How HBO's The Last Of Us Just Set The Stage For Joel's Biggest Decision

This post contains major spoilers for "The Last of Us" video game and the HBO television adaptation.

HBO's "The Last of Us" more than made a good impression with its faithful first two episodes, but episode three is the most impressive adaptation of the source material so far. It takes one of the more lonely and tragic levels of the original video game and takes huge creative liberties, evolving it into a tender romance between doomsday prepper Bill (Nick Offerman) and the once faceless side character, Frank (Murray Bartlett).

Even in the original game, Bill was explicitly a gay character. Though he vaguely refers to Frank as his old "partner," the player gets the full scope of their relationship through a letter for Bill left behind in Frank's house. Though subtle, it was especially refreshing to see in 2013, when queer representation in video games was particularly hard to come by. In 2014, with the release of the "Left Behind" DLC chapter to the original game, Ellie was officially confirmed to be a lesbian character and fleshed out her young romance with Riley Abel, who was briefly mentioned in the ending to the original game.

Ellie's lesbian identity has become a crucial, natural part of her character. It leaves one to wonder how Bill's sexuality would have been written in different circumstances. This is where showrunner Craig Mazin's writing on the third episode delivers — adding a fresh, new layer to Bill and Frank's story while thematically exploring the intersections between love and survival. It's not just a fantastic piece of TV in its own right, but it also serves as great foreshadowing, setting Joel on the path towards the show's ending.

The plot structure of the original game is simple. In Joel and Ellie's road trip through the desolate United States, they come across different faces throughout their journey and learn about the risks of human connection in the post-apocalypse. Bill's town in Massachusetts is a level experienced directly after Tess's sacrifice at the Capitol building. Just like the show, it's covered in gates and traps so that no one — human or infected — can reach his safe spaces. This iteration of Bill is somehow even more a cynical curmudgeon than Nick Offerman's take, though both are as emotionally guarded as their homes — only one love is allowed into his heart.

Deeply embittered by Frank's abandonment, the game's version of Bill never gets the satisfaction of a sweeping, tragic love story. Instead, he serves as the negative perspective in Joel's mind. He knows about Joel's traumas with Sarah, and warns him about getting too attached to Ellie before it's too late:

"I had somebody that I care about... a partner... and in this world that sort of s*** is good for one thing: getting you killed."

Bill provides Joel and Ellie a car and enough supplies to get where they need to go, but he never walks back on his philosophy. In this man-against-man world, it's infinitely less painful for Bill to live lonely than deal with the pain of losing another person. The Joel we meet at the beginning of this journey might even agree with that. But now, with the burden of having to make good on Tess's promise, there's no looking back for him.

As mentioned, the Bill in the HBO series is given a tremendous amount of growth and depth, thanks to the reimagining of Bill and Frank's story. It feels like Mazin's screenplay is in conversation with Neil Druckmann's drafting of the original game's text — directly arguing with Bill that even a character like him is worthy of love. While the romance between these two older gay men in the apocalypse feels fresh and new, it's also handled with a great amount of care in that it naturally fits the themes "The Last of Us" already explores and parallels Joel's own inner turmoil.

If you know how the original game ends, you'd know that Joel is faced with an important choice between Ellie's life versus a vaccine that could change the fate of humanity. It turns "The Last of Us" from a simple surrogate father/daughter story in the zombie apocalypse into a morally complex parable of what violence humans are capable of performing in pursuit of love and belonging. While there's a wonderful character progression in Joel opening his heart to Ellie and choosing to love again, he also deeply regresses by impulsively killing all who disagree with his choice.

Bill is similarly met with a complex choice in this episode. As Frank grows older and sicker, will he respect Frank's wish to live one more day with him and then pass painlessly in his sleep with pills? Or will Bill keep fighting to spend every moment he can with his lover, even if that inflicts more pain?

What's the difference between love and possession? Love is selfless. Possession is selfish. It's the main theme of the entire third episode of HBO's "The Last of Us." Bill is a man who lives with walls around himself, literally and metaphorically. He built a perfect, sustainable doomsday shelter. He eats luxurious food, maintains an entire arsenal of weaponry, and before Frank, he thought he had everything he needed. He was possessive.

Frank, however, invites Joel and Tess over to share a meal. He builds a store and a garden. Despite loving Bill, he hungers for community and for people to share this familiar life with. He actively challenges Bill to see that the emotional sacrifice of caring for other people is not only worth it, but is one of the only things they have left in this world. Frank is the epitome of selfless love.

There's a version of this story where Bill closes himself off from the world even further, perhaps even resembling the one we meet in the game. But instead, Bill chooses to die with Frank. He even writes a note, trusting Joel with the rest of his belongings. For perhaps the first time in his life, Bill understands that there's more important things in life than self-preservation. Instead of making a choice that's easier for him, he does what's right and honors Frank's wishes — even if that means cutting his own life short, too.

It's doubtful the ending of "The Last of Us" series will drastically depart from the game. Joel will end up making the choice he does at the firefly hospital in Salt Lake City. But Bill and Frank's story has masterfully contextualized and paralleled the biggest decision of Joel's life. It's your call: is Joel acting out of love, or possession?