The Last Of Us Episode 3 Review - 8 Ups & 0 Downs

3. Bill's Letter To Joel

Believe it or not, but Ellie and Joel are in this episode as well.

In a great subversion of Frank’s bitter letter to Bill in the game, here it’s Bill who leaves Joel a letter after his death. And it’s this letter that drives home why we just spent the last hour watching the relationship of these dead side characters play out.

Bill, like Joel, is a man who was at one point entirely closed off, single-mindedly focused on getting through the day. Unlike Joel though, Bill’s 20 years changed him for the better. That's because unlike Tess, Frank asked Bill to feel the way he felt, and was better for it.

He tells Joel he was wrong to live the way he lived for so much of his life, and that the purpose of men like them is to protect and love the people closest to them, rather than remain isolated. Following on from Tess’ instruction to save who you can save, this advice is no doubt going to be instrumental for Joel’s character development going forward.

It’s as subtle as a sledgehammer, but Bill’s words wouldn’t be as compelling as an argument if we hadn’t just seen how this ideology had changed his life for the better. For anyone who might decry this episode as filler, this letter and its impending impact (alongside getting the battery, car and tooling up) is precisely why it is not.