When The Last of Us debuted this year, one episode in particular jumped out as an incredibly beautiful piece of television, if not one of the greatest ever to grace our screens.
That was, of course, the unforgettable episode 3 love story between Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), in which the pair met after the outbreak and grew old together before dying in one other’s arms.
With the post-apocalyptic programme set in the year 2023, today – Tuesday, August 29 – is a watershed moment in Bill and Frank’s story.
In the episode, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) arrive to the couple’s home, which is guarded by sophisticated security measures, including booby traps installed by survivalist Bill.
When they arrive, it’s eerily silent, for Bill and Frank had died, unknowing to them, after the latter – who had been suffering from a serious health condition – notified his partner that he had decided on his final day.
Bill, who has chosen to join his partner, has left a note ‘to anyone but presumably Joel’, which Ellie discovers and reads aloud… It begins on the 29th of August, 2023.
This implies that Bill and Frank’s last day would have been today.
The letter read: ‘If you find this, please do not come into the bedroom. We left the window open so the house wouldn’t smell. It will probably be a sight.
‘I’m guessing you found this Joel, because anybody else would have been electrocuted or blown up by one of my traps. Hehehehehehe.’
Bill implored Joel in the letter to ‘take anything you need’, sharing the code to his bunker where he has plenty of supplies and weapons stored.
He continued: ‘Anyway, I never liked you. But still, it’s like we’re friends. Almost. And I respect you. So I’m gonna tell you something because you’re probably the only person who’ll understand.
‘I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong, because there was one person worth saving. That’s what I did – I saved him. Then I protected him.
‘That’s why men like you and me are here. We have a job to do.’
The letter also instructed Joel to use all of Bill’s weaponry and equipment to keep Tess (Anna Torv) safe, although she had already died at this point in the plot.
The knowledge of today’s date and its significance to Bill and Frank had The Last of Us fans in tears.
‘I’m dropping to my knees and bawling today if I see anything related to TLOU August 29 or Bill & Frank,’ one wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
‘Today’s the day Bill & Frank die in TLOU nobody talk to me,’ another wrote. We know how you feel.
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
Source My Celebrity Life.