Just when everyone thought it would be an action-packed run, no one expected that they would be taken into an emotional rollercoaster with Bill and Frank. It just goes to show how deep the narrative is in the tv series, and here is what happened in The Last of Us Episode 3's ending, explained.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us. Read at your own risk!
The Ending of The Last of Us Episode 3 Explained
It was an episode that no one expected to be tear-jerking but it left the viewers arguing whether it is a happy or a sad episode because by the looks of it, it all depends on the perspective of the person watching the episode as Long, Long Time, The Last of Us Episode 3, introduces Bill and Frank.
Bill is a survivalist and he could be one of the best people to be with in the midst of an apocalypse with his skills and visions for his very own self-sustaining town, and while he didn't plan it at all, saving Frank was probably the best decision he has ever made in his life.
With Frank, he got a lover, companion, and someone to grow old with until the very end. Bill could've let Frank go but he chose to save him, and all it takes is saving one person in your life to make it whole until the last bit of it.
As Frank becomes sick, he asks Bill to give him one last day of living their good days but given that Bill loves Frank so much, he decided to take his life, too, to be with Frank until the very end of their lives.
Too late, Joel and Ellie didn't get there when they are still alive but that letter of Bill is what matters a lot to the narrative. It strengthens the perspective that Tess left to Joel, to save Ellie, and reiterates to Joel that it's not too late to regain some faith in the world because there is always one person worth saving.
The final scene pans from the window of the room of Bill and Frank while the song of Linda Ronstadt is playing in the background. Everyone knows the couple is dead but there's that eerie feel of their window being left open so they don't smell.
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Fortunately, the scene was included and according to director Peter Hoar, they wanted that scene to be like that. Speaking to GamesRadar, he said, "I do one episode of a big show, and I turn up, knowing the game and the brutality of the gameplay... We had to fight for that shot to be honest."
Hoar added, "There are moments for great tenderness, loss, and grief, but there are lots of times to shoot Clickers. But as soon as I got there, it was a little bit like, 'Okay, this is how we're doing this. We're not about the gore, the gratuity, or anything like that.'"
Hoar further explained, "The main thing was we really wanted Joel and Ellie driving off into the next episode, into the sunset. But we just wanted to have that final reminder of this was Bill and Frank’s story, and it just felt like a lovely way to do both things at the same time."
Moving forward, Bill and Frank's story is one happy ending, if you'd look at it. They chose to live and die together, and the very fact that Bill, someone who wanted the whole town for himself, chose to share it with Frank. It is, indeed, something of a modern Romeo and Juliet.
See The Last of Us Episode 3 on HBO, now streaming.
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