Long Long Time is the 3rd episode of the The Last of Us. The first two episodes both scored a 100/100. That is the first time that’s ever happened since The Walking Dead Season 1. If you aren’t watching, you really need to fix that. The only part that sucks is that if you are on the East Coast you have to wait until 9pm to get your fix!
Spoilers Below
I give detailed, blow by blow details as I review. If you want to skip the spoilers jump down to the Scoring!
If you have watched Long Long Time let me know what scene you thought was the most powerful.
Opening Scene
Joel and Ellie have made it out of Boston. They are out in the wilderness, alive, but clearly affected by the loss of Tess. Joel is pissed. Ellie is more more and emotionally intelligent than any fourteen year old should be. She knows that Joel is pissed and that he might be angry at her for Tess’s death.
Cumberland Farms
Joel and Ellie come across a gas station as they move through the woods. Joel stashed supplies in the past but seems to have forgotten exactly where. While Joel searches, Ellie finds a hatch in the floor. Because she apparently has no survival instinct she decides to go into the dark basement under the convenience store. As Ellie explores she finds an infected man crushed beneath a fallen section of wall.
Ellie’s eyes are hard and cold as she slowly drags her blade across the Zombie’s face. What is she thinking? Is she wondering what is inside her? She isn’t infected like others, but that doesn’t mean the Cordyceps isn’t changing her somehow right?
When Joel calls for her she simply tells him the store wasn’t as picked over as he thought. Ellie found a box of tampons. She doesn’t tell Joel she just made her first kill.
Walking
Joel and Ellie are hiking. They are also bonding. We get a bit of back story as they chat. The tainted food carried the fungus. The world ended quickly as everyone who ate the infected food turned into Zombies. Ellie has a Right Angle Flashlight on her backpack which I absolutely just ordered.
Joel warns Ellie that they may want to cut across open ground. There are things ahead she may not want to see. The ground is littered with the skeletal remains of survivors who were gunned down to make sure they didn’t turn.
September 30th 2003 (Flashback)
Survivors are being loaded onto trucks as police and military forces try to keep them organized.
A man is sitting in his basement, watching what is going above him on his video cameras. Bill, played by Nick Offerman, has entered the scene. Bill has a plan. He gets gas and supplies. He’s been planning for the end of the world and is ready to deal with it.
Fences go up. Defenses are set. Firewood is cut. The garden is planted.
Bill is enjoying his dinner when his security system warns him of movement. A Zombie walks directly into a trap and gets blown away. Bill – “It doesn’t get old.”
This statement is important. It clearly shows that Bill has seen multiple Zombies fall to his defenses. He knows what dangers this new world has in store for him.
Bill – Four Years Later, 2007 (Flashback)
Bill’s preparations have clearly served him well. He’s survived years while others have died in droves.
The security system beeps. Bill has captured a man in a trap. Bill has a tester. The man is not infected. Bill wants the man to keep moving on but the man is hungry. Frank is hungry. Bill is worried that if he feeds Frank others will show up.
Something passes between Bill and Frank. Bill might be safe but just like anyone he needs companionship. There is a human need to be near others.
Are Bill and Frank gay? I am not sure at this point but feel like they might be. (Good for them.)
Maybe what saved Frank was Bill’s gaydar?
Frank prepares dinner. Rabbit and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages. Bill is more refined than he might appear. Frank is enjoying his dinner as Bill struggles to come to grips with the newcomer. Frank knows that he is supposed to dine and dash but he sees the piano and can’t help but sit down and tickle the ivories.
The first song Frank picks hits a nerve with Bill. Bill sits down to take his turn at the keyboard. Neither Bill or Frank have a good singing voice but somehow it is still a very touching scene.
Frank bends over to kiss Bill. It is a touching scene. It is also the first scene that maybe could have been done better. There wasn’t enough passion in the kiss. For two men, starved of life, I would have thought there first kiss would have been more ravenous.
Two seconds later the reason why becomes clear. Bill has never been true to himself. Frank is is first gay love, and gay lover.
Bill & Frank – Three Years Later (Flashback)
Frank is pissed. Bill does not want to give Frank supplies to fix up the house.
Why? Because Bill and Frank are going to have friends.
In the next cut scene we see Bill, Frank, Tess, and Joel having lunch. Bill is up tight and worried about security. Frank is just happy to have people over.
Bill doesn’t want Joel and Tess to ruin their lives. Joel helps bring Frank to their side by promising to bring him new fencing. Joel also warns Frank that scavengers will be coming. Bill’s defenses may not be as solid as he thinks.
Bill & Rank 2013 (Flashback)
Bill has updated his fence. What was wire is now stacks of crushed cars. Frank surprises Bill with a small strawberry patch. It is a sweet and emotional moment. Now I’m scared for the “crash”.
Bill tells Frank he was never afraid before he showed up. The meaning is clear. Before Frank Bill wasn’t afraid to die because he had nothing to die for.
Frank is sleeping. The scavengers have arrived.
Bill’s traps go off. Some of the scavengers are killed but there are too many of them. Frank drags Bill inside after he is wounded. Bill, like a moron, was standing out in the open.
Bill is bleeding out. His last words to Frank before he passes out are, “Call Joel, he’ll take care of ya.”
Bill & Frank – Older
Time has passed. Frank is frail and no longer able to walk. Bill pushes him around in his wheelchair and tends to their homestead. It appears that Frank has had a stroke? He appears weak and can only move with Bill’s help.
Bill wakes up to find Frank in his chair. Frank declares it is his last day. He doesn’t want to live as a burden on Bill. Frank asks for one more good day. Frank has a plan. One more good day. Marriage. And finally a glass of wine full of enough drugs to end his life.
Bill cries but follows Frank’s instructions.
Frank prepares the same rabbit and Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages meal they had on the day they first met. Bill dutifully mixes Frank’s drink with the medications as requested. Frank downs the glass after confirming the dosage is enough.
Frank notices there were already pills in the bottle. Bill plans on going with Frank into the next world. They laugh about how romantic the gesture is.
Welcome to Lincoln (Current Timeline)
Joel and Ellie have arrived at Bill’s homestead. Things look deserted. Joel calls out to his friends. The medicated meal on the table doesn’t look too old. Joel and Ellie have arrived not too long after the fateful dinner. Bill and Frank are dead.
Bill’s letter to whomever, but probably Joel, is heart wrenching.
Joel and Ellie now have a truck, weapons, and supplies. Joel is grumpy as hell, but the two of them are in much better straits than they were.
The two of them ransack Bill’s supplies. Not only do they have hot water for showers but also toilet paper, guns, ammo, and food. Joel tells Ellie no when she asks about a gun but she finds one in Bill’s desk and takes in anyway.
Joel and Ellie get into Bill’s Chevy S10 and head out. Ellie is amazed. She has never been in a car. Joel is more realistic. It’s an old budget truck. Hopefully it will get him to his brother.
Long Long Time Scoring
First thing. Both Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal are amazing. They are incredible actors. Bill, played by Nick Offerman, and Frank, played by Murray Bartlett are also great – their story just doesn’t have the same weight as Joel and Ellie’s. Still, the episode was amazing. How could it hold up to the first two episodes? That is an unfair expectation isn’t it?
Still, Long Long Time was a gripping and emotional episode and scores a 95/100, making it Worth Your Time.
| Season | Episode | Episode Name | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | When You’re Lost in the Darkness | 100 |
| 1 | 2 | Infected | 100 |
| 1 | 3 | Long Long Time | 95 |
| 1 | 4 | Please Hold on to My Hand | 94 |
| 1 | 5 | Endure and Survive | 100 |
| 1 | 6 | Kin | 90 |
| 1 | 7 | Left Behind | 90 |
| 1 | 8 | When We Are In Need | 100 |
| 1 | 9 | Look for the Light | 100 |
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