The Last Of Us Director Teases Bill And Frank Spin-Off
Warning: Major spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 3
We were warned, weren't we? The previews of HBO's The Last of Us teased Episode 3 as a tear-jerker for the ages, but no one expected things to go down as they did.
Revamping the source material of 2013's The Last of Us video game, January 29's "Long Long Time" fleshed out the characters of Bill and Frank, with Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman and The White Lotus' Murray Bartlett playing the pair.
If you haven't seen the episode, seriously, turn back now.
Could Bill And Frank Get A The Last Of Us Spin-Off?
Click to enlargeIn Naughty Dog's original game, we never get to meet Frank (alive). Instead, Bill's frustrated partner has left him, written a scathing letter, and taken his own life after becoming infected at some point. "Long Long Time" gave us an even more heartbreaking take on the pair, with flashbacks to how they met and their life together.
By the time Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) reach Bill's fortified town, the pair have passed away - having drank a lethal dose of pills with a bottle of wine. With Frank suffering from some kind of terminal illness, Bill decided to join his lover after realising his life isn't worth living alone.
While this looks like a pretty definitive end for the characters, the episode's director has hinted we could see more of them. Speaking to Empire, director Peter Hoar mulled over the idea of a Bill and Frank spin-off.
"Honestly, Bill's got legs. Obviously, we see a little moment where they are working with Joel and Tess. And we see the scene where they first meet - but then it's a good few years of them working together and understanding each other," said Hoar.
"Maybe that's the section that you do as a spinoff, where it's action-packed and whatever. Or rather than a spinoff series, maybe it's just a spinoff of Bill, and it's just digging into that one moment."
Explaining how/why this would work, Hoar added, "I'd love to do something with Joel in the middle. You'd learn a lot about him mid-apocalypse, because obviously Pedro [Pascal] came on without all the gray in his hair, and he looked fabulous. I just thought, Wow, that's a Joel I don't know."
Leave Bill And Frank Where They Are
While we doubt Hoar is being too serious about a The Last of Us spin-off focusing on the adventures of Bill and Frank, there's scope for their return via flashback. We already had the surprise return of Anna Torv's Tess, just a week after her character was killed off.
It's clear there's history between Bill, Frank, Joel, and Tess, with the quartet smuggling things between the Boston QZ and their picturesque homestead. We could easily have Bartlett and Offerman return for a flashback at some point.
Going against this, Episode 3 is a near-perfect outing that's rightly being held as one of the best television episodes ever to grace our screens. Down to that final shot of an open window being an Easter egg to the games, bringing back Bill and Frank would likely take away from their tragic arc.
HBO has already proven that some spin-offs can work, with House of the Dragon being a brilliant expansion from Game of Thrones. Still, we say leave Bill and Frank as The Last of Us' very own Romeo and Juliet... well, Romeo and Julian.
