“The Last of Us” takes a break from Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) cross-country journey to introduce Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), two others who have survived the fungal outbreak. Episode 3 of HBO’s “The Last of Us” tells their story and how it intersects with Joel’s, to heartbreaking effect. Below, we’ve put together a complete timeline of Bill and Frank’s relationship.
Read on, but be warned. Major spoilers ahead.
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Is a Go at HBO
2003 – Outbreak
The fungal outbreak is established to have happened on September 26, 2003.
By September 30, 2003, survivors are being gathered by FEDRA and trucked to quarantine zones, but we learn via flashback that they are executed instead as there’s no room left in the QZ.
We meet Bill (Offerman), a survivalist who lives in an ornate family home. He avoids FEDRA by hiding in his basement/bunker, and after they leave he emerges.
He spends the next days and weeks gathering necessities (gas, generators) and a few extras (wine) as he fortifies his home, which includes installing traps around the perimeter.
2007 – Meeting Frank
Four years after the outbreak, Bill has strengthened his perimeter to include an electric fence. He is alerted when one of his traps is set off and discovers Frank in a pit.
After scanning Frank (suggesting at some point prior Bill had a run-in with FEDRA), Bill begrudgingly invites Frank into his home. They share an emotional moment at the piano, and, out of shared grief and a desire for human contact, embrace and make love.
2010 – Growing Pains
Three years pass and Bill and Frank are a couple. They get into a fight after Frank says he wants to spruce up the house for friends. When Bill reminds Frank they are alone, Frank reveals he’s been talking to a woman on the radio. That woman turns out to be Tess (Anna Torv).
Tess and Joel visit Bill and Frank. While Tess and Frank immediately take a liking to one another, Joel and Bill are equally suspicious of one another. Joel offers to strike a deal with Bill.
Before Tess and Joel depart, Frank invents the radio song system from Episode 1. Joel warns Bill that raiders will eventually come to take what he’s built with Frank.
2013 – Turning Point
Bill laments becoming older.
Joel’s predictions come true and armed raiders storm Bill and Frank’s home.
Bill runs outside to confront the raiders but is shot in the abdomen. Believing he’s dying, Bill tells Frank to call Joel because “he’ll take care of you.”
The screen fades to black.
2023 – Last Day and Present Day
The timeline jumps to the present day. Bill survived his gunshot wound thanks to Frank’s care. Unfortunately, Frank has developed a terminal disease and is now wheelchair-bound (his condition isn’t revealed, but “there wasn’t anything to cure this before the world fell apart,” according to Frank).
Frank declares this is his “last day.” He urges Bill to do all the things they enjoy together before taking a fatal dose of pills. Bill sadly agrees, but in the end — deciding he cannot live without Frank — and also takes a fatal dose of pills.
Their deaths are not shown on-screen. Joel and Ellie arrive at their house a few days later. When Joel tries to enter their bedroom, the door is barricaded. Ellie discovers a note left for “whomever, probably Joel” explaining their fate.
Along with the note is a car key, granting Joel and Ellie a much faster mode of transportation.
