One Scene In The Last Of Us Episode 3 Brought The Entire Crew To Tears [Exclusive]
This post contains spoilers for the third episode of "The Last of Us."
The fabled third episode of "The Last of Us" has aired, and it has certainly lived up to its pre-release reputation. Even though it contained a massive departure from the original game, one could easily argue that it was for the better. After all, changing the relationship between Frank (Murray Bartlett) and Bill (Nick Offerman) from one of total resentment to something more multifaceted helps to hone in on one of its core themes: The need to maintain a reason to keep going in times of peril. And to think it wouldn't have happened without the inclusion of a famous Linda Ronstadt song!
/Film's Valerie Ettenhofer recently talked to Eben Bolter, who served as the cinematographer for both this episode and three upcoming ones. There, the two discussed how the visual composition of his sequences came to be, as well as really cool behind-the-scenes tidbits. One of these was that, yes, the crew of last night's episode felt the same way you did during the pivotal "Long, Long Time" scene.
"I can't remember if it was the first take, but the best take [was] with Nick singing and then the kiss afterwards," Bolter said. "Just everyone on cut came into the room and was crying."
Taking things in stride
When Eben Bolter said that everyone was crying, he apparently wasn't exaggerating. Co-showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann were said to be on set during the shoot, and their reactions to what became the final take were more than a little happy.
"Craig's crying, Neil's crying," said Bolter, "I'm crying, the operators are crying [...] everyone [was] just feeling that emotion."
Can you really blame them, though? Whether or not you are familiar with the first "Last of Us" game, you'll understand that the tragedy of Bill's character was the deep-rooted repression of his sexuality. This is a man who likely pushed everyone out of his life because he was ashamed of being gay, but then meets someone that makes him no longer afraid of himself. That's precisely why the scene of him and Frank at the piano is meant to be so emotional.
Of course, Bolter and the team knew that the episode was a bit of a risk. While Bill and Frank's relationship in the game was heavily hinted at, it was never fully confirmed or outright stated. Bolter said that canonizing the subtext was important to them, but it wasn't that aspect of the episode that made them nervous.
"We all knew it was special," he said. "The only real nerves were to do with making sure we did it justice."
You can now stream this heart-wrenching episode of "The Last of Us" on HBO Max.