‘The Last of Us’ Episode 3 Brings Bill on an Emotional Odyssey #GeekLeap

The Final of Us episode 3 aired on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, selecting up with plucky teen Ellie and gruff smuggler Joel (Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal) as they take the subsequent steps following final week’s tragic loss. Their mission is to get Ellie, who’s proof against the fungus that is turned a lot of the populace into savage cannibals, to the insurgent group generally known as the Fireflies. 

The hope is that they will replicate Ellie’s resistance and restore the world. They want a automotive to proceed their journey, so they should cease on the residence of Joel’s buddy Invoice (performed by Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman) — a personality whose grumpiness and survivalist tendencies gamers of the unimaginable PlayStation recreation that impressed the present will bear in mind all too effectively.

That will not put together you for episode 3’s heartbreaking story. Let’s dive in.

Invoice the survivor

A flashback reveals how Invoice managed to keep away from getting dragged right into a quarantine zone by the US navy after the September 2003 outbreak. His paranoid anti-authoritary tendencies labored in his favor, and he hid as his neighbors had been caught up within the sweep (a horrible mass grave Ellie and Joel uncover in 2023 suggests they had been all killed).

“Not at present, you new world order jackboot fucks,” he says after the troopers fail to search out his subbasement hidey-hole.

Most likely for the most effective, since Invoice had an arsenal of weaponry and appeared completely prepared for a siege. Discovering himself the city’s sole remaining inhabitant, he strikes decisively to fortify his location with traps and collect provides to reside a solitary lifetime of luxurious because the world exterior falls aside.

That positive regarded like a juicy steak too.

Love within the darkness

In 2007, Invoice’s lifestyle seems to have served him effectively — he appears to be like a lot the identical 4 years after the outbreak. His lonely existence modifications eternally when Frank, a survivor from the Baltimore quarantine zone, falls right into a lure exterior his perimeter. 

Frank seems to be a fully pretty man, managing to interrupt down Invoice’s emotional partitions (with just a little assist from Linda Ronstadt). The pair fall in love — the transformation in Offerman’s efficiency is beautiful — and construct a life collectively regardless of their differing personalities.

They even befriend Tess and Joel over time, having the smugglers over for a meal and agreeing to work collectively. Tess and Frank instantly hit it off, whereas the extra extreme Joel and Invoice discover a mutual respect.

In 2010, raiders assault the city — one thing Joel warned Invoice would occur. The fortified defenses maintain up, however Invoice is shot and solely survives as a result of Frank’s round to patch him up.  

Leaping to 2020, we uncover that Frank has suffered from main well being issues over time and has misplaced most of his mobility. He is confined to a wheelchair, and it is clear he is struggling to make use of his palms as effectively. Invoice is a loving caregiver, serving to his companion take his drugs and get round.

Tender final moments

One morning in 2023, Invoice wakes as much as discover Frank sitting up beside him. Having accepted that there is no method to deal with his ailment, he admits to having spent a lot of the evening getting away from bed, and informs Invoice that it is his “final day.”

“Give me another good day … take me to the boutique, the place I am going to decide outfits for us. You will put on what I ask, and we’ll get married. And you may cook dinner a scrumptious dinner,” he says, earlier than taking his drugs out of his pocket. “And you may crush all of those up, put them in my wine. I’ll drink it. Then you’ll take me by my hand, deliver me to our mattress and I’ll go to sleep in your arms.”

Invoice struggles to just accept Frank’s choice, however in the end agrees. Their last hours collectively play out in a lovely, touching montage. I am not crying; you are crying.

As soon as the wine is poured, Invoice complies with Frank’s lethal request. Nonetheless, Invoice additionally reveals that he’d finished the identical to his personal wine — sentencing himself to the identical destiny. Invoice tenderly pushes Frank into their room and the scene fades to black.

In the end, Ellie and Joel arrive on the home and uncover a observe from Invoice explaining what occurred (“To whomever, however in all probability Joel”).

“I used to hate the world and I used to be comfortable when everybody died. However I used to be mistaken, as a result of there was one particular person price saving,” it reads. “That is what I did, I saved him, then I protected him. That is why males such as you and me are right here: we have now a job to do. And God assist any motherfuckers who stand in our manner.”

He tells Joel to make use of his weapons and gear to maintain Tess protected, which clearly hits Joel onerous. The duo take Invoice’s automotive and hit the street to search out Joel’s ex-Firefly brother Tommy in Wyoming (with Ronstadt’s 1970 tune Lengthy Lengthy Time kicking off their journey).

A distinct destiny

Invoice’s recreation counterpart is not practically as emotional a personality. He is nonetheless a talented survivalist who’s barricaded himself in his city with all kinds of traps, however we do not get practically as many hints about his underlying heat.

He rescues Ellie and Joel from a swarm of contaminated, however instantly needs them gone. Ellie and Joel enter an uneasy alliance with him to get the automotive they should proceed their journey, battling contaminated to succeed in a automobile. 

They succeed on this mission, permitting Ellie and Joel to drive into the sundown (till issues go horribly mistaken once more) and Invoice to return to his isolation. So his destiny is unclear, not like within the present.

Invoice alludes to his relationship with Frank in one among many offended feedback.

“As soon as upon a time I had somebody I cared about. It was a companion. Someone I needed to take care of,” he says. “And on this world that form of shit’s good for one factor: gettin’ ya killed. So, you understand what I did? I wisened the fuck up. And I spotted it is gotta be simply me.”  

Invoice and Frank’s sexuality isn’t made express within the recreation, nevertheless it’s urged by a homosexual porn journal Ellie discovers in his residence. 

What about Frank?

We by no means see Frank alive within the recreation, since he and Invoice had a falling out previous to Ellie and Joel’s arrival. On the finish of their journey throughout the city, the trio uncover Frank’s physique hanging in the home he’d lived in.

We be taught that he’d been bitten by some contaminated and opted to take his personal life quite than flip right into a shambling monster. You may as well discover a observe containing his last phrases.

“Nicely, Invoice, I doubt you’d ever discover this observe trigger you had been too scared to ever make it to this a part of city. But when for some motive you probably did, I would like you to know I hated your guts. I grew bored with this shitty city and your set-in-your-ways angle,” it reads.

“I wished extra from life than this and you possibly can by no means get that. And that silly battery you saved moaning about — I obtained it. However I suppose you had been proper. Making an attempt to depart this city will kill me. Nonetheless higher than spending one other day with you. Good Luck, Frank.”

Ouch. Invoice is not too comfortable to learn this, so he flings it away. Within the PS5 remake, you get the “In Memorium” trophy in the event you decide up the crumbled observe (within the present, Joel crumbles up Invoice’s observe and tosses it apart).

Previous to reaching Invoice’s city, you will discover a smuggler’s observe about Frank. It reveals that he’d deliberate to quietly transfer into the Boston quarantine zone after buying and selling with the smuggler, however by no means made it. Within the present, when Invoice finds him within the lure, Frank says he was on his method to Boston.

Episode 4 of The Final of Us hits HBO Max subsequent Sunday, Feb. 5.