Love will abide.

It’s taken me longer than usual to process my feelings and opinions on episode 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us. Already some of the breadcrumbs sprinkled in the first two episodes like small grenades to blow our hearts apart are doing their damage, but to keep this review shorter than the average post-graduate dissertation, I’ll summarise.

It’s the most deeply moving and beautiful journey of two supporting characters ever given space to grace a screen.

As Joel processes the loss of Tess, and Ellie calls a truce to see them through their hike to Bill and Frank’s, we transition back to outbreak day and meet ‘prepper’ Bill. As we see him build a fortress around his abandoned town as strong as the one around his heart, he doesn’t expect to catch a lone survivor of a refugee gang trying to escape infection. What he really catches is a source of love and light that will shine on his solitary world more brightly than the sun.

Their characters are laid out before us quickly and clearly, and it’s as gentle as Frank is with Bill as they take their first steps together. The way they shape each other, make each other better and bring each other joy is shown beautifully, visible through every window we get into their shared life.

It’s not all roses and clover, because life – especially post-apocalyptic life – isn’t like that. We meet a younger Tess and Joel and see the similarities shared by Tess and Frank, and also Bill and Joel, and how their world has shaped the men they have to be. It only piles on the heartbreak as we already know the fate of one of the people sat around that beautiful garden table in the sunshine. Later, there’s still room for unexpected turns as the violence and fear of the world outside tries to invade Bill and Frank’s idyl. But love abides, not fear.

As their story closes, the tears fall. There are no ad breaks to pull you out of their narrative, they book-end it as we return to Joel and Ellie’s arrival and the discovery of a letter. A letter that contains a life in a nutshell, a satisfying life full of love, a testimony to a noble purpose and a request that can’t be obeyed. Well, not in the same way as the writer intended – but there’s still hope. Save who you can save, Joel.

Verdict: I think it’s gonna hurt me for a long, long time. 10/10

Claire Smith