was lately teased by one of its stars . While shows have leaned into blockbuster - level storytelling , sometimes lessismore . That ’s certainly the case with HBO’sThe Last of Us . establish on the video game enfranchisement of the same name , the show unfolds 20 years into a gild - topple pandemic due to a fungal infection that turns hosts in living dead - same creatures . The tale centers on Joel ( Pedro Pascal ) , a hardened subsister task with escort immune teenager Ellie ( Bella Ramsey ) to a installation located across the Infected - riddled country .
While most ofThe Last of Usseason 1 ’s nine episodes follow Joel , Ellie , and the present - set plot line , a handful of chapters deviate from the independent narrative . One such episode , " go out Behind , " chronicles a life - altering moment in Ellie ’s life story . However , the series ' standout is episode 3 , " Long , Long Time , " which hard - excision away from the outset of Joel and Ellie ’s journeying to say a remarkable queer making love story that spans the outbreak ’s first 20 age . The Last of Us ' 2024 Emmy gain ground provethat these digressive , reference - driven stories are essential to the show ’s winner , though that does n’t mean the standalone episode 3 need to be expanded upon .
Director Peter Hoar explains why The Last of Us episode 3 made one especially sore choice at the end of Bill and Frank ’s act story .
The Last Of Us Episode 3, “Long, Long Time,” Is Perfect Self-Contained Storytelling
InThe Last of Usseason 1 , episode 3 , " farsighted , Long Time , " Nick Offerman plays Bill , an improbably prepared survivalist who turns his lowly , Massachusetts Ithiel Town into a post - apocalyptic chancel . Ready to be out his twenty-four hours alone , Bill is deeply skeptical of Frank ( Murray Bartlett ) , a unknown who turn up one daylight . As Frank gradually breaks down the survivalist ’s paries , Bill , who ’s never earmark himself to fall in honey , is drawn to Frank . Full of quiet , frail moments of humanity , " Long , Long Time " bear in consummate contrast to the series ' other installment . Moreover , it illustrates fellowship ’s collapse alongside Bill and Frank ’s dearest story , reach for an achingly beautiful chapter .
After winning the Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series family at the Creative Arts Emmys , Offerman discussed a potential Bill and Frank spinoff . " I conceive we pitched a whole miniseries of a prequel of their lives before they met each other , " the worker said . " We ’re not short on ideas . " Given that Offerman acquire home TV ’s most prestigious prize for hisTLOUrole , it ’s not surprising that he and his carbon monoxide - asterisk would want to turn back to the franchise . But it ’s good for the episode ’s bequest , andThe Last of Uson the whole , for Bill and Frank ’s story to stay on a one - off deterrent example of perfectly self - contained storytelling .
Revisiting Bill & Frank Would Undercut TLOU Season 1, Episode 3’s Story
In part , " Long , Long Time " thrives because it prise thriftiness — a rarefied trait in the age of three - hour movie . That heedful restraint twin well with the characters and the show ’s larger composition . While Bill and Frank ’s two - decade love tarradiddle run parallel to company ’s initial collapse , there ’s hope in it . Despite everything , the survivors find pockets of happiness with each other . summate more to their story , be it a prequel or a spinoff , would undercut the installment ’s poignant tale and effective structure . Even if viewers want more Bill and Frank , their episode ofThe Last of Usendures because it ’s winnowed down to snapshots of lives well - lived .
