it was many.
Last of Us Episode 3 was an emotionally draining experience. There were so many touching moments and hidden details that I almost missed one important throwback.
However, Episode 3 not only acted as a beautiful contented story that shed light on the different people surviving in the post-Cordyceps world, but it also wrapped up the mystery of Episode 1.
‘The Last of Us’ fully deploys the enemies that almost stopped me from playing the game
What Happens in Episode 1?
Towards the end of the show’s first episode, shortly after Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv) take care of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the Boston quarantine area, they leave her in her apartment and Corridor outside. Ellie overhears them say the names “Bill and Frank” before discovering a radio with a large song book sitting next to her. Inside is a piece of paper labeled “B/F” with simple chords scribbled underneath, suggesting that different eras of music mean certain things. ’60s are “empty”, ’70s are “new”, and ’80s have a red “X” on the side.
As soon as Joel returns to the room, Ellie begins questioning him.
Nothing beats Erie.
Credit: Liane Hentscher/HBO
“So who are Bill and Frank? Radio is a smuggling code, right? Sixties songs have nothing new, seventies songs have something new — what’s the eighties?”
Later, after Joel took a nap, Ellie said to Joel:
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” is Wham! 1984 song. Sure enough, Joel’s reaction (murmuring “shit”) suggests that this is bad.
“Okay,” Ellie grins. “The 80s mean trouble. The code is broken.”
Later, as Joel, Tess, and Ellie make their way through the crumbling suburbs of Boston, they find themselves in a void as the radio plays Depeche Mode’s 1987 song “Never Let Me Down Again.” You can see the shots of the apartment in . But it’s not until the end of Episode 3 that we know exactly what the code means.
What will happen in Episode 3?
Episode 3 introduces the mysterious Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), who live alone in a fortified town just outside Boston. However, Joel and Ellie arrive too late. By the time they arrive, Bill and Frank are both dead, each having fatal overdoses in response to Frank’s terminal illness.
And sure enough, while exploring the building’s very well-equipped basement, they stumbled upon a radio.
“Why was the music playing?” asks Ellie as Joel taps the button to stop playback.
“This playlist would be on the radio if I didn’t reset the countdown every few weeks,” he replies.
Ellie looks at the screen to see what we’re already thinking. “80’s”.
Joel doesn’t react directly, but in episode 1 Ellie tricked him into wham! As she surmised, the radio code wasn’t exactly a “problem” in her ’80s — it meant something happened to Bill and Frank to stop them from resetting the timer. was
For someone as vigilant as Bill, Joel probably knew that meant he was either captured or dead. , that when Joel, Tess, and Ellie left Boston, Bill and Frank were likely already dead for weeks.
Last of Us is streaming on HBO Max(opens in new tab) New episodes air every Sunday night on HBO.
