#tlou frank

[chronicowboy]

the shot at the end when joel and ellie are driving away through the open bedroom window, how it slowly pans further and further back into the room but it doesn't invade bill and frank's privacy of their final moments together...

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

I can’t claim this “The Last of Us” analysis, but I wanted to share it here because it’s a fascinating thought:

Bill in the game was a cautionary tale. He was a model for what Joel should avoid becoming, which was a closed-off, selfish loner who managed to push away the person he cared about the most.

Bill in the show is Joel’s inspiration/model. He is the one who puts into Joel’s head that he needs to stop being a closed-off, selfish loner and that he must do whatever it takes to save the person he cares about the most.

And what’s cool about this is that, even though both Bills are different, they both served the same purpose regarding Joel’s character.

[myersesque]

all those emotions aside - something i liked about episode 3 was the emphasis on surviving vs living.

you have people like bill who are survivalists. he's resourceful, stubborn, and self-sufficient - bill knows how to survive, he spent his whole life pre-outbreak preparing to survive. he's not a people person, he doesn't like relying on other people, and he can survive just fine by himself.

then he meets frank - and frank is the kind of person who knows how to live. frank eats meals like he's at a fancy restaurant, and spends just five more minutes in the shower, and sings songs out of key on bill's dusty old piano. he repaints the walls, and waters the flowers, and grows strawberries in the garden just so he can watch bill hide his giggle behind his hands when he tastes them. he uses bill's radio to make friends, and throw little garden parties, and he makes a code out of nostalgic old songs.

the reason bill and frank lived as long and as happily as they did, despite the outbreak and the solitude and frank's health - it's because they had that balance. yes, survival is important - you can't survive an apocalypse without bill's resourcefulness, or joel's construction knowledge, or tess and frank's networking - but surviving isn't living. bill lived and died happy because he let frank in past his (incredibly literal) defenses, because he let him paint portraits and grow flowers and hold him at night.

i saw a youtube comment earlier that i think got it right; in the game, bill was an example of who joel would become if he kept shutting people out, if he didn't allow himself to live. in the show, bill is an example of what joel could have, if he just let himself live and love, if he realised that all his walls and defenses mean nothing if he never has anybody to share it with.

for bill, that person was a husband. for joel, it just might be a daughter.

[joseph-munson]

“We left the window open.”

[bugcowboyart]

I’m old, I’m satisfied, and you were my purpose.

Frank and Bill from HBO’s “The Last of Us” Epsiode 3

[the-irreverend]

I think it's safe to say that this has been a great year for MLM romance.

[abbystanaccount]

I was loving Frank and Tess being besties

[feral-peacock]

Tess and Frank with their emotionally stunted men

[fortheunhinged]

Can’t believe this one-off line in the game was adapted into such a beautifully depressing love story

[chronicowboy]

nick offerman's purely gleeful childish giggle when he eats the strawberry, the fact that strawberries are associated with the roman goddess of LOVE because they're red and heart-shaped, just the beauty of that moment, the knowledge of that shared trust between them, that bill now allows frank to use resources however he wants and trade with tess freely even without him knowing, the utterly joyful moment that they both bite into a strawberry after knocking them together, that we only ever see bill cook for frank but suddenly bill gets to eat something that frank grew for him, just... the strawb- the strwaber- the strawberries....

[hollandwhore]

“we left the window open so the house wouldn’t smell”

[angelamcss]

THE LAST OF US | 1.03

[mdawgswizzleinthehizzle]

SARAH IN THE MIRROR?! BILL AND FRANK’S WINE?!

IG: @justralphy

[levithestripper]

the fact that this zombie show gave us a love story between two hairy gay men in what was possibly the most romantic thing ever shown on tv is something ill never be normal about ever

[glowwormz]

Is no one going to talk about Frank’s painting in episode 3 of TLOU? This one

Because, holy shit, that hit me like a train. I saw that painting, the asymmetry, the drastic change in style, the way the brush strokes just trail off. And immediately my heart dropped the floor, I audibly gasped.

What they achieved with this painting, the attention to detail, and the way this painting visually conveyed Frank’s deteriorating condition in just a moment is phenomenal. The idiom stands true, that picture was worth at least a thousand words.

For context, because maybe this isn’t common knowledge, that painting demonstrated constructional apraxia. This can occur due to brain damage due to injury or stroke, or in my field most often due to Alzheimer’s or other dementia. Constructional apraxia is a form of apraxia which is characterized by an inability or difficulty to build, assemble, or draw objects. For anyone familiar with “the clock drawing test” constructional apraxia is what it’s testing for. It’s one of the easiest, most common, and widely used methods of screening for dementia. It’s also not uncommon outside for different shapes, images, or patterns to be used in addition to clocks, such as a face.

And when people with dementia (or other disorders or conditions that cause constructional apraxia) attempt to draw a face they’ll often end up with something similar to what Frank did in TLOU. The features on one side of the face are often fairly consistent and as expected but the other side? It’s distorted, things aren’t placed where they should be spatially, shapes are distorted or trail off, features are missing or duplicated, it’s just off. It’s also quite common to end up with all the features squished onto one side, honestly often it ends up resembling surrealist artwork in one way or another. Working recreation in long-term care, primarily with people with some form of dementia, I see this a lot when we do art. I have seen so many paintings just like Frank’s. So yeah, that scene with the painting, it hit different.

I’ll admit it’s entirely possible Frank decided to take up a more surrealist style in his later work. But none of the other paintings I saw in the episode resembled it, and Frank’s reaction combined with the way the shot lingered made it feel purposeful. Even if it wasn’t intended this way, it’s definitely a detail that stood out to me that I think deserves some attention.

[stevenrogered]

TVLine Performers of the Week: Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman

It’s been almost a week since HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama ruined us with some strawberries and a Linda Ronstadt tune. In what was (so far) the show’s biggest digression from the video game on which it’s based, Offerman’s Bill and Bartlett’s Frank — both tangential characters in the game — took center stage and, via a pair of stunningly beautiful performances, broke our hearts.

Let’s first consider Offerman, whose turn as the gruff-yet-sensitive survivalist was a revelation. Seven seasons of Parks and Recreation taught us that the man certainly knows his way around a punchline. But we were unprepared for how well he’d convey Bill’s insecurity as a gay man who’d never been in a relationship until one literally fell into his path. That interlude that started at the piano, as Frank’s kindness and affection quickly dismantled Bill’s defenses, was stunning thanks to the vulnerability Offerman conveyed through his taciturn character’s tentative gestures: his impulse to stand as the pair kissed, his tentative stroking of Frank’s shoulder when they were later in bed.

Meanwhile Bartlett’s easy openness provided a magnificent counterpoint as Frank and Bill navigated their 16-year relationship. The culmination, of course, came as the characters sat in the parlor and Frank laid out his perfect last day. Bartlett’s eyes were wet but his voice was steady: This, his every gesture communicated, was a man who knew what he wanted and was determined — happy, even — to leave the world on his own terms. As Bill struggled mightily, Offerman looking like he was in physical pain from the onslaught of grief, Bartlett’s gentle reassurances and undemanding tone steered the scene to its eventual outcome: a place of true love and partnership.

Offerman and Bartlett, hand-in-hand with The Last of Us’ creative team, produced one of the finest episodes of television ever made. What a privilege that we all got to share in it.