The story of Invoice and Frank in The Final of Us (and its remaster and remake) is a tragic one. Naughty Canine’s sequence is stuffed with tragedy, however as a result of it includes a same-sex relationship to painting the hazard of forming connection within the post-apocalypse, to some, it felt like one other in an extended line of tales about how queer love is doomed. In stark distinction to the sport’s hopeless tackle their relationship, the HBO sequence’ model of Invoice and Frank appears like a reclaiming of a homosexual post-apocalyptic romance the 2 by no means acquired to see, and the survival of a queer historical past the world of The Final of Us illustrates is lengthy gone for the following technology.
As within the HBO present, the sport’s Invoice is a gruff survivalist so guarded in opposition to the world that even his accomplice, Frank, can’t break by way of and discover a actual emotional connection. When Joel and Ellie arrive in his fortified city, Invoice is alive, however Frank, unable to endure Invoice’s coldness and isolating tendencies, has taken his personal life and left a bitter suicide observe that condems his ex-partner for being content material to solely survive behind the traps and tripwires he’s scattered throughout the city’s perimeter, moderately than residing on the opposite aspect.
In spite of everything is claimed and executed, Invoice warns Joel of the hazards of human connection as he and Ellie depart. His viewpoint is introduced as a misanthropic one the sport goes on to subvert by way of watching Joel and Ellie’s relationship become an actual bond. However between Invoice and Frank’s relationship, in addition to Ellie’s with each Riley and Dina, the sequence has been missing in queer relationships that don’t finish in tragedy, estrangement, or each.
Compared to such a dour love story within the recreation, HBO’s present portrays Invoice and Frank’s romance in an extremely hopeful gentle. When Invoice (Nick Offerman) meets Frank (Murray Bartlett) in episode three, “Lengthy Lengthy Time,” the previous approaches his lover-to-be along with his quintessential skepticism. Frank’s fallen into one of many many traps Invoice’s constructed round his dwelling, a necessity for security and survival on this harmful world however maybe additionally a mirror of the defenses Invoice has constructed round himself as an individual. He initially holds Frank at gunpoint and tries to ship him on his means, however is quickly received over by Frank’s charismatic plea for meals and a sizzling bathe. Invoice prepares a spectacular meal for his visitor however awkwardly stammers by way of their early interactions, each as a result of he appears to have a tough time referring to others on any stage and since he’s sorting by way of his emotions of attraction to the opposite man.
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The awkward rigidity breaks after they each play Linda Ronstadt’s “Lengthy Lengthy Time” for one another on Invoice’s piano. Frank, recognizing Invoice’s ardour as he sings the music’s heartfelt lyrics, jokingly asks “Who’s the woman?” In fact, he is aware of Invoice doesn’t have a lady ready for him on the market within the zombie-infected apocalypse, however asks, as most homosexual males would have within the mid 2000s, as a security buffer to search out out the reality. Invoice confesses: “There is no such thing as a woman.” The 2 share a tearful kiss, then a mattress the place Invoice confides he’s solely ever been intimate with a lady earlier than the outbreak, after which a life through which each males discover the achievement they didn’t within the Final of Us video games.
Within the margins of their survival, there are glimpses into the life Invoice and Frank would have lived had they met earlier than the apocalypse. Invoice helps and protects Frank as he makes the deserted avenue they dwell on a bit extra homey by renovating the homes and retailers round them. They maintain good brunches for his or her mates and bond over their style in positive wines and their love of older music, to the purpose the place Frank comes up with a code to play sure music over their radio to speak with Joel and Tess. By way of the protection of Invoice’s automated safety methods, the 2 discover domesticity and thrive as finest they will within the wasteland, and throughout the franchise, it’s the one love story that has a cheerful ending. Nicely, comparatively talking.
As time passes, Frank’s well being deteriorates, to the purpose the place he makes use of a wheelchair, requires every day drugs, and has gone from spending his time beautifying the city to portray portraits of their again patio. Ultimately, he involves a choice: He desires Invoice to provide him another day within the city the place they will do all his favourite issues, lastly trade the marriage vows they wouldn’t have legally been capable of in 2003 when the outbreak occurred, then he desires to take sufficient tablets that he’ll cross within the night time. Invoice doesn’t need this, however Frank asks him to think about it not like he’s asking to die, however asking to be liked in the best way he desires. Invoice does as he asks, but in addition takes his personal lethal dose of tablets, guaranteeing that they’ll cross collectively peacefully. He says this isn’t some tragic suicide, as he’s glad with the life he’s lived and realized that Frank was his function. Frank, clearly beginning to lose consciousness, says he needs to be livid, however he can’t deny it’s romantic.
Although heartbreaking, Invoice and Frank’s story within the HBO present is certainly one of queer pleasure ultimately of days. However bearing in mind the sequence’ timeline, it’s additionally quietly unprecedented inside its universe. There are hints of their lives as middle-aged homosexual males earlier than the apocalypse, similar to their conversations through which Frank, for his personal security, takes essentially the most oblique route potential towards asking Invoice if he’s homosexual, and Invoice explaining that his solely earlier accomplice was a lady. As you hear them discuss round topics till the reality is open, you possibly can see mirrored the experiences of queer individuals over so many many years who’ve needed to navigate a hostile society whereas looking for security and group.
Given their age, Invoice and Frank probably realized these social cues by residing by way of late Twentieth-century American queer historical past. The 2 males would have endured the horrible grief and political silence of the AIDS epidemic, and would know of historic moments just like the Stonewall riots and early Satisfaction parades. However in addition they by no means acquired to expertise issues just like the Obergefell v. Hodges determination legalizing same-sex marriage within the nation as a result of the cordyceps outbreak utterly derailed world historical past. That didn’t cease them from having a marriage of their very own, although. Within the absence of present, typically oppressive social constructions, they make their very own prospects.
In distinction to Invoice and Frank’s lived expertise of navigating society as homosexual males, information of queer historical past feels utterly absent for queer youth in The Final of Us, however that doesn’t really feel like an oversight. As a substitute, it’s a significant piece of worldbuilding reflecting how tradition can die simply as rapidly as individuals can on the finish of the world. In spite of everything, when the world is overrun by an infectious illness that turns individuals into monsters, your own home and historical past are sometimes funneled into what you possibly can carry in a backpack, and loads of it doesn’t get taught to future generations. For characters like Ellie, a younger lesbian who grew up in army quarantine zones the place all she ever realized at school was tips on how to battle in opposition to rebellious teams just like the Fireflies, studying her personal queer historical past was probably not on the curriculum.
There are concrete examples of this, similar to when Ellie and her girlfriend Dina discover a queer bookstore in Seattle throughout The Final of Us Half II. Dina notices the Satisfaction flags nonetheless intact in spite of everything this time and wonders aloud about “all of the rainbows” hanging across the store and why all of the books solely function same-sex {couples}. Lev, a trans boy who debuts in The Final of Us Half II, navigates his personal trans identification in new contexts. When he’s assigned to be a spouse to one of many Seraphite elders, he shaves his head to suggest his male identification and reject the function he’d been given by the group. He involves phrases with this totally within the framework of the cult’s customs, and doesn’t even appear to know the phrase “transgender.” It’s an enchanting case examine in how queer identification nonetheless manifests in cultures that don’t acknowledge or educate it, however it’s unhappy that Lev must be a trailblazer with out the years of historical past and context of folks that got here earlier than, after which face the persecution that follows.
This isn’t authentic to The Final of Us, it’s one thing we see in trendy queer historical past, as new generations of LGBTQ+ children come up in a time after the AIDS disaster took the lives of so many individuals in generations of homosexual males and the broader queer group by way of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Younger queers are rising up in a time the place their elders are both gone or silenced by those that wish to bury their historical past. The Final of Us’ allegories might not be intentional, however the long-term results on its characters are felt, all the identical.
In The Final of Us Half I’s DLC Left Behind, Ellie and her childhood good friend (and longtime crush) Riley speak about how virtually nobody will get to dwell an extended life and die of pure causes on this world the place a fungal an infection utterly derails any plans or hope. However there’s a scene about 40 minutes into “Lengthy Lengthy Time” the place Invoice and Frank are seen on a jog. The previous is falling behind the latter till they lastly arrive at their vacation spot: a small patch of strawberries Frank planted to shock Invoice. As they eat the recent fruit, Invoice apologizes for getting older sooner than his accomplice. Frank says he likes Invoice older, as a result of “older means we’re nonetheless right here.”
Within the face of Ellie, Dina, and Lev’s relative ignorance to queer historical past, Invoice and Frank’s survival many years after the outbreak isn’t simply outstanding, it’s revolutionary. By the point that scene on the strawberry patch occurs, it’s been years since Invoice and Frank first sang Linda Ronstadt to one another, and so they nonetheless have years left. Every single day they each survive collectively is a day the place individuals who have been alive for queer historical past are round to maintain it alive and to make strides they by no means acquired to in a world too detached to keep up that historical past for these nonetheless to return. Even when Invoice and Frank are passed by the top of the episode, that is the hope Frank is ready to put into the world of The Final of Us when he’s not only a cautionary story for Invoice to spin. As a substitute, he’s an individual Invoice believed value defending and residing for.
For so long as they lived on this post-apocalyptic world, Invoice and Frank have been a reminder that queer persons are survivors, and information of who and what got here earlier than persevered into the apocalypse. Ellie and Lev have but to listen to it, however it’s on the market. It’s simply as Frank mentioned, older means we’re nonetheless right here. We endured. We survived. After overcoming every thing else, no cordyceps an infection might ever cease us.