Chapter 2: Savoring The Last of Everything
In the midst of a fungi apocalypse, second chances mean the world.
Everything I expected from The Last of Us on HBO has been fulfilled, but what I didn’t expect from The Last of Us was episode 3. That’s why it’s my favorite so far. It’s a heartbreaking story that brings the audience and Frank (played by my fave, Murray Bartlett) & Bill (the lovely Ron Swa–I mean, Nick Offerman) the creature comforts we would all hate to lose at the end of the world as we know it.
What excites me most from this episode moving forward is that I truly don’t know what’s next. My biggest fear when I saw Nick Offerman in the previews was that this would start to feel like that AMC zombie show that has gone on far too long, where the main characters stumble upon someone who helps them a little along the way or is a challenge, etc. More previews still look like this has the potential to happen, but I now trust the creators to take us down the less-beaten path of apocalypse storytelling, and I look forward to it.
Also, let me preface all of this with… I did not play/watch/see the game at all. I don’t know it. This is purely from a TV show standpoint in my analysis. Also, if anyone happens to see this––please, no game spoilers!
[Warning! Spoilers beyond this point.]
Frank: I like older. Older means we’re still here.
Bill: I was never afraid before you showed up.
Cue: all of the waterworks.
This was one of the best hours of television I have ever watched.
Real-life moments, like one savoring a long-lost strawberry with someone you love, is to me, what make a show about the end of the world compelling. It shows us the impact and heartbreak of loss itself. Bill didn’t have anything to lose when this all started except for his own life and his home, but to be fortunate enough to end up having someone to share it with is what makes his life feel valuable. In his own words, it was his purpose.
When Bill said, “I was never afraid before you showed up,” it gutted me because I’ve felt that. If I’ve felt that in regular life, I can’t imagine how that feels when you add on a mushroom virus pandemic that almost instantly wipes out most of humanity. I have to be very specific because we are currently living in a pandemic, but comparably it does not feel as dire, although it was terrifying early on.
I expect zombie mushroom heads sneaking around an old museum looking for the next alive being to absorb into their mycelium network, guns going off, a hero’s resistance, people sacrificing themselves for the greater good, and a top-secret mission to transport a potential vaccine candidate to the right people. What I did not expect from a show about the end of the world was a beautiful, tender episode of a first and second chance at love and life when all seems lost. It was heartwarming and heartwrenching to witness because those are the things we’d miss the most, that we fear losing the most, even when we’re not in the middle of mushrooms taking over humanity.
Having all the resources you need, finding love, and (almost) choosing your own death at the end of the world (vs. being eaten alive, murdered by the gov’t, etc.), and dying in the arms of the one you love is, safe to say, hitting the fucking jackpot in this universe.
We don’t have to be in crisis to relate to these characters. Neither to Frank and Bill. They’re relatable beyond all fear, loss, and lack. We relate to Frank wanting to live as normally as possible, to tend to a ghost town since they’re the only ones who can. We relate to Bill wanting to defend what’s his, to protect it and keep it safe. Most of us are lucky enough not to relate to the savoring of a sweet, home-grown strawberry but can fearfully imagine what life would be like without those luxuries. This is one reason why it was so hard to say goodbye to them and why their short story felt so impactful.
The strawberry scene was so layered and beautiful. It was beyond normal and yet not normal at all considering their circumstances. But the metaphors and symbolism are layered into the scene where even the seemingly mundane speaks to us. It’s as simple as cherishing a delicious, homegrown strawberry, and it’s as complex as finding love in the middle of the apocalypse, as deep as finally living your truth and marrying the one you love even when it hasn’t been legalized (but at that point, what is the law anymore?), as meaningful as living out a full life in a world that still chooses to hate them, but also to say “older means we’re still here” after all gay men have been through––not only because of a mushroom virus, but also because of everything else.
Two gay men living out a happy, wholesome, fulfilled life together without the world hating them? Without the noise of homophobia? Without laws telling them the ways they can’t love each other and be together? Queer people deserve to see this, we all need to see this, I am celebrating it.
Even if you don’t want to read it in all of those ways that are inevitably part of the storytelling––it was also just a purely romantic, heart-swelling story that we can all (and should be able to) relate to regardless of their identities. People often shut off their compassion, empathy, and relatability button if someone simply isn’t attracted to the same gender/sex as them, but in this case, please don’t let it. One day when we’re beyond all of the fightings about our identities, we’ll actually be able to enjoy things as they are. The meaning of these men goes beyond their homosexuality, which is that they were just two beautiful people with big hearts who were blessed to find each other and live out their days in a bleak, empty world. If we were in that world, wouldn’t we want the same?
As sad as this episode was, what I heard of their story in the video game was significantly more depressing. That’s why this episode is so beautiful, and why us only getting to enjoy them for one episode hurts! I’m just so happy Frank and Bill had each other. I love that fate brought these two together and that Bill let it happen. He was so tense, stoic, and silent in the beginning that I truly wasn’t sure where this would lead. Was Frank going to try to kill Bill for all he had? Was Bill going to have to kill Frank? Would he end up having the virus? I’m so glad the writers let us go on this too-short journey with Frank and Bill and gave them fully lived lives. For them and us.
