History Recap / TheLastOfUs2023S1E3LongLongTime

* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Joel gets excited when Music/LindaRonstadt comes on the car stereo. Ellie however doesn't know who the singer is.

* DeadManWriting: Bill's suicide note is addressed to Joel, under the assumption that his traps are likely to have killed anyone else who approached the town during the period in which Joel would come calling, and further leaves instructions for supplies he assumed Joel would likely need.

* GoodbyeCruelWorld: Ellie finds Bill's suicide note which is addressed to Joel. In it, Bill leaves all his equipment to Joel and encourages him to remain optimistic and do everything to protect the people he loves, specifically Tess. Joel is at first heartbroken by this reminder that he failed Tess, but eventually passes on the sentiment to Ellie since she is now the only one he has.

* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: Played with. When Frank is caught in the pit trap, Bill asks if he's carrying any weapons. After a long pause, Frank answers "no," and Bill is naturally suspicious, Frank then honestly admits he considered lying, but couldn't think of a good lie.

* SuicideIsPainless: Frank, who's dying of an illness, decides to end his life before it gets even worse with great calm. Bill, his husband, chooses the same not wishing to live without him. He insures that they're in the bed they shared together as a couple when it happens. They die happily as they're together.

* GasolineLastsForever: Downplayed, but still present. Joel has to refuel Bill's truck from siphoned gas about once an hour, and says that the fuel is too degraded to get more use out of. In reality, fuel degradation sets in ''much'' quicker, and the gas one would find in highway wrecks would be useless after just a year, much less twenty.

* GrowOldWithMe: Bill and Frank fall in love when they're middle-aged and stay together until they are old.

* TheCalvary: Deconstructed: Joel explains that in the very early days of the outbreak, FEDRA rounded up and evacuated the general population of the smaller towns to the relative safety of the quarantine zones -- ''but'' there wasn't nearly enough room or supplies to support everyone, and a choice had to be made about what to do with so many excess people...

* {{Deconstruction}}: The episode briefly explores what happens when TheCavalry, in the form of FEDRA, shows up to evacuate the general population to safety -- ''but'' there isn't nearly enough room or supplies to support everyone, and a choice has to be made about what to do with so many excess people...

* CommonalityConnection: Joel tells Bill that he understands him being wary of him and Tess, and that he would feel just as uneasy if the roles were reversed.
* CozyCatastrophe: Bill spends the first days after the town is evacuated ensuring he'll have this, gathering fuel while the power is on, keeping gas flowing to his house, setting up a sizeable farmstead and an incredibly thorough barricade system. Thanks to these preparations, he and Frank are able to have a far happier and more comfortable life post-collapse than pretty much anyone else on the planet, and Tess says that being able to have a civilized meal as he prepares is almost unthinkable outside their compound. His only want is his loneliness after years of survival alone, considering how quickly he takes to having Frank around.
* DancingInTheRuins: From the first day after the town is evacuated by FEDRA, it is clear that Bill is ''ecstatic'' about finally getting to live out his doomsday prepper fantasies, and we get to see that he takes great joy in having fancy dinners with fine wine while watching an infected [[BlackComedy trip his shotgun traps]]. He says as much in his [[spoiler: suicide note]] to Joel, saying he hated the world before the collapse and was happy to see it gone. Downplayed a bit in that before he ''can'' enjoy the apocalypse he spends quite some time stockpiling, barricading and farming, and he doesn't let up on this for the rest of his life.

* {{Deconstruction}} : The episode briefly explores what happens when TheCavalry, in the form of FEDRA, shows up to evacuate the general population to safety -- ''but'' there isn't nearly enough room or supplies to support everyone, and a choice has to be made about what to do with so many excess people...

* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Frank contracts an unnamed chronic illness that makes him quite debilitated and dependent on Bill, and apparently had no cure by the time of 2003. [[note]]In the post-episode podcast, Mazin and Druckmann claimed that the illness was intended to be either MS or ALS[[/note]]

* PowerOutagePlot: The power goes out while Bill is collecting supplies in a hardware store. Downplayed, as Bill immediately proceeds to break into a nearby gas power plant and turns the power back on.

* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: When Ellie wonders aloud why FEDRA had to kill the excess evacuees and why they couldn't just have let them be, Joel glumly tells her that "Dead people can't get infected." Ellie can only shake her head in sorrow and disgust.

* AdaptationalExpansion: Almost none of this episode happens in the game. The bulk of its runtime is dedicated to Bill and Frans’s love story, which is only ever alluded to a few times directly and only really confirmed in the letter you can find with Frank’s hanged body. It also ends on a much better note; in the game, Frank ended up getting sick of Bill's paranoia and shitty attitude and left him, whereas here they remained in love for sixteen years and [[TogetherInDeath committed suicide together.]]

* AdaptationalExpansion: Almost none of this episode happens in the game. The bulk of its runtime is dedicated to Bill and Franks’s love story, which is only ever alluded to a few times directly and only really confirmed in the letter you can find with Frank’s hanged body. It also ends on a much better note; in the game, Frank ended up getting sick of Bill's paranoia and shitty attitude and left him, whereas here they remained in love for sixteen years and [[TogetherInDeath committed suicide together.]]

* ADayInTheLimelight: Joel and Ellie only appear at the beginning and end of the episode (except for one flashback), with most of the episode devoted to the story of Bill and Frank - two characters that had never appeared on screen until now and had only been named a few times.

* RealityEnsues: Despite his reluctance, Bill is eventually forced to start trading with Joel and Tess for spare parts as he can't maintain the towns defences without them.

Some more years after that, Frank (now Bill's live-in partner), has an argument with Bill about the upkeep of the town; Frank wants to beautify the area and restore some of the abandoned stores, which Bill reluctantly agrees to... but he strongly objects when Frank mentions having invited a woman he spoke to on the radio over for lunch. Cut to a nice meal with Joel and Tess, discussing the potential for a long-term barter deal. Joel cautions Bill that while they may be safe from the infected, his fortifications will need to be strengthened against raiders. His prediction comes true -- some time later, a group of attackers die to the fiery traps Bill has set up around the perimeter, but not before shooting Bill in the gut.

* AgeLift: By the time the story catches up to present day, Bill is much older than he was during the equivalent point in the game.

* ChekhovsSkill: Joel is established to be in construction in the first episode. In this episode he uses his knowledge to accurately assess the needs of Bill's compound to convince him to become a trading partner.

* DrivenToSuicide: Bill and Frank decide to kill themselves in 2023. Frank kills himself because his disease has progressed to the point he has very little quality of life. The tipping point appears to be losing the ability to paint as the last painting he is shown working on is half finished with erratic brush strokes. Bill decides to die alongside Frank, since he's lived a full life and doesn't want to go on without the man he's loved for so many years.

* MeaningfulName: The meaning of Bill (or William, which Bill is a nickname for) is "resolute protector", while Frank means "free" and to be upfront about one's feelings. Bill sets up elaborate defences around a whole small town during the apocalypse, and later becomes very protective of Frank. Frank meanwhile is a more free-spirited person and much more willing to express his feelings compared to Bill.

* TheReveal: We finally learn that it was Frank and Tess who came up with the radio code system using classic songs to communicate with each other, and that Bill had set up the system to broadcast 80s songs (which mean ‘trouble’) automatically if he was not able to check in with Joel and Tess for a certain amount of time.

* TheReveal: We finally learn that it was Frank and Tess who came up with the radio code system using classic songs to communicate with each other, and that Bill had set up the system to broadcast 80s songs (which mean ‘trouble’) automatically should he was not able to check in with Joel and Tess for a certain amount of time.

* OddCouple: Bill is an antisocial survivalist, while Frank is a vivacious artistic soul. Their relationship is far from perfect, but they do love each other. Their "slightly off" relationship is foreshadowed during their first meal, where Bill exactingly turns Frank's dish to just the right presentation and then watches in annoyance as Frank immediately turns the dish to his own preferred orientation.

** Bill and Frank's final meal is the same one they ate on the day they first met.

* NoPeriodsPeriod: AvertedTrope. Ellie finds a box of tampons while searching the basement, this making her give out a quiet "Fuck yeah!".

Ellie and Joel are traveling outside Boston en route to the home of acquaintances of Joel and Tess, Bill and Frank. They stop at an abandoned convenience store, where Joel tries to find equipment he had stashed some time ago. Ellie finds a stalker stuck under a pile of rubble in the store basement, which she plays around with before killing it. After Ellie keeps going down the road even after Joel insists on a detour, they come upon a mass grave of people who were killed by FEDRA. Joel explains that if [=QZs=] were full, FEDRA would execute evacuated refugees like these to prevent them from becoming hosts for the fungus.

Some more years after that, Frank (now Bill's live-in partner), has an argument with Bill about the upkeep of the town; Frank wants to beautify the area and restore some of the abandoned stores, which Bill reluctantly agrees to... but he strongly objects when Frank mentions having invited a woman he spoke to on the radio over for lunch. Later that day the two are seen dining with Joel and Tess, discussing the potential for a long-term barter deal. Joel cautions Bill that while they may be safe from the infected, his fortifications will need to be strengthened against raiders. His prediction comes true -- some time later, a group of attackers die to the fiery traps Bill has set up around the perimeter, but not before shooting Bill in the gut.

Ten years later, Bill helps Frank (now in a wheelchair due to an unnamed illness) around the house. Frank gently tells Bill that he's decided that today will be his last day, and asks him to help him commit suicide. At Frank's request, a heartbroken Bill "marries" him and shares a final meal with him. Upon taking the wine containing crushed pills, Frank realizes that Bill also spiked his own wine. Bill tells him that he is content with dying alongside him, as he sees no purpose in living without him. The two retire to the bedroom one last time.

In the present day, Joel and Ellie enter the home. Ellie finds a letter from Bill addressed to "whoever, but probably Joel", where Bill informs Joel of his fate. He leaves all his equipment to Joel and encourages him to use it to protect Tess, noting that they are alike in their stubborn determination towards their loved ones. Joel takes Bill's old truck and he and Ellie set out towards Wyoming, where he hopes to find his ex-Firefly brother Tommy.

* AdaptationalExpansion: Almost none of this episode happens in the game. The bulk of its runtime is dedicated to Bill and Franks’s love story which is only ever alluded to a few times directly and only really confirmed in the letter you can find with Frank’s hanged body. It also ends on a much better note; in the game, Frank ended up getting sick of Bill's paranoia and shitty attitude and left him, whereas here they remained in love for sixteen years and [[TogetherInDeath committed suicide together.]]

Ten years later, Bill helps Frank (now in a wheelchair due to an unnamed illness) around the house. Frank gently tells Bill that he's decided that today will be his last day. At Frank's request, a heartbroken Bill takes him to the boutique, "marries" him, and shares a final meal with him. Upon taking the wine containing his crushed medicine, Frank realizes that Bill also spiked his wine. Bill tells him that he no longer wants to be alone, and the two retire to the bedroom one last time.

** This episode ends in a sequence in a very similar manner to episode one, but with contrasting meanings. Episode one ends with an initial shot of an open window as a radio starts playing 80s music (a signal something bad has happened), before moving outside into a desolate city overgrown and filled with danger. This one ends with Joel and Ellie, driving away into the sunset with the radio turned on to 70s music ("new stock") as the camera slowly recedes into Bill and Frank's final resting place.

* BookEnds: Bill and Frank's final meal is the same one they ate on the day they first met.