One of The Last of Us season one’s most memorable episodes is episode three, “Long, Long Time.” This bottle episode of The Last of Us stepped away from the larger story of Joel, Ellie, the fungus, and the end of the world and, instead, focused in on two characters from the games, Bill and Frank. While Bill and Frank had a history and backstory in The Last of Us‘ games, the series episode devoted to them allowed fans to really get inside the heart of these characters and understand them on a deeper and more nuanced level. “Long, Long Time” proved to be an exquisite meditation on love, life, and death. And it became a fan-favorite episode of the season. So, of course, as we head into The Last of Us season two, fans are wondering whether we’ll see more bottle episodes of this variety.
Speaking to Nerdist and other journalists at a press conference, creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann revealed “Yes” is the short answer to whether we’ll see more bottle episodes in The Last of Us season two. However, the longer answer notes that it’s not because the series was trying to recreate the success of Bill and Frank’s episode on purpose.
When asked for more details about the next The Last of Us bottle episode, Mazin shared, “One thing that Neil and I talked about was just making sure that we didn’t just say, oh, you know, that Bill and Frank episode—people really like that. Let’s do a very special episode of The Last of Us Season Two. It just has to happen as it happens. But I will say that there is a gorgeous episode this season directed by Neil that is different than, it’s not Bill and Frank, but it is, in its own way, its own thing, because it needed to be. And just, just you wait. Just you wait.”
That certainly sounds promising. For anyone not in the know, a bottle episode is an episode of TV confined to one place and typically features a small cast. In most cases, the story of the bottle episode is self-encapsulated as well. While it can impact the plot, this story often stands on its own. That makes it the perfect episode type to really dive into a specific segment of a world or character.
In The Last of Us season one, Bill and Frank received the bottle episode, helping the game characters to become more realized to us. In The Last of Us, the possibilities for these standalone stories are pretty vast. One contender could be a bottle episode about Abby. Abby is a character that fans get to know quickly in the games, but haven’t yet met in the show. An episode all about Abby could help The Last of Us show fans, especially those that never played the video games, to bond and connect with this critical character.
Alternatively, The Last of Us recently announced that Eugene, a character from the games, will join the series. Joe Pantoliano will play Eugene, so you can bet he probably will have something fun to do in the show. In The Last of Us—Part II, Eugene mostly appeared in photographs and recollections, but this time around he will be a character who “really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.” So a Eugene bottle episode seems like a major possibility in The Last of Us season two.
Whoever features in this special episode, we know it will probably be a spectacular character study and one that will almost certainly make us cry.
The Last of Us season two premieres on Sunday, April 13.
Content shared from nerdist.com.