HBO’s The Last of Us expands Bill & Frank’s gay romance om the game - Polygon

Contents:

• HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?
• ‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO
• THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED
• GAMER EXPLAS WHY BILL AND FRANK TOTALLY WEREN’T GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME, YOU GUYS
• WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED
• HBO’S ‘THE LAST OF US’ SERI WILL SHE A SPOTLIGHT ON GAY UPLE BILL AND FRANK
• WAS BILL GAY IN THE LAST OF US GAME? THE SURPRISG ANSWER

HBO’S THE LAST OF US IMPROV ON THE GAME’S IMPLIED GAY ROMANCE

Bill is gay the game, but ’s referenced so vaguely that plenty of players missed . The cisn to keep muted, hted at a sgle le of dialogue and a hidn letter, was both praised and cricized — was easy to overlook, but also avoid a lot of gay-character trop, and allowed Bill to be a human and not “a maniftatn of sexualy, ” as Polygon’s Danielle Rien put at the time.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME?

The game’s storyle don’t avoid trop altogether, though: It was cricized for “buryg s gays. The most recent episo of HBO’s The Last of Us has left some fans wonrg if Bill and Frank were a gay uple the origal game. Wh such drastic chang, pecially when to Bill and Frank’s relatnship, some are left askg if Bill was really gay The Last of Us vio game.

The biggt hts towards Bill beg a gay man are his relatnship to Frank and a certa magaze that Ellie steals om his stash the church basement, both of which n be missed by players not engagg optnal ntent or not payg close enough attentn.

“Long Long Time” has sparked several plats om the worst si of Twter about how The Last of Us allegedly shoehorned a gay relatnship. But the fact is Bill has always been gay. So yeah, Bill has always been gay.

‘THE LAST OF US’ CONFIRMED THAT BILL WAS GAY YEARS AGO

What we got stead was a psule episo, and a particularly bracg one, given the show’s opprsively bleak mood th far: The hour is dited to the love story of Bill and Frank, a gay uple who—due ially to Bill’s skills as a bunker-stockg, booby-trappg, Don’t Tread on Me survivalist—manage to build a largely happy existence together an abandoned and eventually fortified ral hamlet for almost 20 years.

Wh Bill and Frank, we were given a portra of love—specifilly gay love—that feels surprisg and urgent.

THE LAST OF US’ GEO GAY LOVE STORY COULD NOT BE MORE TIMELY

In our own 2023, we are not exactly lackg for media imag of whe gay men. For one thg, we see gay sire portrayed all s plexy, but wh a touch as light as a breeze playg through curtas. Bill’s is not a “type” of gay man I n say I’ve ever seen mastream media before, and watchg him slowly reveal and epen that aspect of himself wh Frank’s help—sexually, y (Hollywood: more hairy bear love scen please!

But Bill and Frank create somethg else, a ltle oasis of their own that’s regnizably gay, full of quiet bety and joys the size of new strawberri. Frank wants to fix up the block and some of the “not stupid” shops—the we and furnure stor, the clothg boutique—bee he hop they might one day have unfected guts (which they eventually do, the form of Joel and Ts), but really bee makg thgs nice, pecially when nicens isn’t valued, is one of the great gay llgs.

As an echo of the gay experience wh AIDS, is, as veteran activist Peter Staley put a Facebook post, a ftg tribute to the “tenr love & bravery gay men summoned when facg ath durg the plague years, cludg those who did so on their own terms. How powerful, then, to see not only a gay uple given an entire hour of a marquee show, but a gay uple who are held up as the keepers of civilizatn, as stewards of bety, as emblems of human digny and possibily.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? RELATNSHIP WH FRANK EXPLAED

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Last Of Us*The story of Bill and Frank is only briefly touched upon The Last Of Us vio game, but episo 3 of HBO’s adaptatn has dramatilly expand on their relatnship what is a notable viatn om the source enthrallg episo is filled wh tensn, joy and heartbreak as tells the pair’s story over almost two s, begng wh their first meetg after Frank fell to one of Bill’s follows is a betiful love story that has left fans wh a number of qutns, wh some askg whether Bill was gay The Last Of Us game self.

TERMINAL ILLNESS: FRANK’S FATE IN THE LAST OF US SERIES IS A HUGE DEPARTURE FROM ORIGINAL GAME© HBO | Liane HentscherWas Bill gay The Last Of Us game? Y, Bill is nfirmed to be gay The Last Of Us vio game. Speakg The Last Of Us podst, Craig Maz reerated this pot, sayg: “This wasn’t a new ncept that Bill was gay, that’s the game.

Bill's Sexualy Was Always Hted at the Origal 'Last of Us' GameIs Bill gay the origal 'Last of Us' game?

GAMER EXPLAS WHY BILL AND FRANK TOTALLY WEREN’T GAY ‘THE LAST OF US’ GAME, YOU GUYS

This is new ground for The Last of Us, but is Bill gay the game?

Bill is visibly troubled by his ath, revealg to Joel that Frank had lived wh him before leavg on poor isn't explicly stated, Bill is heavily implied to be gay this scene.

WAS BILL GAY THE LAST OF US GAME? EXPLAED

In a 2014 terview wh Gay Gamer, Neil revealed that Bill's sexualy was somethg that he wanted to rporate more openly the game but that the fal product left ambiguo. After Joel and Ellie take off one of Bill's tcks, Ellie mmag through the back seat and disvers an old adult men's magaze that likely belonged to Bill's sexualy is ultimately never nfirmed the game, his gay romance wh Frank is explored fully the show, where the two of them share their own love story that is pletely origal to the seri.

HBO’S ‘THE LAST OF US’ SERI WILL SHE A SPOTLIGHT ON GAY UPLE BILL AND FRANK

The show is already garnerg high praise for s third episo, which lved ep to a si story wh two gay characters at s re. Several more gay characters are sttered among the game’s st, and future episos — and seasons — will see the h characters realized live-actn for the first time. Ellie Image via Nghty Dog That’s right, the lead character The Last of Us is part of the gay muny.

The character’s sexualy is hted at the Last of Us gam, and many players termed that he was gay, but players didn’t get nearly the romance the origal that HBO livered wh “Long Long Time. Like, what’s gay about a zombie apolypse? I mean, I’ve only played The Last of Us Part One, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t ANY gay characters.

WAS BILL GAY IN THE LAST OF US GAME? THE SURPRISG ANSWER

I’ve even played the Left Behd DLC, and the libs like to say ’s gay, but ’s so totally not. Boys don’t though, e that’s gay.