The Last of Us Episode 3 - An Overindulgent Masterpiece

hey bro what's your question my question is what the hell I'm sad and you were my purpose so I had no intention of making my first video about The Last of Us TV show let alone about the most controversial episode to date but dang it I can't stop thinking about this episode it's infected and consumed my brain in a similar fashion to the cordyceps virus and I have to spread it out into the world much in the same way as the zombie that had a makeout sesh with Tess oh much like most Millennials addicted to the interwebs I tend to turn to the World Wide Web to see what everyone else's opinions on a subject are in order to validate my own and overall the episode has had a huge positive response about how heartbreakingly beautiful the episode was and how it was such a good deviation from The Source material and the negative criticisms are kind of in the minority because there's no denying that the story between Bill and Frank was Master Class character writing elevated by the performances of Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett which I never would have thought that the guy who does this what's a not gay way to ask him to go camping with me could be capable of this [Music] I was never afraid before you shoot [Music] I feel like a crazy person but I can't deny that the episode left me dissatisfied both as someone who loves the game and yes I said game singular and who has loved episodes one and two of the show it was the same dissatisfaction I felt when Arya subverted our expectations and killed the night King [Applause] the ending of the episode just left me being like that's it really now I'm no professional reviewer just a half professional engineer who loves storytelling and goofing on it but mainly I just want to provide a mostly objective look at why this episode really isn't as great as everyone says I know so brave stunning and brave now obviously I bring in a little bias because I've played the game before and like everyone else fell in love with the characters as I've watched the show each week I've been replaying the relevant parts of the story beforehand so I can catch the little Easter eggs and see what changes they introduced to the show along the way and as I was playing Bill's chapter I remember just how short the bill portion of the game was like it probably lasted only an hour and the actual interaction Time with Bill was less than that but his salty curmudgeon attitude is what cemented him in every Fan's heart forever also side note I don't know what everyone means about Bill being strongly implied to be gay in the game My totally real boyfriend says it's completely normal for straight guys to read magazines like this on all the time right right it's a little tangent before diving into the weeds of this but if you're someone who's played the last of us then you know that one of everyone's favorite game mechanics are the little notes you find scattered around the game as you travel the country they're like a spice that adds more flavor more context to the world you're exploring World building as it were notes about loved ones being separated people documenting their dying breaths because they've just been infected and other tragic stories like that hope you're out there thriving-ish and the HBO show has taken this concept to the next level with episodes 1 and 2 having their cold opens take place in the pre-outbreak time and giving a short yet effective scenes that flesh out the world more and add deeper context but that's what makes them so effective they're a short yet powerful gut punch that knows not to overstay its welcome you heard me come on it's kind of like how the intro of up struck an emotional gut punch to the heart and successfully made everyone cry I bring up up because I've seen people compare Bill and Frank's story to the in interesting and up since it hits the same emotional chord and while I would agree with it being in the same vein as each other I think there's a fundamental difference between them up achieved in 10 minutes without words what took episode 3 an hour to do UPS intro provides character motivation for Carl and makes his story far more impactful and overall the intro scene justifies its existence and that's my main issue with this episode there's just no getting around that the story between Bill and Frank completely overstays its welcome I'm sorry sir it's time for you to leave now truly I think as a self-contained narrative this is an incredible love story about learning to care about someone when you've only ever focused on protecting yourself and surviving and I know this because this was hammered over my head and Bill's note at the ending I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died when I was wrong because there was one person with which makes sense because Neil drugman does not understand the art of subtlety the writing credits for this episode but new so he obvious and frankly get it I was all in for the first half of the episode except for that scene with Ellie with the clicker in the beginning as we saw the beginning of this episode 14 year old girl had a sadistic streak ah yes she is but that's a different topic for a different day I think it was physically impossible to not have a grin on your face when you see Bill all alone once everyone has left town and him just reveling in it like this was his literal dream come true Russia real weapons and honest kill there is no substitute for the real thing establishing him as this survivalist who's been preparing for this his whole life but who has failed to let anyone in made him a very compelling character and set up his Arc extremely well the interesting with Frank completely sold me on their relationship I loved their Dynamic with Bill being the gruff protector that keeps the house safe and Frank being the warmth that makes the house a home this Dynamic is in stark contrast to Frank in the game if you don't know in the game Frank leaves bill because he wanted more out of life than staying in the town with just bill and Frank ends up getting bitten and killing himself to avoid turning in his suicide note Frank tells Bill he would rather be dead than spend another day with him so it was nice to see the showrunners turn this into a positive relationship but as I was watching the episode I kept waiting for Frank to die or to leave so that we could pick up Bill's story with Joel and Ellie and I kept waiting and waiting and waiting and then at one point I honestly forgot I was watching The Last of Us and when we finally reached the part where Frank tells Bill how his last day is gonna go down I was thinking oh it's gonna Flash Forward to Frank dead and then Joel and Ellie are going to arrive to A heartbroken Bill and then we proceed to live out Frank's last day and I was like okay I guess we're gonna see every moment of this last day and then Bill gives Frank the lime with the medicine in it and tells Frank that he also drank enough medicine to kill himself and I was like oh he's probably lying to make Frank feel less alone or he's gonna survive and Joel and Ellie will find him and then the beginning of the next episode will be their adventure and then when Ellie found Bill's suicide note I just thought okay and to be honest I kind of just checked out of the last 15 minutes of the episode because through all the tears that had obviously come down my face during the scenes of Frank and Bill's last day I couldn't help but think what was the point as a game fan my instant monkey brain Instinct was I don't get to see Bill f up a bloater or yella Ellie or talk to himself all the time you believe him agreed to this point same dude same and I acknowledge that adaptations don't have to be a one for one thing so I tried to throw my monkey brain biases out of the window even though come on this part would have been cool to see on screen look he's killing [ __ ] zombies upside down heck yeah what the heck this bill guy just gave me a freaking shotgun let's go brother oh my gosh these zombies are gonna kill me come at me froze I got this yeah I see you you [ __ ] anyways if we put the game aside and focus purely on the show I still would be left unsatisfied because at the end of the day Frank and Bill's story is the B plot that tries to upend the a plot Joel and Ellie's story is supposed to be the narrative focus of the show and the stories and characters around them are meant to bolster their own story and character growth which many argue that bill and Frank's story does so let's be fair about this let's see if this extended flashback justifies its existence if we go to master classes definition of a flashback it says flashbacks give a story more depth by revealing details that help readers understand character motives flashbacks also add tension and help Advance the plot okay so basically a good flashback will successfully add more details to character motivations create tension and help Advance the plot the right on off the bat we can agree that the flashback adds more details to character motivations no not for that guy for this character aka the wrong character we get deep characterization for Bill and Frank but for what purpose a lot of people have been saying that the thorough characterization for bill was necessary because it shows Bill's growth from Lonely Survivor to a protective and loving man for Frank and this is meant to mirror Joel's relationship with Ellie which to me it was a little bit on the nose as I mentioned before druckman has shall we say a history for being as subtle as a five-iron [Music] like it also doesn't make it any secret that Frank is supposed to mirror tessinelli and to that I would counter why not just show that deep characterization with Joel and Ellie what's the point of showing me the same story twice also if including Bill and Frank's story was a hell the showrunners would die on then at the very least it should be acknowledged that it had no right taking up 75 of the episode's run time it would be one thing if this was an anime like Naruto where entire episodes are dedicated to random Side characters backstories but Naruto's hundreds of episodes long with so many Filler episodes The Last of Us is Nine episodes we don't have time to jump into an anime filler Arc especially at episode 3 when we're still pretty early on in the show we've only just gotten introduced to Joel and Ellie you know the relationship we're supposed to be investing in and then the show thinks it's a good idea to barely show them in an episode so bold strategy cotton let's see if it pays off for him next a flashback is meant to create tension this usually arises from the audience having more information than the main character and then that tension comes to a head when the main character finally becomes privy to that information but really the only way this flashback accomplishes that is when we the audience know that bill and Frank are dead and Ellie and Joel don't but that doesn't really result in any tension because it doesn't have a huge impact on our main characters why would it Ellie and Joel don't give a crap about these characters that we just witnessed share of fulfilling and meaningful life together in fact they're never going to give them a second thought if you get these [Music] finally a good flashback ultimately advances the plot which this flashback absolutely does No Such Thing Bill's role in the game is he's a guy that has done business with Joel and Tess in the past Joel decides to call in some favors and have Bill help him to procure a car bill helps you to do this and then helps you go on your Merry Little way Bill's main role in the plot was to get Joel a car which he does in the show by just leaving all his stuff to Joel when we hear his suicide note and conveniently leaves the key to the car in the note why would he know he would need a car that doesn't make sense so basically none of that flashback mattered it's just life is pointless and nothing matters and I'm always tired we just got deep characterization for bill which is meant to pass its characterization for Joel because bill and Joel are one in the same but can I add this is just repeating in a much longer way what Joel just learned from a now dead person AKA test I am of course referring to test telling Joel to save who you can save also side note why did Tess tell Joel to bring Ellie to Bill and Frank in the game the plan was to take Ellie to Joel's brother Tommy since he was a firefly but like what's our favorite gay uncle's Bill and Frank gonna do with Ellie why would they take her off of Joel's hands it's not like they're gonna take her cross-country I don't know it seemed dumb to me and the only reason I can think they did it is because they wanted to mention Bill and Frank before their appearance in the next episode so you the viewer can be like that's who they were talking about so I guess Joel needs it literally spelled out for him in a suicide note as well that he has to be a protector it's kind of funny because all the literary tip websites I'm using to learn about flashbacks all say in some form or another that a big big No-No of flashbacks are using flashbacks for atmosphere without any plot related payoff and to keep flashbacks brief as you only want to make it long enough to provide the necessary information because less is more full scam after I finished watching the episode I lay awake for a while thought about how this episode could be improved in my opinion and that's not to say I'm a professional or presumed to be better at the craft of Storytelling than Craig Mason I think he's brilliant I mean look at freaking Chernobyl or the first two episodes of The Last of Us heck episode 3 has phenomenal writing but it's misdirected because I think the side characters have been getting such good treatment I mean look at Bill and Frank Tess Sarah whereas I feel like Joel and Ellie have been lacking if anything they're actively ruining her character in favor of showing her supposed darker side to foreshadow Last of Us Part Two you don't want to be like this this is disgusting so yeah I think it's fine to keep the episode largely the same up to the point where the Raiders attack the strawberry scene previously has Bill telling Frank that he was never afraid before so why not in the Raider attack not have Bill get shot but have Frank get shot and while we're on the subject have Bill take some freaking cover the dude is not an idiot who would be shooting it in the middle of the road foreign and if Frank were to get shot it wouldn't be the tired and overdone Trope the show played into which is person is shooting people and completely owning others but then their party member distracts them resulting in the person getting shot who could have seen this coming nah in my version the Raiders actually break through and Bill gets cornered but Frank saves him only to get killed by another Raider Frank would die and Bill ends up burying him in the hole that he found him in the day they met which when I was first watching the episode I thought it was naturally building towards this result I don't know kind of seemed obvious to me but you know what do I know now you have Bill a bitter old man who lost the love of his life so basically it's the bitter old bill we meet in the game only now we completely empathize with him so maybe Joel and Ellie get there and ask Bill to hook them up with a car and maybe he says no initially because he's reverted back to his initial setting of I hate everyone but then he sees the way Joel interacts with Ellie in the games Joel collects Ellie's favorite comic books and gives them to her so maybe Bill C Joel finding one of these comics in Bill's house and Joel goes out of his way to give it to Ellie Joel might not realize it but Bill was softened Enough by his time with Frank that he sees that Joel has begun to care for Ellie so this makes Bill decide to help and let's say the battery for Bill's Truck got wrecked when the Raiders broke in so they can still go on a mini adventure to scavenge one we get to finally see Bill go all sicko mode on some Infected which is what I was looking forward to most when I heard Nick Offerman got cast but again Gotta Throw my monkey brain out and maybe introduce a bloater at this stage like in the original game now all this to say if you enjoyed the episode great as a self-contained story I loved it because we can all agree if you don't believe in love what's the point of living but some of the arguments that justify this episode's length and lack of plot progression is honestly baffling to me like Bill's Journey from surviving to finding something to live for is a central theme of The Last of Us sure I guess but you know who else has the same Journey freaking Joel at the end of the day a person doesn't read a book or watch a movie or play a video game for a story's themes sacrificing the plot and overall narrative for the sake of hammering home the theme is usually not a great way of Storytelling what makes The Last of Us game so good is how nuanced it is you don't need to have things hammered into your head it's through Joel and Ellie's interactions with the various people they meet that they grow and learn to care for one another speaking of telnut show another reason people say this episode helped the plot forward is because Bill's letters were motivates Joel to continue to protect Ellie and to me this is just dumb it's just dumb or maybe Joel in the show is just dumb and he needs people to keep spelling things out for him because as I mentioned earlier Tess was just telling Joel to save who he can save and now in next episode we have Bill telling Joel that men like them are meant to protect the people they care about and God help any mofos who stand in the way do you get it Joel is gonna protect Ellie that's his daughter now and it's just starting to feel disingenuous because now it's other people motivating Joel to protect Ellie I like Jules interaction with Bill in the game where Bill is basically telling Joel that caring for people is how you get yourself killed but I love the subtlety of Bill's character because he says one thing but the Heartbreak that comes through when he talks about his partner Frank who he's just friends with who left him shows you that he really doesn't desire to be alone and he misses Frank that he's trying to convince himself that this is for the best and in that way we see that Joel is similar to bill because he's a survivalist that only sees Elias cargo cargo but Joel has already begun to start caring for Ellie by this point in the game that's the crappy thing about human nature sometimes no one can ever fully convince themselves to not care for others love is the core of what makes us human but instead we get a 50 minute romance that I guarantee no critic would be slobbering over if they replace Frank with a woman named Francis I don't know man I don't like to use the W word but it feels a bit like the creators have an agenda when I see the director saying things like this I just want to leave on this note I have no problem with the story itself it just was in my opinion a dumb move to get us to empathize with these characters instead of focusing on the characters we've already established because at this point I was sold on Bill and Frank as a couple but we're a third of the way through the show and I am not sold on Ellie and Joel which is a big problem also I find it funny that a lot of professional reviewers think that the people being critical of this episode Orchid sandwiches and the one that got me chuckling was this Forbes article where the guy says that he's curious to see how the same fan base reacts to Ellie and Riley's backstory and you want to know why it's different Paul if that's even your real name Ellie is the main character so no one is going to have a problem having a whole episode dedicated to her backstory because in theory it'll add more details to her character motivations in other words it'll matter for the overall narrative I don't know why I need to keep spelling this out I think there's people legit being homophobic out there and it's dumb that people are review bombing this episode but it's also dumb that people are giving it 10 out of 10s both sides are dumb but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the legitimate homophobic people are in the minority I think the people who have actual criticisms with the episode probably have the same points as me I'm looking at you the last of us to subreddit as you guys look for your towels the point is Bill and Frank's relationship was a beautiful display of on-screen love but I truly don't believe that the zombie mushroom show about a man with some serious old man strength and a wisecracking teenager was the place to put it in a great story for the wrong show anyways it's been real it's been fun but it hasn't been real fun

Channel: qwertygir

Views: 1,359

Keywords: The Last of Us, HBO Max, Episode 3, Bill, Frank, Joel, Ellie, Neil Druckmann, Craig Maizen, Video Essay, TLOU, Adaptation, Video Game, Bruce Straley, Zombies, Naughty Dog, Pedro Pascal, Nick Offerman, Bella Ramsey, Murray Bartlett, Parks and Rec

Id: LCh_y0iccFI

Length: 19min 48sec (1188 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 11 2023