Following the release of The Last of Us episode 3, a new game-to-show comparison video exposes just how much the HBO adaptation modified the beloved game character Bill. Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) push through the countryside to Bill’s (Nick Offerman), and Frank’s (Murray Bartlett) protected sanctuary for supplies after narrowly escaping Boston.
Episode 3 covers the course of Bill and Frank’s relationship, beginning when Frank unintentionally falls into one of Bill’s traps and continuing throughout their post-apocalyptic companionship, eventually concluding with their calm suicides as they choose to exit the world in each other’s arms.
The video uses key moments from The Last of Us episode 3 and Bill’s chapters within the game to emphasise how the HBO series transformed his character, specifically mentioning how the survivalist interacts with Joel and Ellie, which did not happen in the programme. The video also mentions various Joel and Ellie segments in the episode that use a speech from the original game.
What The Last of Us Has Changed Since the Game’s Inception
The first two episodes of The Last of Us mostly followed the story of the original video game. Despite introducing substantial alterations to the world’s lore, such as the discovery of the lethal Cordyceps mutation and the nature of the fungal infection, the episodes preserved the game’s narrative structure and rhythms. Episode 3 was the series’ first significant departure from the source material’s character and story beats.
The game never completely showed Bill and Frank’s relationship. In The Last of Us video game, Joel and Ellie discover Bill living alone in his trap-protected town. The trio then obtain a car battery for Joel, but an infected horde nearly overtakes them.
After being forced inside a residence after fleeing, Bill discovers Frank hanging from the ceiling in an apparent suicide attempt. The player learns from a discoverable suicide note that Bill and Frank were partners for a while, but Frank became tired of Bill’s wish to stay in town, cut off from the rest of the world.
Frank’s frustration reached a breaking point, and he tried to sneak away and steal the car battery for himself, but he was bitten in the process. Bill and Frank’s relationship in the original game was significantly more resentful than the love romance presented in The Last of Us episode 3.
With only three episodes under its belt, the programme is already introducing new twists and turns along Joel and Ellie’s difficult journey. Melanie Lynskey’s entry to The Last of Us as Kathleen, the head of a vicious group that dominates Kansas City, is teased in the episode 4 teaser. Her character was created particularly for the HBO adaptation and did not appear in the video game. Fans of The Last of Us may be treated to more surprises as the series progresses.
