Reminder: The Last of Us HBO's version of Bill and Frank's relationship is very, very different from the game

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You might've forgotten how little love there was in this love story

Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us
(Image credit: HBO)

Right at the top, a quick spoiler warning for The Last of Us HBO episode 3 - if you haven't seen it, run from this article like it's a hungry clicker.

If you have seen the latest episode of The Last of Us, well, you OK? Have you managed to find all of the fragments of your broken heart and piece them back together yet? Phew, that was a heavy one, and so beautifully written, performed, and shot.

Episode 3 centers around Bill and Frank, a couple you might not remember from the game if it's been a while since your last playthrough. In the show, an entire episode is dedicated to the pair's persevering romance, which ends when Frank falls ill with an unknown ailment (though clearly not a cordyceps infection) and asks Bill to mix him a lethal cocktail of crushed pills. Bill acquiesces but decides on his own to join Frank in ending his life, and thus a disarmingly heartbreaking storyline comes to a conclusion.

In the games, however, Bill and Frank's relationship ends on a very different note. While the pair are unequivocally romantic partners, we learn from a handwritten note that Frank "hated [Bill's] guts" due to his "shitty town" and "set-in-your-ways attitude." Ultimately, Frank left Bill, stole some of his equipment, and then hanged himself after being bitten by infected. Bill learns of Frank's fate from Joel and appears disheartened, but yeah, not exactly the tragic romance we see in the TV show.

The third episode is arguably The Last of Us HBO's biggest diversion from the games yet, and the show's co-creators recently explained why they made such a big change. That said, here's a list of the biggest changes between The Last of Us episode 3 and the PlayStation game.

Here's The Last of Us director on episode 3's haunting final shot just in case you're still ruminating on it.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.