The Last of Us Long, Long Time Review: Love endures in a perfect episode of television

After the tragic events in Infected, The Last of Us delivers an episode that’s no less traumatic but is full of hope with Long, Long Time.

The episode begins with Ellie trying to forge some form of connection with Joel. She succeeds in spurts. However, most of Long, Long Time is spent with two different characters, Frank and Bill. In the game, the romantic relationship between Frank and Bill is merely hinted at. In the show, Craig Mazin‘s script and director Peter Hoar devote almost the entire episode to Frank and Bill’s relationship.

Nick Offerman delivers the best performance of his career as Bill. I think it’s safe to say there won’t be a better one-episode performance than Offerman’s this year. Offerman’s journey as Bill runs the gamut from extreme survivalist to doting partner. My favorite Offerman moment as Bill is the gleeful, teenage-like laugh that erupts from Bill after eating a strawberry. Matching Bill’s gruff exterior with substantial warmth is Murray Bartlett as Frank. Over the course of an hour-plus, we see the duo fall in love, fight and form begrudging friendships with Joel and Tess.

Mazin and Neil Druckmann continue to succeed in expanding the scope of the series beyond Joel and Ellie’s worldview. The television format allows Mazin and Druckmann to jump back and forth in time. For example, Anna Torv returns as Tess in this episode. Long, Long Time shows how Tess and Joel met Bill and Frank. The small scene makes Tess’s sacrifice matter more than in the game. When Ellie reads a letter from Bill to Joel, the reference to Tess is a poignant reminder to Joel of his failure to protect the people he loves.

Long, Long Time‘s exploration of love leads to a perfect episode of television.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the stand-out elements in Long, Long Time. There may be some minor spoilers. The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

Joel and Ellie in Long, Long Time

Long, Long Time begins in silence, but it doesn’t take Ellie long to punch some chinks into Joel’s armor. Joel is by a creek and takes a moment to reflect on the losing Tess. Ellie begins speaking, but Joel cuts her off. Joel tells Ellie not to apologize for Tess’s death. Ellie cuts off Joel before he can finish saying the word sorry. She’s not apologizing. Ellie didn’t ask Joel and Tess to take her through Boston. Joel and Tess made that decision on their own.

Joel and Ellie then embark on a five-mile hike. Ellie seems to agree to be quiet, but she starts asking questions immediately. Joel provides some exposition that’s necessary for Ellie but is information the audience has. He talks about the chaotic weekend, explains how the fungus spread and shows Ellie FEDRA’s approach to the quarantine zone. FEDRA went into the countryside and rounded up all of the non-infected residents. If there was room in the quarantine zone, FEDRA would haul them into the QZ. If there wasn’t room, they would kill the residents.

The duo head to an abandoned convenience store where Joel has stashed some supplies. Ellie heads down to the basement where an infected is alive but crushed by debris. Ellie responds to the discovery in a sadistic fashion. She cuts the infected creature and then kills him with one emphatic stab.

I love how the series is making Ellie a more brutal character than in the games. After discovering the dead bodies, Long, Long Time shifts the focus to Bill’s town in 2003.

Finding Love in Bill’s Town

Long, Long Time flashes back several times beginning in 2003 when the outbreak began. Bill is a survivalist. He takes glee in the rounding up of human beings and is more than happy to have an entire town to himself. He heads to Home Depot and begins booby-trapping the town. His entertainment is watching the infected on closed-circuit monitors meet their demise from one of his insidious traps.

Everything changes when a man falls into one of Bill’s holes. Bill is immediately flustered by Frank’s warmth and good looks. Bill initially wants Frank to just leave, but Frank asks for a simple meal, then he’ll go. Frank never leaves.

Bill and Frank’s courtship is lovely as Frank badly sings and plays the piano. Bill takes over with a beautiful rendition of Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time.” Frank gently asks Bill who is the girl Bill is singing about. Bills reply “there is no girl.” Franks says “I Know” and they kiss for the first time.

All of this buildup is simply terrific.

Nurturers and Protectors

The episode then flashes forward to 2007 where Bill and Frank are having a lover’s quarrel. Frank wants to clean up the town a bit. Bill wants to keep the town as is. Frank convinces Bill to let him fix some of the shops in town and then tells Bill they’re going to meet friends.

The episode flashes forward again to Bill and Frank meeting Joel and Tess. The four of them share a meal together with Frank and Tess staying chummy, while the curmudgeonly Joel and Bill stay silent. Frank asks Bills to take the gun off the table. Eventually, Tess and Frank leave the table. Joel sternly tells Bills to get the gun out of his face.

Joel offers Bill advice from protector to protector. He tells Frank the fencing won’t hold. You can see worry creep across Bill’s face. He knows Joel is right, but still says he’s fine. Joel still offers to get Bill some better materials for his fence.

After Joel and Tess leave, a group of raiders tries to invade Bill’s town. Bill is wounded in the process and the nurturer, Frank has to patch up the bullet hole.

Long, Long Time flashed forward and eventually flashes forward to 2023. Bill is older and doesn’t move around as well. However, it’s Frank who is nearing the end of his life due to some sort of muscular disease that has left his wheelchair-bound. Bill is completely devoted to Frank. He worries about Frank’s feet being cold and makes sure Franks takes the right pills.

Frank decides he wants to have one last perfect day, while it’s still his choice to make. He asks Bill to crush all of his pills in his glass of wine, which will let him die in peace. Bill refuses but eventually agrees to Frank’s proposal. Bill’s entire reason for being is to protect Frank so doing something that would harm Frank seems unfathomable.

Bill and Frank get married and share a last meal. The meal itself is the same one they shared when they first met. Bill reveals he crushed all of the pills in the bottle of wine. He has decided to die with Frank. Bill explains that Frank is his entire reason for being. The two head to their bed one last time.

Joel’s Journey

Joel and Ellie show up at Bill’s town. They find a letter addressed to Joel on the table. Ellie reads the letter to Joel. Bills asks Joel not to enter their bedroom. Joel is given permission to take all of the belongings including Bill’s truck.

Ellie stops reading when the letter mentions Tess. Bill explains the purpose of protectors like him and Joel is to look out for the ones they love. Joel is overwhelmed by his failure and heads outside. He decides to take Ellie out west.

He lays out a few ground rules. Ellie is forbidden from mentioning Tess, she can’t mention her bite to anyone and she must obey Joel’s every order. Joel asks Ellie to repeat it. She doesn’t repeat any of it. Joel says ok and moves on.

Long, Long Time ends with Joel and Ellie driving out of Bill’s town while Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” plays on the radio.

Long, Long Time final thoughts

It’s only three episodes but The Last of Us is easily eclipsing House of the Dragon as the best debut HBO series.

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