‘The Last of Us’: Reflecting on One of TV’s Best Episodes Ever
When was the last time an episode of a horror show made you cry? (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Body,” about the death of Buffy’s mom, comes to mind, but that aired more than 20 years ago.)
HBO Max’s thrilling The Last of Us already had us on the edge of our seats through its first turbocharged episodes, set 20 years into a post-apocalypse, after the world as we knew it was destroyed by a fast-spreading fungal infection that turned people into monsters. So far so scary, but what we never expected was how deeply human this creature-feature series based on a popular video game would soon turn out to be.
In the extraordinary 75-minute third episode, titled “Long, Long Time” after the 1970 Linda Ronstadt ballad that plays a significant role, the series’ nonstop action takes a pause. (“We needed a break from fear,” explained the episode’s author, co-creator Craig Mazin, in a Vulture interview.)
(Credit: HBO)
While the show’s main characters, travelers Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), bookend the episode, this isn’t really about them. Instead, “Long, Long Time” delivers a poignant parable of hope amid the chaos, an unexpected tear-jerking love story for the ages, shocking in its emotional realism within the genre of the fantastic.
Warning: Major spoilers follow
Far from the militarized quarantine zones, a gruff bearded survivalist named Bill (Nick Offerman, seemingly typecast) waits out the madness in isolation from a well-equipped bunker beneath his family home in the deserted white-picket suburb of Lincoln, Massachusetts. Four years into the pandemic, in 2007, his life changes forever when Frank (Murray Bartlett), a disarming stranger, stumbles into one of his less lethal traps.
Though deeply paranoid, Bill treats Frank to a shower and a delicious home-cooked meal. And when Bill takes over at his late mother’s vintage piano to play “Long, Long Time” for an astonished Frank, the grateful visitor spies the lamb within the wolfman. He kisses his suddenly shy host as we become witness to a tender and almost unbearably moving domestic drama that plays out in vignettes over the next 15 or so years.
(Credit: HBO)
What makes “Long, Long Time” so memorable, beyond the outstanding performances and writing, is the aura of looming tragedy that hovers around this mismatched couple’s romantic utopia. We know how dangerous the world outside is; as trading partner Joel warns them, they’ll need to be on their guard against deadly Raiders. In a show suffused with sorrow over violent incidents of deep personal loss, Bill strikes a chord when he tells Frank, while marveling at the strawberries he planted, “I was never afraid before you showed up.”
Sure enough, when the Raiders make their move, perishing in flames from the traps Bill has laid, he takes a bullet while protecting his partner. But he survives, and as the episode jumps 10 years to present-day 2023, we learn that Frank is now the one in a wheelchair, his health failing from a natural disease — recalling Buffy’s mother’s death, not from demonic forces but from a sudden aneurysm.
The heart breaks, yet is somehow lifted, by the realization that these everyday heroes aren’t going out in a clichéd blaze of glory. Their lives end quietly, on their own terms, following “one more good day” that includes a private wedding and a last supper that echoes the first, washed down with tainted wine of excellent vintage.
Bill leaves behind a note for Joel that serves as a call to action for the rest of this terrific series: “I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong. Because there was one person worth saving. That’s what I did. I saved him. Then I protected him. That’s why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do.”
As Joel and Ellie drive off with “Long, Long Time” playing from a cassette and the teenager marveling at her first car ride, we know the legacy of Bill and Frank — if not the last of us then among the best of us — will live on. This immediately joins the ranks of TV’s most unforgettable episodes — The Sopranos’ trip to “College,” the devastating “Love’s Labor Lost” from ER’s first season or, for a laugh, “Chuckles Bites the Dust” from The Mary Tyler Moore Show — which often define a show for all time.
The Last of Us, Streaming now, HBO Max
This an excerpt from TV Insider’s April issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the April issue, currently on newsstands or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.
