The third episode of HBO’s “The Final of Us” is a serious departure from what got here earlier than it. That is as a result of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) solely seem in the beginning and the top of the episode. A lot of the episode issues Invoice (Nick Offerman) and Frank (“The White Lotus”‘s Murray Bartlett) and their relationship all through the pandemic brought on by the fungus that modified every part on this planet. The sequence exhibits us a lot, far more than the online game the present is predicated on did, and it expands their lives significantly — and adjustments their ending. Forward, we’re breaking down what occurs to them within the present, the adjustments the sequence made to their plot, and why it is all of the extra devastating for Joel and Ellie.
Invoice and Frank in “The Final of Us” Present
Originally of the episode, Ellie and Joel are touring on foot to the place Invoice and Frank dwell in Lincoln, MA. There, they will get provides and possibly even a automotive with Invoice’s assist to allow them to hold going west and attempt to discover Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Joel explains that when the outbreak started, the navy herded up folks in small cities to deliver them to quarantine zones. But when they came upon there wasn’t sufficient room for the brand new folks, the navy killed them as an alternative.
The present then switched to a flashback and exhibits Invoice again when the outbreak first began. He watches because the navy rounds up the remainder of his village’s residents, however since he is a prepper together with his personal stockpile of provides, together with a generator, he hides till they’re gone. Then, he raids the city for much more provides and spends a very long time on their lonesome, shoring up his defenses. He builds refined traps to maintain each the contaminated and human scavengers out. He is on their lonesome, and his home and city each fall into disrepair round him. However he is alive.
4 years later, a person set off certainly one of his alarms and falls right into a ditch he dug. That man is Frank, and he is not contaminated; he is simply attempting to make it from Baltimore to Boston. He asks Invoice if he might simply have a meal earlier than heading out. They argue, however finally Invoice agrees and even lets Frank bathe. Frank is in awe of Invoice’s home, although it is coated in mud. After they eat lunch, Frank finds Invoice’s piano, which he says belonged to his mom. Frank searched the sheet music and finds a group of Linda Ronstadt songs. He begins enjoying “Lengthy Lengthy Time,” however he performs a little bit too quick and is not singer. Invoice takes over and performs it slowly. Frank asks what lady Invoice is singing about, and Invoice admits there isn’t a lady. “I do know,” Frank replies, they usually kiss, each of them shaking and teary. Invoice lastly tells Frank his identify.
Frank waits in mattress whereas Invoice showers. As soon as they’re in mattress, Invoice admits that he is solely ever slept with one girl earlier than. Frank says that he is not “a whore” so he’ll be staying a pair days so he does not really feel like he traded intercourse for lunch.
The present jumps three years into the longer term, they usually’re totally collectively. Frank slowly makes use of Invoice’s provides to enhance the city, which Invoice thinks is a waste of time. Frank says if you happen to love one thing, you care for it. Frank can be an artist, and shortly their home is roofed in drawings and work he is accomplished of Invoice. Then Frank reveals that he is been enjoying round on the radio, and he discovered a pleasant girl whom he needs to ask to go to. Invoice is livid, however Frank wins. The lady is Tess (Anna Torv), and he or she brings Joel along with her, a state of affairs neither Joel nor Invoice is pleased about it. They comply with assist one another with smuggling but in addition with friendship.
One evening raiders assault the city and set off Invoice’s alarms. Making an attempt to defend them, Invoice is shot and Frank carries him again inside. Finally, they’re protected, and Frank nurses Invoice again to well being.
The present cuts to 10 years later. Frank is sick and makes use of a wheelchair, and Invoice takes care of him. He decides he needs to have one final nice day with Invoice after which for Invoice to place painkillers in his wine so he can die in his sleep. Reluctantly, Invoice agrees. However as soon as they each drink their wine, Invoice reveals he put ache killers in each their wines in order that they’ll exit collectively. They go to mattress collectively and die of their sleep.
Within the current, Joel is pleased to have reached Lincoln with Ellie, however realizes shortly due to the rundown nature of the city that one thing very improper has occurred. Invoice and Frank’s home is falling aside, and their final dinner has gotten moldy on the desk. Ellie is clearly amazed by their home although, and Joel tells her to remain in the lounge whereas he investigates.
Ellie finds a letter Invoice wrote, addressed “To whomever however most likely Joel.” It consists of the important thing to his automotive. Ellie reads the letter to him, which asks them to not go into the bed room the place the our bodies are. Invoice guesses that Joel discovered the letter, since nobody else might have gotten previous all his traps and protections. “Take something you want,” he writes.
“Anyway, I by no means preferred you, however nonetheless, it is like we’re associates. Virtually,” the letter continues. “And I respect you. So I’ll inform you one thing since you’re most likely the one one that’ll perceive.”
“I used to hate the world, and I used to be pleased when everybody died,” Invoice writes. “However I used to be improper. As a result of there was one individual value saving. That is what I did. I saved him, and I protected him. That is why males such as you and me are right here. Now we have a job to do.”
Ellie continues to studying, “And God assist any motherf*ckers who stand in our method. I go away you all of my weapons and tools. Use them to maintain . . .” Ellie pauses. Joel takes the letter from her and reads Tess’s identify. Invoice takes the letter and sadly reads it exterior the home earlier than crumbling it up.
How Invoice and Frank Are Completely different From “The Final of Us” Video Sport
Invoice and Frank’s storyline is by far the largest change to the plot of “The Final of Us” the TV present has made to date. Within the sport, when Joel and Ellie get to Lincoln, Invoice continues to be alive. Invoice is a lonesome, surly, and paranoid survivor who hesitantly agrees to assist Joel and Ellie get a working automotive to proceed their journey west as a result of he owes Joel a favor. His city can be overrun with zombies, they usually must struggle them off to get all of the provides they want.
Invoice consistently warns Joel in regards to the risks of getting near folks. “As soon as upon a time, I had somebody I cared about. It was a companion,” he says. “Any individual I needed to take care of. And on this world, that kind of sh*t’s good for one factor: gettin’ ya killed. So, you understand what I did? I wisened the f*ck up. And I noticed it is gotta be simply me.”
Close to the top of their quest, they discover the physique of somebody who died by suicide in an deserted home. Invoice reveals this was his companion, Frank. Frank wrote in a be aware that he received sick and bored with Invoice and tried to go away, however gave up as an alternative. “Making an attempt to go away this city will kill me. Nonetheless higher than spending one other day with you,” he writes. Joel and Ellie finally get a automotive and go away.
Why Did “The Final of Us” Change Invoice and Frank’s Story?
Frank and Invoice’s storyline within the tv present has a very completely different which means than the one within the sport. Within the sport, the storyline focuses on how onerous it’s to dwell with different folks and the best way that relationships are so fragile within the midst of the apocalypse. It is a very cynical take a look at love, affection, and partnership. However Invoice and Frank assume they might have been higher off alone. It reinforces Joel’s personal fears about conveying Ellie west and getting too near her.
However the TV present’s storyline is about how that cynical view of humanity — even throughout an apocalypse — is improper. Invoice and Frank made a gorgeous life collectively, carved out amidst a lot ache and chaos. They modified one another’s lives.
Their relationship, and Invoice’s change of coronary heart then, has deep results on Joel. It reminds him of the folks he is misplaced — Sarah (Nico Parker), Tess, and his brother, Tommy — and the way he failed to guard them. And it brings into sharp reduction the issue of Ellie. Ought to he likelihood rising near her, two individuals who’ve misplaced actually every part and might solely depend upon one another? Or ought to he keep away from her, lest he fail at defending her, too, and it simply leaves him in ache and alone as soon as once more? Joel and Ellie will each wrestle with their loss and trauma because the sequence continues.
What Is the Significance of Linda Ronstadt’s “Lengthy Lengthy Time” in “The Final of Us?”
“Lengthy Lengthy Time” by Linda Ronstadt isn’t just the track Invoice and Frank play on piano collectively; it is also the track that Ellie performs within the automotive as she and Joel go away city. Ellie has no concept who Ronstadt is, in fact, and Joel says it is positive to play it. He appears affected by the track’s lyrics. “Lengthy Lengthy Time” is how Invoice and Frank first join. It cuts by way of their deep loneliness to their emotional core.
The track is about loneliness within the face of tolerating love. For Joel, it is a warning and a requiem. “And I feel I am gonna love you / For a protracted, very long time,” Ronstadt sings. His love for his daughter and for Tess won’t ever go away, and it is a present and a curse each. To let himself look after Ellie would ease a few of his ache, however at what value?
Did Offerman and Bartlett Actually Play the Piano in “The Final of Us”?
Offerman may be very musical and grew up enjoying piano and saxophone (as his “Parks and Recreation” character, Ron Swanson, confirmed off just a few occasions). Within the 2018 movie “Hearts Beat Loud,” his character performed guitar, bass, and drums.
Bartlett, in the meantime, hasn’t talked about piano-playing abilities earlier than, however there’s a trace that he might need realized only for this function. In a September 2021 interview with The Guardian, he instructed the reporter that he’d had an anxiousness dream about producers critiquing his piano-playing abilities. If we learn between the strains, these producers haunting his goals might need been “The Final of Us” producers. On the very least, he actually tried to play piano for the function.
