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Inits third episode, Long Long Time,HBOsThe Last of Usradically switches up its pitch.
Then we break off from Joel and Ellies narrative.
Whatever relationship Bill might have had with Frank, sexual or romantic, is mostly implied.
The show doesnt have to do that.
We can go wherever we want.
The idea was to introduce a breather after the intensity of the first two episodes.
We needed a break from fear, says Mazin.
Hes closed himself off from everybody, Mazin says.
A man who wasnt merely closeted sexually, but closeted completely.
All he knows is how to keep himself preserved and alone and therefore safe, emotionally and physically.
I was maybe slightly more insistent about that than a lot of the people around me.
But ONeills gig as Izzy Hands onOur Flag Means Deathrendered him unavailable.
Thats when producer Carolyn Strauss suggested Offerman, whom Mazin knew casually.
But Offerman also had a scheduling conflict.
I read the script, and I was like, Oh no, what a dilemma, Offerman remembers.
Bills instinct, in a very clear-headed way, is Okay, Im not gonna shoot you.
This encounter will last about 40 more seconds, then youre gonna go, says Mazin.
And Frank, uh, just doesnt leave.
In keeping with the productions approach to casting Joel and Ellie, Offerman and Bartlett never screen-tested together.
The thing about Frank is that he can endear people enough that they dont shoot him, Bartlett says.
The fact that Bill doesnt immediately shoot, its a way into the possibility of a connection.
Every part of him wishes that Frank would stay, says Mazin.
But what Bill also feels inside is that he himself is not a lovable person.
Then this thing happens with the song, and thats where the wall comes crumbling down.
Finding the right tune on which to hang Bill and Franks encounter presented Mazin with a unique challenge.
Man, I just couldnt find the perfect song, he continues.
I texted my friend Seth Rudetsky, who hosts the Broadway channel on SiriusXM radio.
He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music.
I said, Here are all the things Im looking for.
Do you know a song that would fit the bill?
Within 30 seconds, he texted back with Long Long Time, Linda Ronstadt.
I played it and was like, Thats the song.
To buy a little more time after their lunch, Frank marvels at the grand piano nearby.
A spark is lit, the two kiss, and the rest of their lives begins.
The whole episode is a respite, an enclave of normalcy in the midst of all the horror.
Theres an implied backstory baked into Bills sizable home.
And the residents tend to keep their houses like a museum.
For Paino, the shift expresses Franks philosophy around survival.
Its not so much keeping up appearances, he says.
Theyre living out their entire lives within those gates.
They have chores, but they get bored too.
Frank comes in, things get a little nicer, things get a little better, says Paino.
But as Franks health degrades, theyre not keeping up with that so much.
Its a good metaphor for our life spans: The house becomes a different kind of museum.
It becomes a crypt.
And that almost triggers when Bill gets injured after an attack on the town by raiders.
Ultimately, Bill opts to take his own life alongside Frank.
I wanted to embrace the notion of a successful life that still ends in death, says Mazin.
I used to hate the world, and I was happy when everyone died, Bill writes.
But I was wrong, because there was one person worth saving.
Thats what I did.
Then I protected him.
Thats why men like you and me are here.
We have a job to do.
And God help any motherfucker who stands in our way.
Bills letter will reverberate across the rest of the season.
I think of Bill and Frank as a kind of Rosetta stone forThe Last of Us, says Mazin.
I wanted to really explore the nature of love.
That dichotomy repeats itself in all the relationships across the show.
He adds: Joel and Ellie really begin their story here.
