The third episode of HBO’s new series,The Last of Us, changed things up, focusing most of its runtime on the relationship between Bill (played byNick Offerman) and Frank (played byMurray Bartlett). The episode titled “Long, Long Time” had already received praise even before its official debut. The actor’s depictions of Bill and Frank’s relationship left plenty of viewers longing to see more of the couple. However, Offerman and Bartlett spoke about the possibility of a spinoff for theirLast of Uscharacters during a chat withGamesRadar+.
The third episode ofLast of Uswas written by Craig Mazin and directed by Peter Hoar. The episode splits its time between Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey). The opening and closing of “Long, Long Time” explores the traveling duo. However, the lengthy middle focuses on Bill and Frank’s love story. The pair’s story takes viewers through the couple’s 16-year romance, revealing how Bill and Frank met, their connection to Joel and Tess, and watching the pair grow old together before ultimately choosing to end their lives due to Frank’s terminal illness.
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Murray Bartlett Said That a Bill and Frank Spinoff Could Fill in the Missing Gaps
While speaking, GamesRadar+ Offerman and Bartlett considered whether or not theirLast of Uscharacters could return for a spinoff. While Offerman joked about a potential five-season spinoff for the couple, Bartlett (known for his performance as Armond in season 1 of HBO’sThe White Lotus) noted that a spinoff series could potentially fill in the missing gaps from what’s shown of Bill and Frank’s relationship.
Bartlett said, “It’s amazing in that that this episode covers such a vast chunk of time in these two people’s lives. It’s one of the things that makes it so special, seeing, from the very beginning, how this connection develops over time. It’s like a film in a way; it’s sort of complete in that it goes from beginning to end of their story. It really allows you to see the full kind of flowering of this relationship. But yeah, how great it would be to go back and fill in all those spaces?”
Offerman replied, “You’re goddamn right we can imagine a spinoff. We’ve done nothing but pleasure ourselves to visions of a spinoff, prequels, epilogues, you name it. We start a family, there’s multiverse quantum physics timelines. You name it. Well, yeah, I mean, it would be wonderful to see a lot of the stuff fleshed out, a lot of the dynamics that we skipped across because we cover 20-something years. Yeah, I’d say five 10-episode seasons should probably cover it…” he joked.
The Last of Usairs on HBO every Sunday.
