The Last of Us episode 3 review: Long Long Time

The Last of Us shines brighter than ever in its exquisite third episode that dares to tell a story the video game did not. 

When it was announced that The Last of Us would be getting a TV adaptation on HBO Max, viewers were anticipating a gritty, frightening, and compelling adaptation of the video game series that boasted all of those qualities.

That’s pretty much what we have gotten so far, as the first two episodes were a character study of the show’s primary characters, while the second of those two leaned heavily on the horror, showcasing the dangers of the apocalypse that non-gamers might not have been familiar with.

What you might not have anticipated is a somewhat unexpected look at the beauty that one (or two) can find in even the darkest of times, and how that beauty that even lead to happiness. That’s what The Last of Us accomplished in in its third episode, “Long Long Time”, and the rest was, well, beautiful.

*** This review contains major spoilers from The Last of Us episode 3 ***

The Last of Us episode 3 review

“Long Long Time” introduces Bill and Frank to the show. Two characters that video game fans were familiar with, only because Bill shows up in the game and references his deceased partner Frank. It’s a moment in the game that certainly lands, but one that boasts a heavy burden of a story untold. The HBO series decides to tell that story in its third episode and all I can say is it was one worth waiting for.

Bill is lone wolf ready when the world falls, one who appreciates the solitude and thrives when the military attempts to “evacuate” everyone in town, because it leaves the town all to him. Frank on the other hand, is a gentle, warm, and more emotional figure, less prepared for the world around him but determined to survive nonetheless. But when he falls into one of Bill’s traps, they both begin to realize that they don’t have to do it alone.

The writing here is wonderful. Not just in the pair’s endearing awkward first meeting but in the entire episode, as it plays to each character’s strengths, showing us who they are and why they need each other (and how they nearly didn’t realize that). And that’s something you see, as the story plays out over many years, showing us how their relationship evolved and how they were forced to evolve when the circumstances required it.

The one thing that really brings it all together, though, is the performances. Every episode of The Last of Us has produced real high quality performances from its cast, but the acting that Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett deliver in “Long Long Time” may just be the best we’ll see on television all year. Their chemistry is beautiful, endearing, and gentle, and it’s so moving to watch Offerman’s adorably rough-around-the-edges Bill fall more and more in love with Frank against his better judgement.

There is a particularly beautiful sequence in which you can just feel the love the characters share for one another, and it’s when Bill tells Frank that he “was never afraid before [Frank] showed up”. It’s such a brief moment, but Offerman’s delivery of the line, and Bartlett’s response to it really sells the emotion between these two, and it makes you root for them against all odds. Bill now has something he’s afraid to lose, and as a result, he’s truly living for the first time.

When illness comes from Frank years later, and forced him to “get older” before Bill did, his decision to end their story makes for a really bittersweet conversation between them. And Bill’s decision to end his own life as well really drove home what Frank meant to him. They had become each other’s purpose in a world where there was little to hold onto but survival. Death was inevitable and they were willing to face it together. It’s heartbreaking, but beautiful at the same time.

It’s their love (and their deaths) that forces Joel to think about Tess’ sacrifice in the previous episode. The show’s juxtaposition of Bill and Frank’s relationship against Joel and Tess’ was unexpected, but brilliant – because, just as Frank had for Bill, Tess had become Joel’s purpose since the world fell, and even though he didn’t entirely seem sure of what he felt for her, he knew she was there for him. And it’s only fitting that this is what drives him to complete his mission of getting Ellie to safety. She is now his purpose, and he might even start growing quite fond of her along the way… who knows, right?

There’s an irony in the fact that The Last of Us delivers its best episode yet by deviating somewhat from the video game’s narrative. The show has, up until this point, succeeded as perhaps the greatest video game adaptation of all time because it stayed true to the source material. But that’s why “Long Long Time” works, because it deviates but never strays, shows instead of tells, and enriches by adding without ever taking away. What a truly magnificent episode of television.

Grade: A+

What did you think of The Last of Us episode 3? Let us know in the comments below!