In typical water-cooler TV fashion, HBO’s The Last of Us is the talk of the internet every Sunday, but Episode 3, “Long Long Time,” has taken the show to new heights. Already dubbed the best episode of television of 2023 and an instant classic in the canon of small-screen cinema, “Long Long Time” focuses on Bill (Nick Offerman, Devs) and Frank (Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus), Tess (Anna Torv, Mindhunter) and Joel’s (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian) longtime allies.
Although the episode is book-ended with scenes between Joel and Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones), who are heeding Tess’ final wishes and hiking to Bill and Frank’s compound, the bulk “Long Long Time” is set in the past. Diverting from The Last of Us game’s canon for the better, Episode 3 takes what could’ve been a one-off bottle episode and transforms it into a haunting, beautifully executed story of enduring queer love. And much of this feeling stems from Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time,” the song that gives the episode its name.
Bill and Frank in The Last of Us on HBO
Director Peter Hoar (It’s a Sin) paints an intimate portrait of two people who find purpose and joy in a crumbling, brutal world — and takes time doing so. At first, the audience is introduced to survivalist Bill, a somewhat paranoid (though very prepared) prepper who built a below-basement bunker stocked with weapons and supplies.
After FEDRA agents sweep and leave his small Massachusetts town, Bill gets to work raiding stores and power plants, transforming his home into a fortified compound with electricity, running water, and other luxuries that just don’t exist in this post-outbreak world. One day, Bill’s isolated-but-functional lifestyle is upended when a wayward man, Frank, stumbles into one of the compound’s traps.
Free from Cordyceps infection, Frank is headed to the Boston Quarantine Zone (QZ), but hasn’t eaten in days. Although hesitant, Bill invites Frank in for a shower and a meal. There are some appropriately stilted moments: Bill hasn’t really had much human companionship in years, and Frank is shocked by Bill’s setup, and the rabbit-paired-with-Beaujolais meal he’s just eaten. Before he leaves, Frank heads over to Bill’s antique piano, eager to play something on it.
What Song Does Bill Play on the Piano?
After flipping through some sheet music — classics that Bill says were his mother’s — Frank procures a songbook that he knows, in his bones, is Bill’s taste. The songbook features works by the accomplished, genre-hopping singer Linda Ronstadt, and Frank settles on the aching "Long, Long Time.”
After playing and singing a very off-key snippet, Frank convinces Bill to play the Ronstadt classic. When Bill finishes, Frank asks him who he’s singing about — “Who’s the girl?” — and when Bill says there isn’t a girl, Frank says he knows, and kisses the survivalist. From there, Bill and Frank’s years-long love story unfolds against the backdrop of the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us.
At the episode’s end, the story returns to present-day. Joel and Ellie take Bill and Frank’s truck, and when Ellie complains about the music, Joel tells her the iconic singer is Linda Ronstadt. While Ellie, understandably, has no idea who the singer is, it’s a perfect end-of-the-episode gut-punch for viewers. After all, there’s no denying that the song Bill plays on the piano, Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time,” and which fills the truck as Joel and Ellie drive off, epitomizes so much of Bill and Frank’s enduring relationship.
Who Is Linda Ronstadt?
A retired American singer, Linda Ronstadt is notable for her ability to perform across musical genres, including rock, country, light opera, Latin, and more. With 11 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honors, an Emmy, and a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award under her belt, Ronstadt is incredibly decorated for her contributions.
After establishing herself professionally in the 1960s, Ronstadt went on to lend her voice to over 120 albums, and has collaborated with fellow musical greats Neil Young, Paul Simon, Earl Scruggs, Johnny Cash, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Although she retired in 2011 due to a degenerative condition that has impacted her ability to sing, Ronstadt is still one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time, with over 100 million records sold.
Written by Gary White, “Long, Long Time” — the song Bill plays on the piano in The Last of Us — was a hit for Ronstadt in 1970. The Grammy-nominated folk rock song is from Ronstadt’s album Silk Purse.
Why Did The Last of Us Change Bill and Frank's Story?
According to series co-creator Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), Episode 3 of The Last of Us is a break from the fear and brutality showcased in previous episodes. Eager to expand upon Bill and Frank’s story — in the game, Frank is already dead when the player encounters Bill — Mazin approached his co-creator Neil Druckmann, who wrote and co-directed the video game source material. For Druckmann, the game’s versions of Bill and Frank were there in service of the gameplay, so he was excited to take a deeper look at the characters in the show’s version of events.
A means of smartly chronicling the 20 years that have passed from the night of the Cordyceps outbreak, “Long Long Time” also centers on happiness — on the fact that, even in this harsh world, people do have a chance for something good. Although Bill and Frank both die at the end of the episode, the show assures viewers that, “This isn't the tragic suicide at the end of the play.” In storytelling at large, there’s a longstanding trope of killing off queer characters and equating their lives with tragedy. Here, though, Bill and Frank live a full and loving life together — and they retain their agency.
What Is the Significance of Linda Ronstadt's "Long, Long Time" in The Last of Us?
Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” allows Bill and Frank to share an intimate moment. The lonely heartache of the song captures what it means to love someone in such a broken world, but it also gives the couple the space to connect and be vulnerable, despite being strangers at the time. As the episode progresses, Bill laments getting older, but Frank is quick to assure him that getting older is a good thing — it means they’re still together, still alive, and still loving each other for a long, long time.