The deviation is the problem with adaptation. The first indication of a transformation for the admirers of a story’s source material is always closer to sin than development. They need precise adjustments.
Fans expected allegiance from HBO’s The Last of Us, co-written by video game author Neil Druckmann. Why change the original when it was this good? But series creators, including Druckmann and co-writer Craig Mazin, wanted to dig further.
They fully expected that there would be variety in the project. The major departure from the original can occur in episode 3 when Bill and Frank, two minor characters from the game, get their plot.
While that episode is fantastic, Druckmann acknowledged that it would offend certain fans in an interview with The New Yorker.
“For me, the story we tell is authentic to the world. It is authentic to the themes we are talking about.”
It is true to the themes we discuss. In other words, even in deviant behavior there is integrity. Bill and Frank’s significance in developing the show’s more prominent themes:“outer love and inner love – the people who want to make everyone better, and the individuals who want to protect certain people at all costs”– was also mentioned by Mazin in the same interview.
Regardless of how fans would react, it was necessary to involve both characters much more closely to make these ideas clearer. But the relationship implied during gameplay resembles the plot Druckmann and Mazin have for Bill and Frank.
The concepts of protection and sacrifice are clear to players, even though Bill and Frank have different outcomes in the game. Here’s how Bill and Frank’s storyline develops.
What happens to Bill and Frank in the video game The Last of Us?
At the match, Bill is first introduced to players in a junkyard. The yard represents Bill’s disputed territory, the area outside his defenses, and the associated network of alleyways and barricades.
There are traps here, and one of them catches Joel, forcing Bill to free Joel and take Ellie and him to safety. This storyline, like in the series, takes place after the death of Tess.
Bill owes Joel a favor in the game. Joel suggests doing them a favor by getting him and Ellie a car. Just like in the show, they would get supplies from Bill and then take his truck west. Unlike the series, the gameplay focuses on getting this car, which requires searching for a battery first.
During their journey, Joel and Ellie see an abandoned school and a road full of clickers. The player faces challenges as the game requires the infected to take over Bill’s refuge. Of course, Bill’s lair is a fortress in the show.
Frank is conspicuously missing from the game. In one sequence, Bill starts repeating the story to Joel to persuade him to return Ellie to the QZ instead of transporting her:
“Once upon a time there was someone I cared about. It was a partner. Someone I had to take care of. And in this world, that kind of shit is only good for one thing. Have you killed. So do you know what I did? I made a goddamn wise. And I realized that it must be me.”
Joel rejects Bill’s defense of pure self-preservation, which is Bill’s initial stance in the series before meeting Frank. The game also introduces Frank to the players. Joel, Ellie and Bill take refuge in a house after making a mistake securing a car battery.
Frank, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, was there and hanged himself from the ceiling. Bill tells him, “He’s my partner,” and then he kills him. “He’s the only idiot who would wear that shirt,” Bob sobs.
We also discussed the different video games. The relevant link is below for your consideration-
Their tortuous connection was alluded to elsewhere, such as in letters found throughout the property. The player learns through Frank’s suicide note that he “wanted a better life” and “hated [Bill’s] guts.”
It turns out that Frank, who had tried to flee, was the one who took Bill’s car battery. Joel and Ellie then use the car’s battery to leave town. Bill says goodbye to you. He is never mentioned or seen again.
The series transforms what happens during gameplay interaction into a complete story. But Joel and Ellie are not part of this story. Bill and Frank’s bodies are not discovered until the end of the episode.
But the themes – self-preservation versus caring – remain the same. The same storyline is also completed. Ellie and Joel now have a vehicle. Now they can travel west.
