Since the start of its broadcast three weeks ago, the series The Last of Us from HBO has been talking a lot about it. With over 22 million viewers for the first episode and 5.7 million people tuning in for episode 2 when it aired live on Prime Video in the US, it’s safe to say the show is a real cardboard. So much so that HBO has given the green light to start production on Season 2 and that’s all that entails behind it. If the first two episodes were very similar to the video game, this episode 3 will free itself from the original work to offer us a different approach. It is question as you know of the character of Bill teased by HBO for a week. But it’s not just him, there is also his partner Frank, whose life we will finally know.
So, before getting to the heart of the matter, know that the duration of episode 3 was 76 min (1h16), almost as much as the first episode and very sincerely, it’s always more pleasant and interesting when the episodes take the time to set the context and develop the topics. Note that this is the last episode to exceed the 1 hour program, the rest being between 43 and 59 min, which is already not bad at all. Another clarification, this episode 3 was directed by Peter Hoar, an English filmmaker known for having already boxed episodes of series such as Altered Carbon, Umbrella Academy, It’s a Sin and Nolly. As everyone knows, this episode 3 focuses on the character of Bill, whom Joel and Ellie meet during their crossing of the United States, but for the TV series, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have decided to free themselves from video games to offer their own vision. Precisely, this is where it gets interesting, because all the people who criticized the series for being too accurate compared to the video game will be surprised by the approach of this episode 3. In addition, it should be noted that it breaks the structure imposed by the first two episodes which consisted in proposing an intro sequence in flashback mode in order to better understand the infection and how the outbreak developed. This time, the intro credits start right off the bat and we end up with Ellie and Joel right after the capitol flees and Tess dies. The two are still reeling from what just happened, and Ellie tries to make it clear that she is not to blame for this situation. We feel the tension between the two characters, that Joel is still quite distant with the teenager.
However, we still have information on the spread of the virus and it is through Joel that we learn more. We already knew via Episode 2 that cordyceps infected humans via cereals and flour, but here it is clearly explained. We learn that the fungus mutated to adapt to the human body, that it was present in certain foods that were distributed around the world and that is how the planet was infected. A few hours are enough for the infected to begin to transform and start biting people. While explaining to Ellie the origins of the pandemic, Joel reveals two important plans to us. The first is that of the plane crashed on the hill in the distance, with our two characters seen from behind. This is the very first official image which was unveiled by Neil Druckmann in September 2021. And the second shock shot is the one on the mass grave and more particularly on two skeletons on which we can see torn tissue. This is where the episode will switch to flashback mode, back in September 2003, the 30th more precisely, four days after the Outbreak. We clearly see that the two skeletons were a mother and her infant of a few months, shot by the army who lied to its population that it was going to bring them to safety, when the objective was to kill them no matter what.
THE SECRET OF BROKEBACK CITY
But back to our sheep, in this case to Bill that we will find first in 2003, escaping the army which emptied his neighborhood by barricading himself in the basement of his house, in his converted bunker. The episode quickly shows us that he is a survivalist, a guy who has been preparing for the end of the world for a long time, that he knows how to survive a pandemic and confinement. We will see him take advantage of his solitude to reinforce security around his house, but also in his neighborhood, with electric fences that he will set up, doors closed with codes, traps installed everywhere to counter intruders and infected, all while piloting from the screens of his bunker. And icing on the cake, Bill is also a fine cook, which means that he eats his fill, drinks good wine and knows how to kill time in his own way. This is where the character of Franck will come into play and allow this episode 3 to tell us about a whole section of Bill’s life that the video game has never approached. In fact, we come across Franck’s character in the game, but it’s his corpse, hanged because he didn’t want to turn into infected after being bitten twice. We learn that it was Bill’s partner, without really mentioning their romantic situation, or surreptitiously through notes to find in the game. It is indeed this relationship that will be detailed in this episode 3 on 20 years of existence, from 2003 to 2023, with leaps in time, but always taking the time to express what binds the two characters, in the love they maintain, but also the more difficult times. We see arguments, times when they are attacked, but also those times when old age and illness catch up with them. 20 years in a post-apo world where there isn’t really a doctor anymore, it’s complicated and it’s rather well done in the series.
EASTER EGG
What we also liked was the first meeting between the two men. We start with mistrust, then an outstretched hand, a shared meal, a moment of seduction at the piano until the first kiss and the first love scene in bed. We will not go further in the description of this episode 3, but we must however talk about its end, and how Neil Druckmann changed the destiny of Bill and Franck. Because if in the game, we see Franck’s corpse, Bill does not die on his side, since he helps Joel and Ellie and then leaves them a little later in the story. We don’t see him in The Last of Us Part 2, so it’s hard to know if he’s still alive. In the series anyway, it was decided that the two lovers killed themselves together, with the added bonus of a magnificent shot where we see Joel and Ellie leaving Bill’s house from the window of the bedroom that remained open, at Bill’s request to avoid the bad odors created by the putrefaction of their corpses. An open window with curtains waving in the wind, does that remind you of anything? If so of course, just the game’s intro menu. It’s brilliant, really brilliant…