Why does episode 3 of “The Last of Us” change the “game”?

• "Long, long Time", released this Monday on Amazon Prime Video, is the third episode of the adaptation of the cult video game

  The Last of Us

  .

• This third episode focuses on the story of two secondary characters, Bill and Frank.

• A moving story that moves away from the game, while remaining true to its spirit.

A bubble of humanity in full apocalypse!

While the first two episodes of

had already impressed audiences and critics, the third episode of the adaptation of Naughty Dog's cult video game, entitled "Long Long Time", went online this Monday, in France on Amazon Prime Video, is already qualified by many media as one of the best episodes in the history of television.

Why does this episode change the "game" in the history of video game adaptations?

So far, HBO's adaptation of

has generally followed the same path as the game, sometimes repeating identical dialogues and scenes.

The series of Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin had managed to emancipate itself at the end of episode 2 by slightly modifying the fate reserved for Tess.

Episode 3 is radically different from the game, while remaining true to its original spirit.

If you haven't seen episode 3 of

Bill and Frank, "partners" in the video game

In the games, after Tess' death, Joel decides to go to a man named Bill to retrieve a vehicle to join his brother, Tommy.

A chapter of

takes place in Bill's domain: the player must avoid the multitude of traps that the survivalist has set up around his domain to protect himself, before meeting him and going to his place. him.

We discover that this man has not always lived alone and that he previously had a "partner", named Frank.

Later, Joel, Bill and Ellie discover the corpse of the latter: Frank, infected by a bite, hanged himself so as not to transform or contaminate Bill.

The moving love story of Bill and Frank

Long Long Time,

directed by Peter Hoar, follows Ellie and Joel right after they flee the capitol and Tess passes away.

Along the way, while Joel gives Ellie some explanations about the origins of the pandemic, our two heroes come across the remains of a Fedra mass grave.

The episode then goes into flashback mode and takes us to September 30, 2003, four days after the Outbreak.

The viewer discovers Bill (Nick Offerman), who has managed to escape the Fedra massacres, and barricades himself in his hometown.

Electric barbed wire, mine traps, ditches, video surveillance, this survivalist has transformed his neighborhood into an open-air bunker.

He lives cut off from the world for a few years before an intruder, Frank (Murray Bartlett, who we see definitely everywhere since

), falls into one of his traps.

Bill agrees to welcome him home for dinner.

After a first meal, it is at the piano, to the tune of

by Linda Ronstadt, that Bill will come out of his shell thanks to Frank's disarming warmth, conveyed by a hand on his shoulder and two simple words and liberators: "I know".

Bill and Frank realize that they like each other and kiss.

A different story, but faithful to the spirit of the game

The episode then tells the story of Bill and Frank's twenty years together: from their first sexual relationship to their last meal as a married couple, through their friendship with Joel and Tess... Each slice of life is moving. , told with elegance and the level of dignity it deserves.

Their queer romance culminated in a universal and heartbreaking Shakespearean tragedy.

The series rewrites the story of Bill and Frank.

Unlike the game, Bill dies with Frank and Ellie never meets him, but reads the farewell letter he sends to Joel.

The adaptation builds on the game, however, making Bill and Frank's romantic relationship, which the game only alludes to, a powerful and touching episode that fleshes out the characters organically.

A separate story that resonates with the main plot

The HBO adaptation of the Naughty Dog game by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann uses music expertly: Depeche Mode's

set an ominous tone in Episode 1.

Here, Linda Ronstadt's 1970 Grammy-nominated ballad

, from her second album Silk Purse, played by Bill and Frank on the piano the day they met, features on a mixtape Bill concocted for Joel at the end of the episode.

This epilogue transfers all the emotional weight of the ballad of Bill and Frank to the main plot.

Bill's letter to Joel reminds him that men like him and Joel "have a job to do" and that is to protect their loved ones at all costs.

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