Any good adaptation will inevitably make changes to its source material. Because of the long history of terrible video game adaptations, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann knew they had to be careful when translating Naughty Dog's beloved video game The Last of Us for HBO. While the show has stayed relatively true to the games, there have also been more than a few changes made to the story to better fit the medium of television.
One of the most notable deviations from the game comes in the series' third episode "Long, Long Time". Already being considered one of TV's best episodes, "Long, Long Time" primarily focuses on telling the story of Bill, Joel's smuggler living outside of Boston. While gamers will be familiar with Bill's story, new viewers may wonder, given how much of the episode takes place in a flashback, and how dialogue-heavy the episode is, just how the same story worked in the original game. To people experiencing The Last of Us for the very first time through the HBO adaptation, it may come as a surprise that the heartbreaking story of Bill and Frank, as well as Frank's death, actually plays out quite differently in the game.
Spoilers Ahead
How Frank Dies In The HBO Series
Midway through the HBO episode, a flashback transports viewers back to just a few days after the Cordyceps outbreak. Bill, a paranoid misanthrope, evades the mandatory evacuation by hiding out in his bunker. Once FEDRA evacuates everyone, leaving Lincoln, Massachusetts otherwise deserted, Bill travels around town collecting supplies and setting up traps. After living alone for a few years, he comes across Frank, another man trying to find his way to the Boston Quarantine Zone. After some convincing, Bill agrees to give Frank a meal, shower, and fresh clothes. They begin to bond over Bill's piano rendition of Linda Ronstadt's song "Long, Long Time", and soon fall for each other and begin a relationship.
Throughout the years, the two men continue to grow close. It's here that Frank introduces Bill to Joel and Tess, beginning their smuggling operation and opening Bill up to connect with others. A few months prior to the beginning of the series, Bill and Frank are now elderly, with Frank suffering from an undisclosed degenerative disease. One day, Frank decides that it will be his last day. He asks Bill to spend one last joyful day with him, and later during dinner, put sleeping tablets in his wine, so he can pass away peacefully. Bill is reluctant at first but later agrees, marrying Frank on his last day. During dinner, Bill puts sleeping tablets in both glasses of wine, telling Frank that he doesn't want to live without him. Their story ends as Bill takes Frank to bed, so they can die together.
How Frank Dies In The Video Game
Since The Last of Us game is linear and focused on gameplay and combat, the story of Bill and Frank is quite different in the game. In the game, Joel and Ellie come to Lincoln, though Joel admits he's never actually been there before. After running into infected and Bill's traps, the two encounter Bill alone. Paranoid and distrustful, Bill agrees to find a working car for Joel and leads them through town. Bill questions why Joel is taking care of Ellie; it's here that Bill tells Joel that he once had a partner that he had to "look after", who Bill eventually let go. After hours of gameplay and combat, Joel and Bill discover a corpse hanging in a house. Bill tells Joel that the body hanging is Frank, and that Frank was his partner.
Though the series openly portrays the romantic side of Bill and Frank's relationship, in the game their romantic relationship is only implied. A note that the player can find in the house will reveal a letter Frank wrote to Bill. The note implies that Bill and Frank had some sort of falling out, which resulted in Frank trying to leave Lincoln. As Bill cuts down Frank's body, he and Joel find that he had bite marks from infected. Bill had said earlier in the game that infected were all over that side of town, so while players never see Frank, his fate is fairly clear. After his falling out with Bill, he attempted to leave Lincoln. Passing through the side of town with hordes of infected, Frank inevitably got infected himself, though chose to commit suicide rather than turn.
In the game, the discovery of Frank's death clearly devastates Bill, showing a sympathetic side to the character players previously hadn't seen. Bill's distant relationship with Frank is meant to mirror Joel's distant relationship with Ellie, signifying where the two might end up if Joel fails to grow close to Ellie. In the series, Bill leaves a note to Joel, instead saying that taking care of Frank gave him purpose, and that both he and Joel have a life to save. While Bill in the series never meets Ellie, Joel undoubtedly projects the message of Bill's note onto him and Ellie. The game showed the devastating consequences of continuing to be distant to Ellie, but the show instead chooses a positive spin. By changing Bill and Frank's story, the series shows how love is always possible, even in the most hopeless of situations.
The Last of Us video game is available on PS3 and PS4. The Last of Us Part 1 is available on PS5.
HBO's The Last of Us airs on Sundays at 9PM.