Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us episode 3
HBO's The Last of Us episode 3 has the biggest deviation from the games yet, featuring several new reveals about Bill's partner Frank. In the new live-action series, Frank plays a much larger role than he does in the original game. Rather than already being dead by the time players discover him, audiences get to see how Bill (Nick Offerman) met Frank as well as their deeper relationship made for the series. As such, there's a lot more to discover with this incredibly dynamic character played by Murray Bartlett.
In Explaining The Last Of Us' Infection Origin & Flour Connection
6 Frank Showed Bill How To Love
First and foremost, the biggest dynamic that was changed for Bill and Frank in HBO's The Last of Us was the addition of romance to their relationship. In the original game, all that's known is that they were partners who were often at odds with one another. Frank in particular hated Bill, who rarely compromised, unwilling to change his ways. Frank also lived in his own home, though it was clear Bill did still care about his former partner, who ultimately killed himself after getting himself infected just prior to Joel and Ellie's arrival to Lincoln.
Frank is the one who takes the initiative, creating the opportunity for trust and affection while getting Bill to open up and have someone to love in The Last of Us' amazing episode 3. For years, Bill was alone as the always prepared survivalist, and it was ironically the end of the world that put someone in his life whom he could love and care for. A major deviation for Frank, loving Bill is a critical improvement that informs every other new reveal about this new iteration of the character.
5 Frank Wanted To Live (Not Just Survive)
While The Last of Us game also confirmed Frank wanted more from life than simply surviving, the new series expands on this concept by specifically showing the kinds of things he wanted to do in Lincoln (regardless of Bill's initial disapproval). Bill wanted to conserve their resources as much as possible, while Frank wanted to improve and fix up the neighborhood surrounding their house, including some of the nearby shops. He wanted to create a semblance of life before the virus outbreak, even if his work did nothing but create joy, seeing happiness as a necessity just as much as anything else they needed to endure the apocalypse.
Likewise, there's no better example of Frank wanting to truly live than when he plants and grows strawberries. Having kept them a secret, Frank surprises Bill with the simple joy of fruit. Through the strawberries, he convinces Bill that there has to be more to their life together than just surviving.
4 Frank Started The Friendship With Joel and Tess
In the same vein of wanting more out of life, Frank is the one who instigates a friendship with Joel and Tess, establishing radio with them and even inviting them over to their house for lunch, much to Bill's dismay. Considering the largely distrusting and paranoid nature of his past, it makes sense that Bill would be wary of outsiders like Joel and Tess, with Frank being the one willing to connect with smugglers from the Boston QZ. It stands to reason that this was probably the case in the original game as well.
3 Frank Created The Last of Us’ Music Codes
As established in the premiere episode of The Last of Us, Joel is part of a network that uses the radio and different music eras to communicate coded messages back and forth. For example, Depeche Mode's 1987 song “Never Let Me Down Again” played at the episode's end. Being a song from the 80s, this meant that there was trouble.
Revealed during Bill and Frank's lunch with Joel and Tess years prior, it's revealed that Frank was the one who came up with the idea of using song decades to communicate messages back and forth. This is a rather ingenious method in such a bleak world where resistance groups such as the Fireflies are fighting the government faction known as FEDRA, the leading authority who declared permanent martial law over the quarantine zones. As such, the ability to communicate without raising suspicion and maintaining discretion is quite valuable.
2 Frank Was A Painter In HBO’s The Last Of Us
Near the end of Frank's 16 years with Bill, it's revealed that Frank started painting, and several of his pieces are seen hanging on the walls of their shared home. While Frank might have been an artist prior to the outbreak, painting could have also been a new skill he developed while living with Bill. Either way, it's yet another example of Frank seeking to do more with his life beyond simple survival, always looking for the beauty that still exists despite the world having ended.
1 Bill’s Character Is Redeemed Through Frank
Tragically, the end of The Last of Us episode 3 reveals that something is wrong with Frank, who's developed a terminal illness. Choosing his end before asking Bill to help him die by suicide via a pill overdose, the two men share one last good day together. However, Bill reveals he also took the pills in secret, unwilling to continue living without Frank and confirming that loving and caring for him was Bill's ultimate purpose in life.
In the original game, Frank left a note for Bill saying that he "hated his guts" before killing himself via hanging. The game's version of Bill could never understand that he wanted more from life. Frank also wrote that dying was better than spending one more day with Bill. In contrast, the Frank seen in HBO's The Last of Us is far more patient and kind, while still pushing Bill to evolve beyond the man he was when he was on his own. As such, this Bill completely redeems the original version from the game, and it's all because of Frank and his expanded character, greatly improving the overall narrative.