The Last of Us Review - Episode 3 Recap: Making love out of nothing at all

Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett teach us about love in the time of Cordyceps and zero hope. And we emerge from this elegy of a life well-lived with remnants of their sentient soulful connection.

When Prestige TV podcast hosts and The Ringer critics, Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson, did their deep dive on the season premiere of The Last of Us, they foretold that episode 3 was going to have a profound impact on the series, as a whole. I’m paraphrasing here, but enough to say, that I’ve been waiting for this singled out episode since I heard that comment a few weeks back.

In my week one recap, I shared my Walking Dead comparisons to this show.

My weekly barometer for this show goes something like: Is it just another zombie saga about humanity crumbling with an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it type tale, based on a random pandemic that’s uncontainable, or is there something more insightful and poignant being brought forward in this video game adaptation that says something markedly unique about the human condition and peoples’ ability to rebuild in the face of a disaster? Not to mention, the motivation to do all this rebuilding in a fraught landscape of population decimation, both at the hands, but mostly mouths of the zombies (spreading infection) and by those uninfected people, who busy themselves building fiefdoms of power and corruption under the guise of protection and security for all. In simpler terms, is this show merely a derivation of The Walking Dead?

And while the show is good and its cinematic quality enough to carry in the first 2 episodes, and clearly a critic’s darling (96% favorability rating on Rotten Tomatoes), I’ve been harboring some doubts based on the “So what?” and “How is this different?” That is, until this episode and the introduction of two new characters, Frank (Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus, Welcome to Chippendales, Physical) and Bill (Nick Offerman, Parks & Rec), two lovers, so opposite from one another and who would never have found one another if not for the Cordyceps pandemic.

Source: Variety / Bill and Frank sit down to a romantic dinner.

So why does the saga of Joel and Ellie taking to the road to travel West bump up against these two glorious people and does it matter? It doesn’t really matter because the story unfolds from 2003 to 2023 and from the minute Offerman and Bartlett grace the screen, you forget about those other pesky people, Eoel and Jellie. They are just the homing pigeons helping to carry the story forward and to bear witness to the final note Bill leaves which alludes to Joel taking good care of Tess and how he and Bill were put on this earth to protect their loved ones. Yes, all tears here.

---

And now a plug for

Steve Goldberg

’s music, culture, and yes, it even has film analyses (woo hoo) Substack, Earworms and Song Loops, because when I read these lines from his take of the Aimee Mann song, “Save Me” from Magnolia’s soundtrack, it was the closest I could evoke to the love story between Frank (Murray Bartlett) and Bill (Nick Offerman), in this episode.

From Earworms and Song Loops:

“Save Me” like “Wise Up,” leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Aimee sings:

You look like
A perfect fit
For a girl in need
Of a tourniquet

But can you save me?
Why don't you save me?
If you could save me
From the ranks of the freaks
Who suspect
They could never love anyone

But the song also explores the whole concept of being “saved.” Whether one person can really save another. If that’s just what we want so that the work of healing doesn’t feel so daunting. I think “Save Me” is really talking about the pain of loneliness and feeling completely unworthy of love. Of wanting to escape the harsh inner voices and self-judgments that every decision and every interaction with other human beings can arouse.

---

Yes! Yes! Yes! This perfectly describes Bill’s inner critic and his origin point from lonely Rambo survivalist and conspiracy-theory junkie with a bunker, unable to let his guard down for anyone or trust anyone at the start, to his tender coming out to Frank, where he allows himself to be vulnerable, feel “worthy” of love and in quick succession, finds love with Frank, even if he pulled a rifle on Frank when they met.

So it was a bumpy meet cute and Bill, a solo pragmatist survivor and Frank, a social, fun-loving, trusting and honest dude who likes to fix things up (paint boutiques, for example) and plant strawberries, discover the beauty of romantic love with one another. And live only with another pretty much for 20 years. And put the rest of us who could barely deal with our partners, let alone kids, during a brief COVID lockdown (of ~1.5 yrs?) to shame.

Said no one ever during COVID, but secretly we thought it:

Back to the way we were: From when Bill and Frank first met. Frank’s expression giving vibes of, “Well, I guess it’s just me and him for the rest of eternity. May as well like this dude”

Bill thinking, “This is me being vulnerable. I also point a gun at the dinner table at new guests when they come to dinner. But, I make a mean rabbit and know the best red wine to pair it with.”

Frank and Bill’s quick courtship goes something like this: After the rifle incident with Frank falling into Bill’s booby trap hole and Bill scanning him to see if he’s infected and determining he’s not infected and he can live…for another minute or two, Frank is invited to Bill’s house for lunch. Bill makes a comment about his house not being an Arby’s - free food for every bum in town - to which Frank retorts, “Arby’s doesn’t give away free food.” And besides, Frank doesn’t have friends anymore which is why he’s with Bill right now. If he had a better place to be, he wouldn’t be shouting from a ditch for help.

From there, Frank showers before eating, gets clean clothes from Bill, and after an elaborate and rather ceremonial formal lunch by Bill, he goes to the piano where he pulls a songbook by Linda Ronstadt out from the piano bench. The song he plays, “Long Long Time” also happens to be the name of this episode, so its significance is not lost here. Frank attempts to sing the song and he’s off-key before handing it over to Bill who does a soulful rendition, carrying the weight of the burden of loneliness and being unloved romantically for so long.

Love will abide, take things in stride
Sounds like good advice but there's no one at my side
And time washes clean love's wounds unseen
That's what someone told me but I don't know what it means

And so the years go on, and Frank and Bill have their share of scares (raiders who threaten their peace, Bill gets shot in the gut, they bicker about Bill’s anti-social tendencies and Frank’s need for more than just his sour face as company) and happy times (they meet Joel and Tess and make friends with them, have cute dinners, go for jogs, paint, pass the time laughing and growing old together) until one day, Frank is unwell, though it’s not clear what he has (MS or ALS have been hinted at) and this leaves him unable to paint, feed himself, and walk. He’s miserable. And that’s when the tears stream because there’s a decision made and as a viewer you are complicit in what’s coming next.

What I can share about the end of this episode is that it leaves you both optimistic about a crazy little thing called love and grief-stricken in a way that only an incurable and degenerative illness can bring to its victims and loved ones with its slow and cruel fade. Frank makes a bold choice, but arguably the even more courageous and selfless act is taken by Bill, in an emotional “my love language is acts of service” kind of way.

That’s all for now. Be sure to tell others to subscribe for FREE to this Substack if you liked what you read. And I know you did.