Who are Bill and Frank in The Last Of Us?
Bill and Frank feature heavily in a recent episode of The Last Of Us TV series, here is everything you need to know about their backstory.
Bill and Frank in The Last Of Us TV series appear in Episode 3. The Last Of Us fans will be familiar with Bill, but this is a different take on the character, and Frank is a new addition entirely. Here is everything you need to know about Bill and Frank in The Last Of Us.
- For our thoughts on the Bill and Frank episode, check out our The Last Of Us episode 3 review.
Who is Bill in The Last Of Us?
In the original 2013 game, Bill is a character whom Joel and Ellie meet shortly after leaving Boston. When they reach Lincoln, colloquially known as Bill's Town, they find the place fenced in and rigged to the hilt with traps. Inside they meet Bill, a survivalist who has turned the town into his own personal fortress.
Joel knows Bill but has never been to his home. He seeks Bill out in order to get a working car that will get Ellie and himself across the country, but Bill is none too pleased when they set off his traps. He begrudgingly agrees to help fix up a car for them, which requires Joel to go around town to find the necessary parts.
While the initial plan doesn't pan out, they eventually get a working vehicle to run, so Joel and Ellie leave Bill's Town. While Bill is friendly and decent enough to help Joel, it is made clear that he is doing so because he is indebted to him, and that all debts are squared once this is done.
The Bill of the video game is cold, objective and overly pragmatic. He is a survivalist through and through = his only goal is to make it to the next day. There are hints of the caring person underneath, but that person is buried.
Much of this carries through to the TV show version of the character, but there we see things pan out differently. We see his partnership with Frank, his love for Frank, and how that changes him as a person. It seems the biggest change in Bill from game to show is that the Bill of the show had the good sense to let Frank in, and choose to love him.
- To hear more about the original story, check out our The Last Of Us Part 1 review.
Who is Frank in The Last Of Us?
During their time together, Bill mentions that he once had a partner, but he "wisened up" and realised that other people are only good for getting you killed. Later, the group take shelter from the infected in a house where they discover a hanging corpse. Bill reveals it to be Frank, his old partner. Frank was bitten, and seemingly took his own life to avoid turning.
This is the extent of Frank's existence in the original game. It is heavily implied that their relationship was a romantic one, but clearly, it ended differently for them. With the emotional weight of the situation, it is hard to know just how much of Bill's talk about cutting his old partner loose is true and how much is just Bill being guarded with the truth, but clearly, things did not end well between this version of Frank and Bill.
While still tragic, the show paints a much brighter and more romantic picture of Bill and Frank's relationship. Frank randomly stumbles upon Bill's defences, and though he is reluctant to trust, Bill helps Frank out with clothes and food.
Their relationship quickly blossoms into a romantic one, and two men at the end of the world manage to find each other and spend the rest of their lives together.
Now you have some idea of who Bill and Frank are in The Last Of Us. For more on the show, check out our reviews of The Last Of Us episode 1 and The Last Of Us episode 2.
About The Author
Dave McAdam
Dave is a Senior Guides Writer at GGRecon, after several years of freelancing across the industry. He covers a wide range of games, with particular focus on shooters like Destiny 2, RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.
