Spoiler Warning – everything that happens in the episode will be discussed.

Episode 3 – Long, Long Time

A very quick synopsis – the world has been overrun with zombie-like creatures – “clickers” causing the collapse of civilisation with a few territories maintaining a modicum of the modern world. The show’s main characters Joel and Ellie head out into the world and realise they need more supplies and Joel suggests heading to Bill, someone who lives outside the protected cities and could help. Most of the episode is then taken up explaining who Bill is.

Bill (played by the always brilliant Nick Offerman) was a survivalist before the apocalypse, meaning he had thought some manner of the disaster was coming and he had prepared for it. The area where he lives is protected by an electric fence and numerous traps. Not long into his new isolation, Bill finds a non-infected human caught in one of his traps, Frank (played by Murray Bartlett, best known as the hotel manager in season 1 of White Lotus). Bill is exceptionally cautious, helping Frank while keeping a gun trained on him, intending only to point him in the right direction. But Frank asks for help and reluctantly Bill grants it. Bill’s home is a paradise compared to most of America, with electricity, hot water, great food and plentiful wine. Frank explains that he will leave soon and thanks Bill for his hospitality. But that isn’t quite what happens. After a moment of piano playing the tension that has been evident comes entirely to the surface and the two have sex. Frank again explains that he will leave after a couple of days. He doesn’t. This is the start of a relationship that lasts years.

I expected The Last Of Us to be good, in fact, very good. I didn’t expect it to be this good. Already this episode is being hailed as one of the greatest episodes of television ever and while I think it wise to always wait a while before making such proclamations…I feel the same. One of the great strengths of The Last of Us game was that you cared about the characters and again, I had anticipated caring about Joel and Ellie, but by the third episode, I cared immensely about two other characters.

There are several jumps in time, showing Frank and Bill’s relationship. Whereas Bill could have quite happily stayed in his isolation, even if isolated with Frank, his partner wants more. He wants to work on the neighbourhood, make it better, make it look nicer, he cares about their home. To Bill, this is a needless waste of resources but he agrees.

The Dinner Party

Perhaps a slight exaggeration but Frank has invited guests, Joel and Tess, who he had been talking to on the radio. Unsurprisingly Bill has brought a gun to the dinner table. While Frank and Tess chat happily, Joel and Bill have a more serious conversation. Each of them sees themselves as the “protector” in their relationship, Joel points out about what they can do for each other, trade, for example.

Inevitably raiders find Bill’s house and try and take it but through a mixture of traps and Bill’s gun collection they are repulsed, not before Bill is injured and Frank takes care of him. Time jumps forward again and we have now entered heartbreak territory. Frank is now in a wheelchair and clearly very ill, there is much talk of tablets and medicine and how even before the apocalypse there wasn’t a cure for what he has. We see Bill taking care of Frank, helping his partner with whatever he needs, in a gentle and caring way. Then one morning Frank announces his intention to take his own life at the end of the day. After coming to terms with Frank’s decision the two spend the day together, get married and have a last dinner. At which point Frank takes an overdose of tablets with a glass of wine and then realises Bill has done the same, they go to their bed so they can go to sleep and die together.

This episode was one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking things I have ever seen.

Humanity

A lot of films, books, tv shows etc that feature the apocalypse often focus on the idea of characters retaining their humanity, in not simply abandoning morality and civilisation and doing whatever it takes to survive. With Bill there is a distinct difference, it seems like before the apocalypse he was isolated, he didn’t have anyone he cared for and he was alone. Bill’s relationship with Frank allows him to experience humanity – Bill was never some monster who attacked people but he was alone and didn’t see the need not to be. Not everyone is looking for a partner or companionship (apocalypse or not), they do not want it or need it, but Bill did want and need these things and it took “the end of the world” to find them.

Frank’s insistence on beautifying their neighbourhood, on having friends, on reaching out is about having humanity. The post-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven has a travelling theatre troupe that has the motto “Survival Is Insufficient” – to be human is not simply about surviving. For Frank survival was insufficient. He wanted friends despite the obvious danger it put him in by inviting people to their house. Frank is not naïve about the dangers of making friends but he does it anyway, if he dies tries to reach out to people so they can all have a better life…so be it.

The skill and ambition of the people making this show is astounding, taking a minor part of the video game, and making it into a beautiful decades-long romance with the main characters of the show barely in it is risky but they have had spectacular success.

Also Read: The Impact: How Dozens of Filmmakers Around The World Crowd-Created A Film About The Apocalypse

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Set in 1980, the film gives us a voyeuristic look into the life of Richard Collier, a successful playwright portrayed by Christopher Reeve (Superman, Deathtrap). Collier goes on an unscheduled getaway prompted by a bout of writer’s block, ending up at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Wandering the hotel, Richard stumbles upon a small museum of hotel artifacts and… this is where the movie really begins. We watch as Richard is drawn— almost against his will— to a photograph that changes his life: A portrait of actress Elise McKenna, played by Jane Seymour (Live and Let Die, Dr. Quinn).

From that moment, Richard is captivated by Ms. McKenna and her Mona Lisa smile. Finding the picture was taken sixty years earlier, Collier goes down a rabbit hole of research. He learns all he can about Elise, each clue deepening his obsession, hinting at an implausible truth: Somehow, in the distant past, the two had known each other. This sets Richard on a quest to see if time travel is possible, as he is determined to achieve it.

( Major SPOILERS ahead )

Locking himself in his room, he dons an early twentieth century suit, and cuts his hair to match. He spends the better part of the day listening to a recording of his own voice, trying to convince himself that it is 1912, the last time Elise McKenna was seen at the hotel. After several hours, he realizes the recording– made with technology that hadn’t existed in 1912– was the very thing preventing him from transporting to the past.

Removing all reminders of the present, Richard again attempts to will himself back in time– and it works. He finds himself in 1912, exactly as he had imagined.

This is a rare moment in movie history, more fairytale than science fiction, where time travel is not achieved via wristwatches or cars or phone booths: It’s more like Dorothy, caught in a tornado, carried off into the Land of Oz.

Collier proceeds to find Elise, overcomes her initial rebuttals, and convinces her of his sincerity of heart. In the span of three days, they go on a horse & carriage ride, share a romantic afternoon in a rowboat (anyone else getting ‘Little Mermaid’ vibes, here?), and bond as only movie lovers can. The only obstacle to their newfound happiness is Elise’s manager, William Robinson, portrayed by Christopher Plummer (Sound of Music, Doctor Parnassus). Regarding himself as her protector, he opposes the match in every way. He even has Collier attacked by thugs. Still, Richard and Elise find their way back to each other, Elise turning her back on her life as an actress, and Robinson.

But just as the couple start to make plans, Collier accidentally pulls something from his pocket that reminds him of the future: A 1979 penny. In one of the most heartbreaking moments I’ve ever seen, Richard is pulled away from his love. In a scene extremely reminiscent of “the sunken place” in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Richard watches Elise fade into the distance, as we’re left with her screams of abject terror.

My Thoughts

Each side of me has her own thoughts. Here are a few:

The Feminist finds Richard’s obsessive desperation insulting: A successful writer, fresh off a breakup, runs from his problems, then promptly fixates on an unobtainable pretty face. Richard essentially time-stalks a dead woman, then applies emotional pressure until she responds the way he’d like. That’s not love. Not a healthy one at least. It’s also ridiculous that she gives up her career and her father figure for a three-day love affair.

The Activist is concerned that there were apparently no Black people in 1980. There didn’t even appear to be any Negro servants in 1912. #Erasure

The Romantic & The Christopher Reeve Fangirl feel like he was the only person that could sell this character on screen. There are moments of such breathtaking sincerity that they make me believe in time travel, magic, and destiny. No one could sell love and heartbreak like Christopher Reeve. Just watch the Lois Lane death scene in Superman: The Movie. But there are also moments of inappropriate camp that jolt me out of the story.

Plummer, as always, is menacing, charming, regal, and believable. Seymour puts in an excellent performance, as well. For me, however, Reeve is the breath and heartbeat of this film.

Yes, this movie is a mixed bag, depending on what values you bring to the viewing, but all in all, I think it is a semi-polished gem: It may not sparkle, but it’s priceless.

Also Read: The Film Fan’s Guide To Time Travel

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