Joel and Ellie escaped Boston thanks to Tess’s sacrifice, and are hiking through the woods. Joel’s even more gruff than usual after losing his partner. But Ellie keeps up a steady stream of questions – and her curiosity is hard to resist.
They stop for supplies at an abandoned shop, and Ellie’s thrilled to discover an arcade game she once played with a friend: Mortal Kombat. Ellie explores the basement, finding tampons – and an infected trapped in the rubble. Though Ellie checks, there are no signs of humanity. She performs a mercy kill.
Further along the road, Joel and Ellie spot a plane crash. And while Joel is underwhelmed by memories of middle seats and overpriced sandwiches, Ellie is in awe that people once flew. She asks Joel about the outbreak, and he reveals that cordyceps mutated and contaminated the food supply. Food with cordyceps in the flour hit the shelves on Thursday, and the USA was gone by Monday. This explains why Mrs Adler was infected, but Joel and Sarah – who turned down their food – were not.
Joel’s dad instincts come into play as he tries to spare Ellie the sight of a mass grave – people massacred by FEDRA to keep the Quarantine Zones becoming overpopulated. And another flashback begins.
Survivalist Bill watches FEDRA round up his neighbours through the cameras he has installed, and refuses to go with them. Mistrusting the government keeps him alive. The most fun flashback yet shows him stocking up on supplies and barricading the town, setting up an independent farmstead.
Bill uses lethal traps to keep people out and thrives alone. Until Frank shows up – a lone survivor searching for the nearest QZ. Bill tests Frank, but he’s healthy. And one hell of a talker. He charms Bill into letting him in for a shower and a meal. And it turns out that the quickest way to a man’s heart really is his stomach. A gorgeous piano recital leads to an emotional seduction.
One meal turns into a few days, which becomes three years. Bill and Frank argue like any other couple, resentments building up over time. Frank wants to make friends and build a community. But Bill is paranoid. He’s furious when Frank confesses he’s been talking to a woman over the radio: Tess.
Joel and Tess come to Bill’s town for lunch. It’s a beautiful meal, aside from Bill refusing to put his gun down. But Joel wins him over, offering to exchange supplies that’ll help keep Bill’s perimeter fence strong against raider attacks.
Another three years pass. Frank runs laps of the town, Bill struggling to keep up. Frank shows Bill a bumper crop of strawberries, admitting he traded a gun for the seeds. And the fruit tastes so good that not even Bill can stay mad. He admits that he was never afraid before Frank showed up; having someone to love means having something to lose.
At night raiders approach with power tools and pliers. Bill’s traps explode and breathe fire, waking Frank, who panics when he can’t find Bill and takes a gun from the desk. Some raiders are electrocuted, others gunned down by Bill and his rifle. But Frank’s arrival distracts him, and Bill is shot while yelling at him to get back indoors.
Frank helps Bill inside, growing confident in the crisis. The last of the raiders die while Frank tends to Bill’s wound. Bleeding on their dining room table, Bill reveals that he’s made a list of everything Frank needs to do to keep their home secure, and says ”Call Joel. He’ll take care of you.”
Ten years later, in the present day, their roles are reversed. Bill cares for Frank, who is losing control of his body to a degenerative disease. Their home is full of bright paintings, but Frank struggles to lift his brush to complete a portrait of Bill. He can barely use cutlery when they eat, and needs Bill to open his pills.
Bill is no spring chicken himself, and struggles to lift Frank from the bathroom to their bed. But the love is still there; he gives Frank a tender kiss goodnight and goes to sleep. Frank lies awake. And in the morning Bill finds himself alone in bed. Frank made it to the wheelchair by himself.
Bill warns Frank not to do it again, because when he falls asleep in the wheelchair his feet end up blue. Franks agrees and tells Bill “This is my last day.” An emotional Bill tries to talk him out of it. But Frank has made up his mind. He’s ready to die, and wants one last good day.
Frank and Bill put on suits. They pick flowers. They exchange vows and rings. They share a last meal, and Frank looks content. Then Bill brings through a fresh bottle of wine – the same vintage they first shared – and does as Frank asked, stirring crushed pills into Frank’s glass. A tearful Bill watches Frank neck his glass, and gulps his own wine.
Bill’s compliance makes Frank suspicious. And Bill admits there were already drugs in the wine. “This isn’t a tragic suicide,” says Bill. “I’m old. I’m satisfied. And you were my purpose.” Frank accepts this last romantic gesture, and together they go to bed.
Joel and Ellie arrive to find all the plants dead. The bottle from Bill and Frank’s last night is still on the dining table. Ellie is amazed at seeing a normal house; the kind that existed before cordyceps took hold. But Joel worries for his friend. He finds the bedroom door locked.
Ellie explores, finding a key and a note, which Joel asks her to read. Bill says goodbye to Joel, inviting him to take any supplies. And he admits that he was wrong to hate the world. Bill offers a final piece of advice: that finding someone to love and protect gives life meaning. Here Ellie stops reading, because Bill tells Joel to keep Tess safe.
Joel crumples up the suicide note. In the garage he finds a truck and materials to make a battery. He reveals that Tommy was a Firefly, and might know where to take Ellie for them to make a cure.
Ellie tries to apologise for Tess dying, but Joel is having no touchy-feely conversations. He lays down some ground rules. 1) No talking about Tess. 2) Ellie keeps her bite secret, to keep herself safe. 3) Ellie has to do everything he says.
They stock up in Bill’s armoury, and Joel turns off the ‘80s tunes that started playing on loop without Bill to reset the emergency countdown. Ellie and Joel take turns showering – and while he’s gone, she takes the gun Frank stashed in his desk. (Ellie’s new outfit will look familiar to fans of the original game!)
Ellie is amazed by the truck’s mirrors and seatbelts, comparing it to a spaceship. Though Joel is less impressed. Their road trip begins and the episode ends with a final shot of Joel and Ellie driving away through the open bedroom window, the framing a nod to how The Last of Us: Part II ended.
