Okay, you can read this article first. But then go watch it. You don’t have to watch any other episode. You don’t really have to know anything about the show going in. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to know that the characters live in a post-apocalyptic society following a disease that makes people zombie-like, but even that is explained in the episode. 

I am an incredibly avid TV watcher, and this episode absolutely knocked my socks off. It left me with an immense sense of satisfaction and emotion that I haven’t felt from a piece of media in a long time. I am confident that the third episode was one of THE best episodes of television that I have ever seen. 

The run time of the episode is around 80 minutes, and it can be looked at as a short film. The story has nothing to do with the overarching plot of “The Last of Us.” It is just a beautiful, touching love story in the middle of what is an intense action show. 

The episode, titled “Long Long Time,” shows a glimmer of hope and happiness in an incredibly dark, scary world. 

Good, emotional love stories are few and far between. It seems like Hollywood has, to an extent, moved away from those stories, and those that are made often fall short. This story was refreshing and heartful and distinctly unique.

The audience is first introduced to Bill (Nick Offerman). For those who have watched “Parks and Recreation,” think about a more extreme Ron Swanson put into one of the doomsday situations he has spent years preparing for. He may be the person most prepared for this disastrous pandemic. 

Bill spends four years content with his very protected, lonely life until a mysterious, desperate traveler shows up at Bill’s estate. Frank (Murray Bartlett) charms and begs his way into Bill’s home, and  persuades Bill to cook him a meal that is the best Frank has had in a long, long time. Later that night, the two share an intimate moment that is followed with a kiss. Bill, who is generally used to being in control of his situation, lets Frank take control and, for the first time ever, has sex with a man. 

Bill, for the first time, finds something to care about other than just surviving. A middle-aged gay man who had clearly struggled with his sexuality, never allowing himself to have a relationship with another man, finally finds happiness in uncertain times. 

That idea is part of the beauty of this episode. In a world of immense pain and destruction, these two gay men are able to have a beautiful, relatively stress free life. They live their lives in complete control of their situation within the life they built together. They get a rare chance at normalcy in a society that lacks it, and when it is time for them to die, they do so on their own terms.