The Last of Us episode three spoilers follow.
If you were feeling all the feels whilst watching episode three of The Last of Us, you're not the only one.
Navigating life through an apocalypse is hard enough without having to try to find people to weather the storm with. Safety in numbers and all that.
Yet Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) stumble across more than just safety or a death-day bud. Instead they find a love sweeter than the strawberries Frank grows to surprise Bill with.
It was joyous, even with its tragic Romeo-and-Juliet, can't-live-without-you double suicide end. Not to mention the purity of their love was a welcome break from all the spores trying to invade people's mouths.
Their middle-aged gay romance was also a refreshing twist on their gaming narrative, which took a bleaker direction.
There was no love lost when Frank got ill at the end and Bill certainly wasn't about to chase him into the afterlife. Instead Frank had intended to skip town until he was bitten and decided to hang himself.
The bitterness that had ensued between them had Frank determined to make clear his intent to leave Bill before he became infected and so he penned a sweet suicide note expressing:
"I want you to know I hated your guts. I grew tired of this shitty town and of your set-in-your-ways attitude. I wanted more from life than this and you could never get that. … I guess you were right. Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you."
Well that's not kind now is it Frank?
The Last of Us TV version makes up for that depressing stinker of an end by giving us this Bill and Frank.
It's rare to see a gay relationship on screen handled with such intimacy and tenderness outside of content targeted towards the LGBTQ+ community. In this The Last of Us succeeds in creating an incredibly moving love.
Where it drops the ball is in the events surrounding their meet-cute.
Bill first stumbles across Frank, snared in one of his traps. After fishing him out of the man-hole with much suspicion and scepticism Frank manages to sweet-talk Bill into feeding him before sending him on his way.
However somewhere between the alcohol flowing, the limited-but-good conversation and the suggestive glances, Bill goes from aiming a shotgun at Frank's head to allowing him to stay indefinitely.
Maybe it was the piano flirting, or it could be the apocalyptic atmosphere intensifying the germinating feelings or just maybe it was Frank massaging the situation to fit his needs. At least initially – but there's no denying that a pure, authentic love eventually blossomed between the two.
Yet something about their early beginnings just doesn't sit right. As Bill begins to soften his sharp attitude towards Frank it becomes clear that there's an attraction building. What then unfolds feels like Frank using that attraction to further his own survival.
Initially it seems as though Frank is testing out how much he can push Bill before he crosses the line and gets his head blown off.
It starts off small.
First it's with the meal. Frank promises that's all he needs from Bill. Just a bite to eat and then he'll be on his way. Then it's with the shower, when Frank pushes his luck in asking for just a little more time rinsing off under the limited hot water. Bill concedes and allows him those five minutes.
As Bill relaxes in Frank's company he then starts offering courtesies, asking Frank if he wants more to eat. Though Frank declines he presumably takes this as a sign that Bill is becoming more pliable.
He tests this out in the next scene, pushing Bill's comfort levels a little by inviting himself to play on Bill's piano before requesting Bill tinkles the ivories before once again promising to leave once he has done. Once Frank has again gotten his way.
Frank continuously has to promise Bill that he'll leave soon, just to manage his unease – which isn't a good sign.
Whether intentionally or not, there is an air of discomfort, of manipulation during this scene. One that leaves you questioning what's going to happen next.
Is he flirting with Bill or about to thump him over the head before claiming his apocalypse oasis for himself?
It's quickly made clear that the latter is not on the cards. Frank, moved by Bill's playing, begins to get seductively personal, asking:
"Who's the girl?" ie the one who has made Bill feel such things as the song pertains to. Bill replies: "There is no girl," but something in his tone is sombre leading Frank to push further.
"I know," he says, before first placing a hand on Bill's shoulder and leaning in for a welcome but hesitant kiss.
There are tears on both parts and that moment in isolation is beautiful. It speaks to their longing and is erotically charged, still everything leading up to it (and directly after) places their budding romance in a grey area.
Who is really in control? Is Frank manipulating Bill or is he just the more dominant of the two?
"Go take a shower Bill," Frank instructs after finally learning his name and Bill obliges, but there are two things happening in this exchange.
One, Frank is laying down the orders, heavily implying sex is where things are leading – not leaving a seemingly more demure Bill to catch up to his thoughts – and two, there has become a shift in the power dynamic.
Frank is very much in the driver's seat now with Bill acceding to his wishes. It's very plausible that Bill entirely wants all this to happen given where their relationship goes and yes, at any point Bill could have told Frank where to go.
However the way the story initially plays out has Frank laying the groundwork to assume control of the situation and with an unequal power dynamic it can be difficult to separate your intentions from those of the person in control.
In the bedroom it is quickly established that Bill is inexperienced, having never been intimate with a man and so Frank seizes the reins.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, in fact it makes Bill feel more at ease. It's clear he is nervous and Frank's confidence and experience become reassuring to him, taking the pressure off the expectations.
Frank's gentle approach, promising to take things slow is the kind of care anyone yearns for. It's understanding and respecting your partner's needs. However this is once again spoiled by the words which follow.
Before they start, Frank proceeds to tell Bill that he's not a whore who will sleep with a man for a meal and so if they do this he is going to stay for a few more days.
"Is that okay?" Is that okay? Um… nope. Not really, Frank.
There is the impression of consent but it sort of feels like coercion.
Maybe Bill just wanted a fling. Maybe he wasn't sure what he would want and from this sexy stranger whom he doesn't know to trust but now he doesn't get a choice. Or not much of one.
It's either sex for the first time with someone who he is attracted to or Frank can leave. Bill gets his space but possibly will never know what it's like to be with someone he truly desires.
At this moment, Bill is naked and vulnerable and new to all this so really, how much of a choice does he feel he has? Not to mention it's the end of the freaking world, when might an opportunity like this arise again? So does he have sex on his terms or Frank's?
In a split second Bill must make a decision and he does: just have sex and see where it goes.
Thankfully it's to a good place. A great place even. During the three-year time jump their relationship is full of passion, heated arguments and love. Frank continues to push Bill out of his comfort zone and Bill continues to concede but this time there's more authority behind the concessions he makes. It comes from a place of love not coercion.
Frank enriches Bill's life, bringing light and wonder into his pragmatic world, whether it be a garden of strawberries (ugh, that scene is gorgeous) or encouraging him to develop a friendship with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv).
It's protective on both sides when Frank does everything he can to save Bill's life after he is shot. Bill repays the favour later by nursing Frank when he gets struck by an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disease. When it comes time for Bill and Frank to take their lives, you understand why Frank wants one good day with Bill before he dies and why Bill can't envisage living without Frank.
Their relationship wasn't perfect perfect. As Frank says to Bill on his last day on Earth:
"I've had a lot of bad days, I've had bad days with you too but I've had more good days with you than with anyone else, so give me one more good day."
Bill's life really started the moment they became one. He gave him a reason to embrace life beyond just survival. It's a love that nurtured both in different ways but the origins of how it began undermines that power of that love. It sits like a seed in the tooth, niggling after every other beautiful thing is digested.
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the US, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK.
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