“The Last of Us”: Chapter 3 contains the definitive nod to the video game

SPOILERS WARNING!

*This article contains spoilers for episode 3 of “The Last of Us”.

‘The Last of Us’ has given fans of the Naughty Dog video game many moments they could be Leonardo DiCaprio in the ‘Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood’ meme ever since its very first episode. The HBO Max series has included near-traced shots of the game, mythical phrases and many other nods to the PlayStation bestseller. But in chapter 3 they were surpassed, and that is the most different episode than the video game. If you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading because we’re going to talk about spoilers for the chapter.

The episode, titled “Long, Long Time,” changes the story of Bill and Frank, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, allowing us to see how they met and how love was born. We also see how, already old, they decide to commit suicide before Bill can take care of Frank, who suffers from a degenerative disease. Bill leaves a letter to Joel (or whoever finds it first) bequeathing all his weapons, equipment and the car that he and Ellie will use to continue their journey, and asks him not to enter the room, where they rest for always. He says they left a window open so the house doesn’t smell and… It’s that window that closes the episode.

Perhaps those who played “The Last of Us: Part 1” were reminded of something. Indeed, that plan it’s a nod to the in-game menu screenas confirmed by Peter Hoar, director of the episode: “Yup. And I will say there was a time when Craig (Mazin) wanted every episode to have that motif.. He said, ‘I’m going to start every episode like this. I think he said it would be like a spin button, that you can click on the picture while watching HBO Max like you do in the game to jump into the episode. But then we thought our story was very different and we didn’t like it appearing at the beginning. So we suggested this idea to them and they loved it. We had to turn it over twice because the first time didn’t work. And the departure of the van is done on the computer because there was no working view. They’ve done a great job with it. And I think it’s wonderful to bring the story back to Frank and Bill, with that picture on the wall and the flowers that Frank would put up.”. Mazin explains on the series’ official podcast that each episode would begin with a long scene from a different window where the series’ “skip intro” button would appear, but instead say “press play.” like in the video game. In the end they scrapped it because it didn’t fit all the chapters.

It is not the only Easter egg that we can find in the chapter. The director reveals that Ellie’s shirt and the one Joel wears after taking a shower are just like the ones they wear in the video game. They also went all out with the van taken from Bill’s house: “I don’t think it’s a surprise because it’s in the trailer, but the truck they take for potentially the rest of the trip is the same as in the game. It’s not an exact replica but we’ve done our best. It’s not the same type of truck, but it they painted with the colors of the game” comment. There’s another wink that only the shrewd get to see: “I’ve put a post-it on one of the walls at the back of the shop when Ellie passes by, which is a direct copy of the game. I’m trying to remember, but I don’t think you can see well. In the game you are basically collecting things to advance. One of these things is a note that tells you what to do. No one on the team saw it.” complains Hoar.

The most romantic Easter egg

The director of ‘It’s a Sin’ also tells us another very special and personal Easter Egg for him: “I won’t tell you where, but I also put a message for my husband. But that’s just for me”. Clearly this was the perfect episode to fit such a display of affection.

‘The Last of Us’ features new chapters every Monday on HBO Max.