Last night, HBO aired episode three of its fungal zombie apocalypse series, The Last of Us, and Twitter (and we, to be honest) is losing it.
Spoilers for The Last of Us episode 3 follow.
Courtesy of HBO
The episode took an unexpected turn by focusing on the decade-plus-long love story between Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) that was only referenced in passing in the original video game on which the series is based.
The episode first flashes back to Bill’s story, who, after avoiding being taken in a forced evacuation (and being killed and tossed in a mass grave), spends years fortifying his neighborhood. While he succeeds in creating barriers around his home that protect him from the zombie hordes, he lives a very solitary life. That is until Frank literally falls into his life, when he gets caught in one of Bill’s pit traps.
Unlike Bill, who was deeply cynical of mankind even before they became violent fungal vectors, Frank is warm and charming and manages to talk his way first into a lunch with Bill and then a lifetime.
Courtesy of HBO
Their story is tender, passionate, intimate, and fiery — it’s a true testament to both Neil Druckmann’s (writer on both the game and the series) marvelous gift for storytelling and the healing power of love writ large. So it’s no wonder that it’s striking a chord with audiences — particularly considering how it all ends.
The couple weathers many years together, making a home, making love, growing strawberries, fending off packs of raiders, and even making friends with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv). However, no matter how perfectly you fortify your home, there’s one force that can’t be stopped, and that is time. As the couple age and Frank’s health begins to fail, they make the fateful decision to leave this world together.
It’s heartbreaking, poignant, and presented so very beautifully. Needless to say, the internet is not OK today. Also, that Linda Ronstadt needle drop at the end isn’t helping!
Just when we thought we couldn't love The Last of Us any more, they went and gave us one of the greatest gay love stories of all time. Bring on episode 4.
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