Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett on The Last of Us's "Long Long Time," the best TV episode of 2023

Offerman: I just want to say, following [Murray’s] last answer: I didn’t care for the script. The worst part of the job was covering Craig’s ass. [Laughs.] No, that was pretty much built from scratch, the little town. There was kind of a ready-made subdivision, and so the street, and the curb, had already been put in, and that’s as far as they’d got. So they built the houses, all the buildings, it was crazy. And not only did the little neighbourhood have to built, it also had to show age: it had to be healthy and flowering, it had to be apocalyptic, and then Frank had to bring it back to life. 

Murray, when I first watched the episode, I felt that Frank was somewhat coercive, driven by survival instinct — rather than this raw, immediate affection for Bill, he was more attracted to the lifestyle and security Bill offered. The second time I was a little less convinced of that, not to suggest that there’s this incredible love at first sight. What was your take?

Bartlett: Well, I love to hear you say that, because I feel like it’s both, in the beginning. I feel like you can’t separate the two, which is sort of an odd thing, because you’re not playing one thing. It’s driven by, as with everybody in the show, by a survival instinct, because that’s where we’re at in this world. However, there’s a hint of possibility in this interaction for Frank that he’s not quite sure that’s what it is, but he’s feeling something there — a little bit of whatever it is, magical chemistry, there’s something behind this facade.

I think, fairly quickly, that connection becomes clearer. But you know, one of the tools in Frank’s kit is a sort of disarming charm, that is tested with Bill. So there is in that initial interaction, kind of him stepping forward, Well, this is what I’ve got to work with, I’m going to charm my way into this person’s safe place. So that is definitely kicking in as a survival mechanism. But quickly, what he glimpses in the beginning — or thinks he might glimpse — opens out as we get inside the house.

And Nick, how did you feel about that initial interaction from Bill’s perspective? I think it’s also curious that the apocalypse, perversely, affords him space to come to terms with his own sexuality.

Offerman: Well, I think his sexuality is buried deep, deep inside him. I don’t know — it’s hard to imagine being in that circumstance, but having been such an isolated person, that once Bill finally catches a man in his man-trap, I suppose that the possibility occurs to him. But I think that if it hadn't been for Frank going to the piano, and desecrating a Linda Ronstadt song, I think it would’ve been a much slower process for Bill to come to terms… just because he’s so gun shy, to broach the topic of something that I don’t think he’s ever revealed. It’s very extreme circumstances that they’re in. I don’t know, I suppose during somewhere during the meal-piano sequence, there’s a sense of: Well, fuck it. There aren’t other fish in the sea.

Murray, one of my favourite shots in the episode comes during Frank and Bill’s final meal together. Just before Bill serves the table, the camera lingers on Frank for five or six seconds, scanning the room with this sense of contentment. What is he feeling in that moment for you?

Bartlett: It’s a very affecting moment for me, I guess, as an actor. It’s sort of a “seeing your life flashing before your eyes,” kind of moment — he’s taking in what’s physically there, and the unlikelihood of their relationship evolving to become what it was. It hits him all at once in that scene: not just how unlikely [their relationship] was in the post-apocalyptic world they’re in, but how gorgeous it was, and knowing the end is approaching, just setting your emotions on fire in that moment. Everything is so clear, and so vibrating with how beautiful it all was — the moments of when they were clashing, and all the hardship just melting away. 

The Last of Us is exclusively available Mondays on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW.