One of the great, yet painful, things about The Last of Us is how quickly we have to say goodbye to characters. It makes us cherish the characters we have when we have them, and fans understand that, especially with Nick Offerman’s take on Bill and his relationship with Murray Bartlett’s Frank.
The episode of season one titled “Long, Long Time” takes viewers through the lives of Bill and Frank as Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) make their way to the pair for help. When they arrive, they find that Bill and Frank have died together, in love and happily ending their lives in each other’s arms. This is different from the game, but it has ushered in a new kind of love for Bill and Frank as characters, with many hoping we’d somehow see them again.
Craig Mazin talked to Deadline about the future of Bill and Frank and dashed any hopes we had: “I’m very proud of the episode we did with Bill and Frank. There won’t be more Bill and Frank.” We all hoped that it meant that the prequel could still happen, but Mazin clarified, saying, “Nick was joking about a prequel, that was kind of a joke. We are very happy with what we achieved.”
Backstage at the Emmys, Nick Offerman talked about the idea of coming back as Bill in a prequel. “Oh, great question but I would have to ask somebody with a higher pay grade than myself,” Offerman said. “It certainly has been pitched. I think we pitched a whole mini-series of a prequel of their lives before they met each other. It could be a musical. We’re not short on ideas. We’ll just we’ll see what Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] come up with.”
Would a prequel even work?
What made “Long, Long Time” work was how self-contained the story was. We saw Bill and Frank meeting, their relationship as it grew, and their final moments together. So how would a prequel work? Would it just be about Bill and/or Frank and then end with them meeting? Would we flash back and forth between Bill and Frank, episode to episode? That’s the kind of questions we’d have to think about.
So Mazin shooting down the idea of the prequel happening isn’t surprising, nor is their absence from season 2. Given what we know about The Last of Us: Part II, I don’t think that means we’ll be spared from crying, but at least it won’t be at the hands of these men who loved each other (and Linda Ronstadt) so dearly. Keep wishing, though. Maybe they’ll change their minds.
(featured image: HBO)
