The third episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us” is a serious departure from what got here earlier than it. That is as a result of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) solely seem firstly and the top of the episode. Many of the episode issues Invoice (Nick Offerman) and Frank (“The White Lotus“‘s Murray Bartlett) and their relationship all through the pandemic caused by the fungus that modified the whole lot on the planet. The collection exhibits us a lot, rather more than the video game the show is based on did, and it expands their lives significantly — and adjustments their ending. Forward, we’re breaking down what occurs to them within the present, the adjustments the collection made to their plot, and why it is all of the extra devastating for Joel and Ellie.
Invoice and Frank in “The Last of Us” Present
At the start of the episode, Ellie and Joel are touring on foot to the place Invoice and Frank dwell in Lincoln, MA. There, they’ll get provides and possibly even a automotive with Invoice’s assist to allow them to maintain going west and attempt to discover Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Joel explains that when the outbreak started, the army herded up folks in small cities to convey them to quarantine zones. But when they came upon there wasn’t sufficient room for the brand new folks, the army killed them as a substitute.
The present then switched to a flashback and exhibits Invoice again when the outbreak first began. He watches because the army rounds up the remainder of his village’s residents, however since he is a prepper together with his personal stockpile of provides, together with a generator, he hides till they’re gone. Then, he raids the city for much more provides and spends a very long time on their own, shoring up his defenses. He builds refined traps to maintain each the contaminated and human scavengers out. He is on their own, and his home and city each fall into disrepair round him. However he is alive.
4 years later, a person set off one among his alarms and falls right into a ditch he dug. That man is Frank, and he is not contaminated; he is simply attempting to make it from Baltimore to Boston. He asks Invoice if he may simply have a meal earlier than heading out. They argue, however finally Invoice agrees and even lets Frank bathe. Frank is in awe of Invoice’s home, though it is coated in mud. After they eat lunch, Frank finds Invoice’s piano, which he says belonged to his mom. Frank searched the sheet music and finds a set of Linda Ronstadt songs. He begins enjoying “Long Long Time,” however he performs somewhat too quick and is not a superb singer. Invoice takes over and performs it slowly. Frank asks what lady Invoice is singing about, and Invoice admits there isn’t any lady. “I know,” Frank replies, they usually kiss, each of them shaking and teary. Invoice lastly tells Frank his identify.
Frank waits in mattress whereas Invoice showers. As soon as they’re in mattress, Invoice admits that he is solely ever slept with one girl earlier than. Frank says that he is not “a whore” so he’ll be staying a pair days so he does not really feel like he traded intercourse for lunch.
The present jumps three years into the longer term, they usually’re absolutely collectively. Frank slowly makes use of Invoice’s provides to enhance the city, which Invoice thinks is a waste of time. Frank says in case you love one thing, you handle it. Frank can be an artist, and shortly their home is roofed in drawings and work he is accomplished of Invoice. Then Frank reveals that he is been enjoying round on the radio, and he discovered a pleasant girl whom he needs to ask to go to. Invoice is livid, however Frank wins. The lady is Tess (Anna Torv), and she or he brings Joel along with her, a state of affairs neither Joel nor Invoice is blissful about it. They comply with assist one another with smuggling but additionally with friendship.
One evening raiders assault the city and set off Invoice’s alarms. Making an attempt to defend them, Invoice is shot and Frank carries him again inside. Finally, they’re protected, and Frank nurses Invoice again to well being.
The present cuts to 10 years later. Frank is sick and makes use of a wheelchair, and Invoice takes care of him. He decides he needs to have one final nice day with Invoice after which for Invoice to place painkillers in his wine so he can die in his sleep. Reluctantly, Invoice agrees. However as soon as they each drink their wine, Invoice reveals he put ache killers in each their wines so that they’ll exit collectively. They go to mattress collectively and die of their sleep.
Within the current, Joel is blissful to have reached Lincoln with Ellie, however realizes shortly due to the rundown nature of the city that one thing very incorrect has occurred. Invoice and Frank’s home is falling aside, and their final dinner has gotten moldy on the desk. Ellie is clearly amazed by their home although, and Joel tells her to remain in the lounge whereas he investigates.
Ellie finds a letter Invoice wrote, addressed “To whomever but probably Joel.” It consists of the important thing to his automotive. Ellie reads the letter to him, which asks them to not go into the bed room the place the our bodies are. Invoice guesses that Joel discovered the letter, since nobody else may have gotten previous all his traps and protections. “Take anything you need,” he writes.
“Anyway, I never liked you, but still, it’s like we’re friends. Almost,” the letter continues. “And I respect you. So I’m going to tell you something because you’re probably the only person who’ll understand.”
“I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died,” Invoice writes. “But I was wrong. Because there was one person worth saving. That’s what I did. I saved him, and I protected him. That’s why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do.”
Ellie continues to studying, “And God help any motherf*ckers who stand in our way. I leave you all of my weapons and equipment. Use them to keep . . .” Ellie pauses. Joel takes the letter from her and reads Tess’s identify. Invoice takes the letter and sadly reads it outdoors the home earlier than crumbling it up.
How Invoice and Frank Are Completely different From “The Last of Us” Video Recreation
Invoice and Frank’s storyline is by far the largest change to the plot of “The Last of Us” the TV present has made up to now. Within the sport, when Joel and Ellie get to Lincoln, Invoice remains to be alive. Invoice is a lonesome, surly, and paranoid survivor who hesitantly agrees to assist Joel and Ellie get a working automotive to proceed their journey west as a result of he owes Joel a favor. His city can be overrun with zombies, they usually must battle them off to get all of the provides they want.
Invoice consistently warns Joel in regards to the risks of getting near folks. “Once upon a time, I had someone I cared about. It was a partner,” he says. “Somebody I had to look after. And in this world, that sort of sh*t’s good for one thing: gettin’ ya killed. So, you know what I did? I wisened the f*ck up. And I realized it’s gotta be just me.”
Close to the top of their quest, they discover the physique of somebody who died by suicide in an deserted home. Invoice reveals this was his associate, Frank. Frank wrote in a word that he acquired sick and bored with Invoice and tried to go away, however gave up as a substitute. “Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you,” he writes. Joel and Ellie finally get a automotive and go away.
Why Did “The Last of Us” Change Invoice and Frank’s Story?
Frank and Invoice’s storyline within the tv present has a very completely different which means than the one within the sport. Within the sport, the storyline focuses on how laborious it’s to dwell with different folks and the way in which that relationships are so fragile within the midst of the apocalypse. It is a very cynical take a look at love, affection, and partnership. However Invoice and Frank suppose they’d have been higher off alone. It reinforces Joel’s personal fears about conveying Ellie west and getting too near her.
However the TV present’s storyline is about how that cynical view of humanity — even throughout an apocalypse — is incorrect. Invoice and Frank made a stupendous life collectively, carved out amidst a lot ache and chaos. They modified one another’s lives.
Their relationship, and Invoice’s change of coronary heart then, has deep results on Joel. It reminds him of the folks he is misplaced — Sarah (Nico Parker), Tess, and his brother, Tommy — and the way he failed to guard them. And it brings into sharp aid the issue of Ellie. Ought to he likelihood rising near her, two individuals who’ve misplaced actually the whole lot and may solely depend upon one another? Or ought to he keep away from her, lest he fail at defending her, too, and it simply leaves him in ache and alone as soon as once more? Joel and Ellie will each battle with their loss and trauma because the collection continues.
What Is the Significance of Linda Ronstadt’s “Long Long Time” in “The Last of Us?”
“Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt is not only the music Invoice and Frank play on piano collectively; it is also the music that Ellie performs within the automotive as she and Joel go away city. Ellie has no concept who Ronstadt is, in fact, and Joel says it is tremendous to play it. He appears affected by the music’s lyrics. “Long Long Time” is how Invoice and Frank first join. It cuts by way of their deep loneliness to their emotional core.
The music is about loneliness within the face of tolerating love. For Joel, it is a warning and a requiem. “And I think I’m gonna love you / For a long, long time,” Ronstadt sings. His love for his daughter and for Tess won’t ever go away, and it is a reward and a curse each. To let himself take care of Ellie would ease a few of his ache, however at what price?
Did Offerman and Bartlett Actually Play the Piano in “The Last of Us”?
Offerman may be very musical and grew up enjoying piano and saxophone (as his “Parks and Recreation” character, Ron Swanson, confirmed off a couple of instances). Within the 2018 movie “Hearts Beat Loud,” his character performed guitar, bass, and drums.
Bartlett, in the meantime, hasn’t talked about piano-playing expertise earlier than, however there’s a trace that he may need realized only for this position. In a September 2021 interview with The Guardian, he instructed the reporter that he’d had an nervousness dream about producers critiquing his piano-playing expertise. If we learn between the traces, these producers haunting his desires may need been “The Last of Us” producers. On the very least, he actually tried to play piano for the position.
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