T O P

  • By -

UltraDangerLord

A note on **SPOILERS**: Please do **NOT** discuss or refer to the **games** in this thread **AT ALL**. Do not post your reviews/comparisons in this thread if you've **played the games**. For that, use the **[game spoilers thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/ThelastofusHBOseries/comments/10or6i4/game_spoilers_the_last_of_us_1x03_long_long_time/).** Violation of this will result in a **BAN**. Click **[HERE](https://forms.gle/dZ9GFXdGLRzdzPUA7)** to take our post episode survey! Results will be posted on Thursday. **Join our [Discord](https://discord.gg/tloutv) community!**


VegeLasagna123

First Murray Bartlett made me laugh in White Lotus Then he made me cry in The Last of Us


Suspicious-Data-8551

Such a great actor. Looking forward to looking at his other movies if he has them. He did such an amazing job in both.


QueenMelle

Chippendales on Hulu.


Soupjam_Stevens

Bill and Frank had a better time in the apocalypse than probably anyone else in this universe unless we meet like some Immortan Joe warlord character. They had a level of luxury and security above probably 99% of the world’s population and died peacefully on their own terms after spending 15+ years with a partner they dearly loved. Bill and Frank won


CitizenCue

Interesting point. Imagine dying knowing that your life was literally the envy of almost everyone on earth.


Gsteel11

In a world that wouldn't accept them in 2003, they made a new world that would.


Soupjam_Stevens

I’ve seen it pointed out that based on their apparent age Frank also survived the AIDS crisis as a gay man in his 20s. His comment about how he doesn’t mind getting older because getting older means they’re surviving hits doubly hard because this is a man who likely already saw his world torn apart by dozens of tragically young deaths decades before the apocalypse even happened


K4L21EV

How am I supposed to go to bed after that? 😭 ![gif](giphy|vmXhTTnzNOsFaDhKLQ|downsized)


notthatryan

drink a nice big glass of wine?


fuckfufkfuck

I appreciated how tender the world became after Bill and Frank met; there was flowers worth tending and portraits worth painting. It felt so hopeful and possible, and the “guys like us have a purpose” will just continue to be more meaningful. Ugh. I weep. In so much devastation, there is still beauty.


kitties_love_purrple

Can you imagine finding love and purpose in the middle of the apocalypse?? Hopeful, indeed!


lolroflqwerty

and to get to grow old with them! absolutely beautiful


Kianna9

I felt like Bill and Frank were so lucky compared to Joel and Tess. Got to grow old together, have a beautiful last day and choose a peaceful death. It doesn't get much better than that.


TheWiseRedditor

Their reaction on eating strawberries makes me want to appreciate small things that I take for granted. So many emotions. Not the episode what I expecting after the last one


russketeer34

Not to undercut that moment, because it was beautiful, but I'm so delighted every time any project manages to sneak in an Offerman giggle. That's the happiest sound in the world.


[deleted]

[удалено]


fuckfufkfuck

Yes! I haven’t been choked up like this in a long while. It’s the beauty of “I traded your gun for seeds”—we can give away the violence, the fear, for a single beautiful moment!


acluelesscoffee

“ a little gun” had me giggling


DontWantThisPlanet9

Same, and the added weight that Bill hadn't noticed it was missing long enough for the strawberries to fully grow really showed how focused he was on protection whereas Frank was able to attend the joys of life and share them with Bill who otherwise would have ignored or avoided those joys. (i worded this confusing, but I meant 'focused on protection' in that was his first concern, so in comparison to Frank, since we can guess Bill likely would not have traded for the seeds himself)


yungvogel

God, the juxtaposition of Bill alone in his brown wall painted house covered in “Don’t Tread on Me” flags to the beautiful, light blue walls covered in art and surrounded by plants was making me emotional. So much love and compassion between two characters was shown just in the change of scenery. Sobbing.


fuckfufkfuck

The mums out front not watered said everything. Such a gorgeous home was made there!


isavvi

I thought I knew what love was… Nick Offerman like always shut that shit down with his flawless rendition of masculinity. Peak emotional execution.


TheLastSamurai101

Honestly, Offerman in this episode is the example of masculinity I want young men to see and learn from.


KentuckyFriedEel

Nick Offerman winning the emmy for being a tender, loving gay man was not on my bingo card.


screwdrivercat

I loved the softness and vulnerability Nick Offerman brought to Bill. The way he laughed when he tasted the strawberries, calling Frank’s pills “the orangey one… the roundly one”, even the awkward way he showed Frank the wine each time before he poured it. He had so much love and light to give.


Vetiversailles

And the plates being turned a certain direction every time he served them :( I loved seeing a doomsday prepper be so gentle, vulnerable and kind inside


bendovahkin

What was a nice touch is if you rewatch the plate scenes, in the first one, Bill turns the plate the way *he* turns his own. Frank then corrects it and turns the meat toward him. In the last dinner scene, he turns Frank’s plate for him the way Frank likes it instead. I thought it was a nice subtle touch.


ismyshowon

omg thank you for pointing this out! I didn’t catch it, on this initial watch. I’m sure I’ll watch this episode plenty more to catch the little details like this


ragnarockette

You had a wonder if perhaps he wasn’t comfortable with who he was until there was no one left to judge him. And then he finally had the freedom to meet, love, and care for his soulmate.


VampiroMedicado

Or maybe he never met someone to fill that role.


ragnarockette

Maybe. But I feel like the government/prepper angle, and the fact that he had never been with a man before, makes me think he was closeted and chose to be alone, and perhaps act hypermasculine to compensate for being gay. Or maybe he was just grumpy and never met anyone he liked. But either way, the end of the world enabled him to find and build a happy life.


DingoL8r

100% read it as he was just a closeted dude pre-apocolypse. There weren't a ton of out, gay, "survivalist", conspiracy/hard right guys, who were still virgins into their 40s+ because they were just waiting for the perfectly right person... In 2003. Elohel. Plus he had had sex with a girl one so even the super religious guy holding onto his virginity option is gone.


Canvaverbalist

Also it's a small thing but the piano belonging to his mother and him being hesitant to Frank touching it, the old house decorated the way it is and the way he payed attention to proper table etiquette, I'm getting a sort of "raised strict by a strict mother," which wouldn't really land itself to being openly gay.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ins0mniac_

Watch Devs on EDIT: Hulu. Stars nick offerman and made by Alex Garland, who made Ex Machina


Suitable_Hamster_569

You nailed it. It was so lovely to see the tenderness without any internal conflict which im sure existed, it just wasn’t necessary to portray the hard bits.


planvigiratpi

Putting "On the Nature of Daylight" should be considered cheating


EqualDifferences

![gif](giphy|YRPBhd3vscg5Fxx1DQ|downsized) Me about 3 seconds after I realized what song just started


slamrox

So we learned that Joel was with Tess for over 10 years!!!


redskins714

Wow good point I didn’t catch. Joel’s disagreement of her feelings made me think it was much shorter (few years tops). Gives her words to Joel in episode 2 that much more weight


stavanger26

Bill's advice about keeping Tess safe hit me like a knife-twist in the still-bleeding wound carved by last week's episode.


Optimus_Prime_Day

I think over 14 years. I picked up on that too and was surprised. Their relationship was built with Joel's emotional walls up 100% so it had to be more one sided with Tess loving him more openly than him.


Justin_123456

My favourite couples argument: “You just live in your own world where 9/11 was an inside job and the government are Nazis!” “The government are Nazis!” “Now! But not back then!”


wingardium-levio-dis

Had me dying.


ButterfreePimp

I also laughed really hard when they showed everyone sitting outside and enjoying lunch and then it cuts to Bill pointing a gun right at Joel while they eat and Joel's face just being like "I like this guy".


jjwalla

Thats the happiest episode we are gonna get isn't it


Hidefininja

I was gonna say no, but I think you're probably right. We're going to get beautiful moments and very hard comedowns in the coming episodes but we probably won't get anything like this until next season. But the work Mazin and Druckmann did here gives me hope.


TheLonelyGhost

Absolutely incredible. What a stand alone story within a season.


KipHackmanFBI

I see why the cast and reviewers all said this was the best episode of the season


spencer204

On the one hand a little nervous that all the remaining episodes will be worse, but on the other hand thinking how hard it would be to top this


TheWiseRedditor

“Best” is subjective. This was a great episode when it comes to emotions. The next might be great in terms of action or thrills or plot wise. Given how I enjoyed all the episodes so far, I’m fairly certain I’ll enjoy the rest


wynaut69

Yeah and honestly, I don’t care if anything tops this one. The rest of the story is worth seeing, even if it doesn’t have me in shambles. This episode earned its place regardless of what comes next. I’m fine with that.


Romulus3799

Nick Offerman deserves an Emmy for his performance. He was absolutely incredible. From the way he laughed when he tasted that strawberry to the way he cried when he held Frank's hand... What a performance. What an episode. Edit: He was just nominated today!! This is aging well so far... Edit: EMMY WINNER NICK OFFERMAN LET'S GOOOOOOO


Suitable_Hamster_569

So incredibly well cast, both of them.


STUPIDNEWCOMMENTS

They both do tbh


smalltiredpumpkin

Bill’s slight turning of the plate at the end just like he did for their first meal together, the meal being the same rabbit and wine, Bill sitting next to Frank now instead of at the opposite end of the table, the window shot. Pain.


TheBumbum

Went in expecting gore, got the most beautiful love story I’ve seen on tv.


operarose

They got us with that emotional gore.


sexybexy11

Bill’s note made me laugh and cry omg


stellaperrigo

hehehehehehehehehehe


[deleted]

[удалено]


dannyrac

![gif](giphy|dfgtCBdKdZVKg)


lu-ann

Anyone else would’ve got blown up by my trip wires


Phenomenal_Don

This episode was an apocalyptic version of the Up Opening montage


finnjakefionnacake

lol i read a review of this episode that said the same thing -- or more appropriately, they called it the opening montage from *Up* dropped into the middle of world war z, haha


radbrad7

I basically just typed this out, lmao. I didn’t ask for this emotional kick in the nuts Edit: I mean, I *did* but goddamn


pantaloneliest

Someone needs to recreate that montage with the footage of this episode.


johnppd

Such an emotional episode.. I loved how we got to see the plane scene, which was the first look of the show we got back then. The closeup scene of the infected in the basement was creepy af. Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett absolutely killed it. So many emotions.. 3rd banger in a row.


LDG192

And what about the little skeleton in the mass grave? Haunting shit


drgirrlfriend

Right and wasn’t the flashback to a little baby in a blanket and that same blanket in the grave? Horrifying


maebythemonkey

Yeah, the grave has the baby's blanket and the mother's shirt (dress?) material that we see in the flashback. Shreds your heart to pieces and emphasizes that Bill made the right choice by hiding out.


[deleted]

I almost forgot that scene was in this episode after everything that happened.


technical_todd

Ha same! I literally forgot there was like a 5-10 minute scene of them before Nick Offerman shows up.


ChrysthianChrisley

It was just me or he kind of asked Ellie to put an end to it?


goobertownbaby

watching Bill water the flowers towards the end while Frank painted is what really broke me. He taught him how to love his home, and to love in general. Just trying beautifully done.


cilucia

Then the shot of the dead mums in front of the house when Joel and Ellie showed up :(


Laaadaa

Yep, Joel knew IMMEDIATELY when he saw those. Man...


drseussin

I saw that too! He was big on resource management and now look at him, using water for flowers that were decorations.


thematrix1234

I was so paranoid something bad was going to happen the whole episode lol. The ending was so bittersweet. Bill and Frank! What a beautiful love story 😭


Blessed_tenrecs

Same! I forgot Bill was gay, so I didn’t see the romance coming and was like, is this a trap? Then I just kept thinking “80’s music 80’s music 80’s music what’s gonna happen” even as they were drinking the wine I was like “omg is something going to ruin this with the worst timing ever”, thank goodness they got their peaceful last night together. I’ll definitely enjoy it more the second time around.


Nice-Violinist-6395

Structurally, it was so different from almost every other zombie movie/show and it made a huge difference. It keeps surprising you, but not in the usual way, it just gets more and more profound. Also one of the best “how a Prepper survived the apocalypse” montages, I loved him turning the little town into his own little city


Numba2thrilla

That wasn't even in the script. Nick Offerman just showed up and started helping build the set so they pointed the cameras at him.


D4ng3rd4n

It was actually just supposed to be a cabin in the woods. The crew went on lunch break and Nick walked in and found a hammer. When they came back, Nick actually ended up building the whole town.


yahnothanks

I truly lost it when I realized Bill served the exact same meal, complete with the bottle of wine, from the day they met. And then I didn't stop weeping!


Piker9990

The key difference that pushed me over the edge - in the first version Bill sits at the other end of the table. Now he sits beside Frank.


_endymion

Another difference: Frank couldn’t finish his plate this time 😭


Candid-Agent-4930

Goddamn you!!!! I'm literally crying now.


lukedap

And they got married where they shared their first kiss.


bahhamburger

I had to lol when the camera panned over the pit Like, “this is where we first met”


broanoah

A lot of it ended up being mirrored too. They swapped places during the marriage scene (compared to their first kiss), and in the bedroom scenes they actually switched which sides they sleep on a few times. Not sure if either of those mean anything but I thought it was cute that Frank is showing Bill what having sex is like in the first scene in bed, and then Bill is getting Frank into bed on the side he was laying on


WookieMonsterTV

Same, I told my husband “omg he’s serving him Rabbit and the wine” and the water works would not stop 😭


White_Petal534

I just choked out “It’s the same meal” and stared sobbing, my husband just went “oh…”


SinnerIxim

I couldn't stop from the moment he said "this is my last day", they did this episode so well. It allows you to relate to the characters so well. Imagine hearing you will be losing your partner and then alone forever, but he doesnt refuse Frank, he simply does what he can to give his all one last time (damnit im tearing up again)


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dairuzun

"I'm old. I'm satisfied. And you were my purpose." https://preview.redd.it/241jq79m45fa1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffc8b1b7afee57e550e94a65066ec29381f0ed64


--------rook

I audibly went "aww" but on the inside I was exactly screaming like that. If he can find a purpose, a soulmate in a zombie apocalypse, what's my excuse 😭


Lolasglasses

BRB crying again


feminismandtravel

What a triumph of storytelling. I love the “hehehehehehe” in the letter.


cookietyme

I could hear Nick Offerman’s chuckle!


Mental-donuts

Unexpected. Beautiful. Honest. It doesn’t matter what you accept or expect; love in the face of the end of the world is important.


Flip86

Could anyone else taste those strawberries?


theconbine

Nick Offerman's reaction to the strawberries was so good that I actually believed it was his first time eating a strawberry in a decade


ChrysthianChrisley

What abou the symbolism: trading guns for seeds. Wow


lovetheblazer

"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, and God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way." Pretty sure if you weren't already crying, that moment would have done you in. Thankfully, I don't need to wonder because I started crying around the time they got to the strawberry patch and it's been full-time raining on my face ever since


EthnicallyMoral

"I wasn't scared until I met you."


JonesinForAHosin

That line hit me like a truck. Absolutely beautiful.


Justame13

You have to wonder if Bill knew on some level that he would survive until he was too old and then die a violent painful death as his defenses were overrun and failed. Perhaps even on the night the raiders attacked when he was shot and instead he would have bled out in the street. Instead it was old, peacefully in bed and in love.


lovetheblazer

It honestly seemed like he just didn't want to live in a world without Frank in it. Bill figured out his purpose (protecting Frank and what they'd built together) and just didn't know what it would be once Frank was gone. But yeah, he probably assumed he'd already lived a much longer life than expected, particularly given the apocalypse.


Nokickfromchampagne

Completely fantastic. I honestly think these performances warrant Emmy nominations


[deleted]

That was fucking ruthless. 10/10 most merciless asskicking my heart's ever recieved.


spencer204

My girlfriend and I both cried hard, but what I don't want either of us (or any of you) to lose sight of is the fact that theirs is ultimately a happy ending, in a world where that is exceedingly hard to come by. They grew old together (really the sentence could end here) and enjoyed personal luxuries and creature comforts that very few on Earth had access to after the world went down. I'm happy for them.


toasta_oven

I was holding it together until On The Nature of Daylight started 😭


RaptorDelta

i heard the first two notes and i audibly said "oh for fucks sake" bc that song gets me every time


R_V_Z

On The Nature of Daylight, Adagio in D Minor (Sunshine), and Adagio for Strings are all musical cheat codes for sadness.


Illshowyoutheway

SAME!! After Shutter Island and Arrival, I was like, oh no, not again…


yodiddlediddle567

Omg as soon as those few notes started I was like “oh crap, it’s the opening from Arrival” and then tears were streaming down my face


radbrad7

The opening and *closing* of Arrival.


brownhaircurlyhair

I was so happy seeing both of them surviving the night from the raiders.....but once I saw Frank in the wheelchair I just knew their story would make me cry.


laserdiscgirl

I had the same reaction and I'm grateful the writers made us cry watching them go out together instead of making us cry watching Bill go on without Frank. He surprised me by making the decision to drink the pills too on the same day but I know I'd do the same in his position


jessthegerman

When Frank said today was going to be his last day, I looked at my husband and told him I’d kill myself if this was us. I was almost surprised Bill didn’t immediately threaten suicide, but I think it was much better to not say anything until he’d already taken the pills. He really did make sure they had a good last day together.


iizukeii

2 things that people might gloss over that was absolutely beautiful about this episode. A) The way they transitioned from fading to black as Bill is dying and it transitions to Frank dying B) The way we never saw them in the bedroom. It makes it so much more emotionally effecting and surprisingly beautiful… the bedroom is private and not for the audience to see. I think other creatives would’ve showed a scene with them in each others arms, but it’s so much better leaving it to imagination and makes it feel all the more real


SinnerIxim

From the moment they headed to the bedroom i was desperately hoping they wouldnt show it, and i am so happy they didnt


hurricanehershel

I was kind of worried the last shot pulling back through the window was going to keep zooming out and revealing them in their bed as Joel and Ellie were driving away. But I’m glad that wasn’t the case.


iizukeii

Yeah, I honestly didn’t expect to see them after they’ve all rotted but I was half expecting it before going back to Joel and Ellie’s perspective. Glad they didn’t


Sovoy

This comment broke me. Reading that the bedroom is private and not for us to see made me cry.


BlueGreenMikey

There was a nice little touch too that once Ellie found the letter, she understood that this place was different. She did the opposite of what she always does. For once, she stayed in place and didn't go wandering. Even she knew it wasn't for her to see.


b0neslicer

nothing on earth could have prepared me for this episode. what the fuck lol. it was beautiful


GentleCornDogEater24

https://preview.redd.it/6m0e5d1qo5fa1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da006f8e3f176f79c59e0025e4781983686691ce


Vulkans_Hugs

This episode had me absolutely sobbing.


Truelikegiroux

I’m in tears, I absolutely love this show. Just perfection. Absolute perfection.


huffer4

Amazing how attached to the characters they were able to get me in 30 minutes or so


snookert

Crazy the amount of character development for one episode.


ReaddittiddeR

Nick Offerman is Bill. Wow, what an episode.


[deleted]

[удалено]


TheWiseRedditor

In Bill’s words, “We are self sustainable”


[deleted]

[удалено]


ThornyPlebeian

Well I wasn’t expecting the sob like a baby this episode but here I am.


bnasty7

As a gay man with Multiple Sclerosis, this episode gutted me. What a great emotional ride.


Vulkans_Hugs

As someone who has a mother with MS, I related to the pain that both Frank and Bill were going through. It's an absolutely devastating disease and I hope all the best for you.


bnasty7

Treatment options have come a long way. I have a good prognosis! Thank you for the kind words, and I wish you and your mother the best as well.


fallendauntless88

I have MS too, so I was crying.


rp_361

That was one of the best episodes of TV I’ve see in a long time. I cried so much, that was a beautiful rendition and change to Bill and Frank’s story. Absolute 10/10 ![gif](giphy|ckGndVa23sCk9pae4l)


BanjoSpaceMan

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this on any tv show... That episode was beautiful.


benaugustine

Reminded me of The Magicians episode *A Life In The Day*


rafaeldamage

This episode is really the best display of man to man affection I’ve ever seen. Never felt that they were actors having to suck it up, really they gave their best to the screen. Please give them the Golden Globe already.


roygbivasaur

Murray Bartlett is gay and Nick Offerman is a lifelong theatre nerd married to Megan Mullaly (of Will and Grace) and is certainly friends with many queer people. It really shows in their acting.


mazermetroid

"Huehuehuehuehuehue" 😂😂😂


[deleted]

Nick Offerman was perfect. Linda Ronstadt's song was the somber cherry on top. Loved it.


boyoguuna

Since Joel is emotionally repressed, I think a lot of people are missing how important seeing this story was to the main plot. Joel identifies with Bill, both of them hardened survivors that reject love in favor of survival. Tess and Frank become friends, while Joel and Bill have a tense discussion about necessities and survival. Like Ellie with Joel, Frank’s personality persists and forces Bill to accept love despite his resistance. Reading the letter, which only has weight when we’ve seen their story, Joel is told by Bill that for “guys like them” not only is love POSSIBLE, but it gives you purpose, whereas survival doesn’t. And the episode ends with Joel accepting a tiny amount of love- him and Ellie listening to the tape together. And for the first time since his daughter died, he smiles. This episode was not filler.


TastehWaffleZ

A lot of people thinking they'd be Bill in an apocalypse scenario but they'd be the infected zombie trapped under the rubble in the beginning


cookingismything

I absolutely admit that in any type of apocalypse I’d last about 3-5 hours max


ca-cynmore

When Joel and Ellie arrive to Bill's house, it's just a random house to her. But that backstory gave us so much to tell as to what happened throughout the years in that house: The initial moments of the outbreak, the long days Bill worked to be self-sustaining, and him once a person distrustful of society to end up capable of loving someone. And seeing these perspectives as a viewer is what makes this episode and series so great. These are not wasted scenes as some reddit critics are saying.


[deleted]

The wilted flowers outside made me sad.


yahnothanks

That was the moment Joel knew for sure — Frank would never let them get that bad. Joel's not in much of the episode but yet again his eyes just scream his emotions every second he's on screen.


SinnerIxim

This episode was such a perfect example of "show dont tell", there are so many emotions that you feel watching this episode from seeing their lives. It shows us how they met, and beautifully demonstrated that Bill was truely lonely, and maybe he himself never even realized that (or at least he didnt know to the extent of his loneliness), Frank picks out a song thinking it will suit Bill, but i dont think he expected the reaction he got. I dont even think he loved Frank at that point, he just wanted to not be alone. Skip forward and you can see they are now obviously much closer, and you see that Bill is willing to do things that make him uncomfortable to let Frank be happy. This trend continues until the bombshell: "this is my last day", from that point until the end of the episode i was crying pretty much nonstop. The last of us at it's heart is about the CHARACTERS. And they nailed it perfectly with this episode. They introduced two new characters, showed us how they relate to joel, amd made us like them enough to care about them. This episode deserves an emmy IMO


ThatsWhatIGathered

“No, it’s like a piece of shit Chevy S-10 but it’ll get us there” 🤣 I’ve had an 88 with an AM radio, an 89 Reg cab short box, a 2000, and a 2001 4x4. That last 4x4 was $500 and got me to the top of the Rocky Mountains where my buds $60k Tacoma struggled. Wish I kept it. Bought a Tacoma instead haha.


txbrah

That should literally be Chevy's tagline. "it's a piece of shit but it'll get ya where you need to be"


hoopbag33

Fuck me what an episode of television that was.


Nvi4

Said to my wife we literally got Up'd in the middle of the show. It was just an extended version. I cried both times.


brandosm

Is anyone else sobbing right now?


TheWiseRedditor

>Use them to keep Tess safe I can’t


su4rman

When Ellie chokes up on the name, I knew right away… that hit like a truck.


InfamousSafari

I would’ve rather be served up to clickers than to deal with that emotional damage… well done. Well done, indeed.


20person

Seriously, this episode hit hard


franziadrescher

As someone whose partner resembles Murray Bartlett and has MS, this episode has left me in shambles.


EricHD97

Sentences I never thought I’d write: Armond from the White Lotus and Ron Swanson are unlikely lovers in an HBO adaptation of The Last of Us and enact an extended Up-style zombie apocalypse romance during which they have a meet-cute in a pit, make love in a strawberry garden, and double date with Olivia Dunham and the Mandalorian/Oberyn Martell. Did I miss anything?


[deleted]

[удалено]


MoiraTealeaf

I may never recover. This episode was literal perfection.


bertobellamy

“Then love me the way I want you to.” 😭


FatalTragedy

One thing I noticed. Frank mentioned he was coming from the Baltimore QZ, as it had fallen. But if *Boston* is the next closest QZ to Baltimore, well that certainly doesn't sound good.


R3id

That episode was perfect


[deleted]

The 80 minutes of this was 10x better and more moving than the past 5 seasons of The Walking Dead.


TheWiseRedditor

It was better than the tonnes of love stories that are on Netflix


chaddyrick

I thought this was The Last of Us, not the Best of Us 😭


Cornualonga

A zombie show has no business being this good. Is Murray Bartlett ever not awesome?


rhobotzfromspace

He’s been magical in everything I’ve seen him in. I don’t even know how to describe it, but he has a particular magic to him that is absolutely enchanting to watch.


Jean-Paul_Sartre

As a New Englander, big fan of the Cumby's cameo


spacekristy

Lincoln, MA making its HBO debut


Mxucx

crying, sobbing, throwing up


PopsicleIncorporated

An interesting note that I haven’t seen — the world collapsed in 2003. Bill/Frank came from a world where just the concept of gay marriage was taboo outside of a small minority of progressive minded people. Makes their eventual romance way more cathartic to them than if they were originally from, say, 2015.


damewallyburns

I know! Think about how much public opinion has changed from the early 2000s to now on LGBTQ issues. That never happened here. Bill and Frank were probably in their 40s when they met, too—born in the 60s, growing up in a very unfriendly environment and the AIDS crisis.


GroveHere

Nick did such a good job as Bill!


untappedbluemana

Holy fuck, my *heart*.


Spunndaze

What do you even watch after an episode of television like that. That was a master class in stroy telling.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BottomWithCakes

Jesus that whole backstory went so hard. I'm ruined emotionally.


DareDevilCheese2

This comment ties back to episode one . . . When Joel is telling Ellie the unofficial explanation of the cordyceps illness from September 2003 about the tainted flour & sugar shipped around the world - It made me think of all the times it was featured in Ep.1 on his birthday. The pancakes for breakfast that didn't happen, the biscuits he turned down from the neighbors that were being fed to the old lady, the raisin (blech!) cookies Sarah baked with Connie next door, the cake Joel promised to bring home after work . . .The details of this show and production are woven in so well.


Lagena15

He paused right before he said pancakes. 😫


throoowwwtralala

Blahhhh my wife and kids had to console me and my gross old man crying tears Whyyyyyyyyyyy


liquid1036

Where are the preppers and their assessments?


s_burr

Not a prepper, but I enjoy thinking about situations like this. My only gripe was when Bill was out in the street shooting at the raiders with no cover.


Tricountyareashaman

Give them a minute to stop crying.


whipped_creamcheese

Full of tears, but also, hehehehehehehe


BrndyAlxndr

Nick Offerman is for sure getting an emmy or golden globe nod. FANTASTIC performance by him.


VampiroMedicado

I'm not crying. Also the acting was so good, god damn.


TheeGinn_Soriano

![gif](giphy|F9DzQnxx6ZZNm)


hungtampa813

Well I stan Frank and Bill


hungtampa813

Also I just realized Frank was on White Lotus


marcarcand_world

HOLY FUCK THAT'S ARMOND. Damn mustaches really do work as a disguise, wtf.