Warning: spoilers for The Last Of Us Episode 3, “Long Long Time,” are in play.
Steven Spielberg is an icon of cinema, known for his many memorable films that have inspired the masses like Jaws, Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park. Even after achieving legend status, he's always generous with his praise, congratulating young filmmakers on their innovative work and sharing his adoration for other creative media. He recently reached out to The Last of Us showrunner about the Bill and Frank episode, which shattered the hearts of audiences, and I love that he was as moved as I was.
In a recent interview with THR, co-creator of the dystopian HBO series, Craig Mazin, shared that Spielberg was one of the many fans of The Last of Us who loved the self-contained episode “Long, Long Time.” Mazin said that the E.T. director emailed him after the episode aired, and expressed his love for the show and the heart-wrenching stand-out installment. He revealed:
Steven Spielberg sent an email about episode three [the acclaimed ‘Long, Long Time,’ focusing on a survivor couple played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett]. He was so complimentary about the whole show, but that episode in particular. It was so lovely, and I shared it with all the folks who worked on the show.
This is incredibly sweet, and I can imagine that it meant a lot to the showrunner. Spielberg himself has explored dystopian worlds in films like Minority Report and Ready Player One, so he may have been drawn to The Last of Us because of the premise. Like much of Spielberg’s work, the show starts with a grandiose genre plot, but really focuses on the touching relationships between the characters rather than the violence of the source material. No one captures love and family like Spielberg, and for him to be complimentary of The Last of Us is high praise.
The episode Spielberg singled out surrounds a couple, Bill and Frank, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. They meet during the deadly fungal outbreak, and fall in love over the course of years throughout the episode. The "Long Long Time" ends in tragedy, as one of the characters becomes sick, and the other decides to die with him.
The episode, while situated within the story arc of the show, feels like a departure from the central plot, and explores characters who do not appear in later episodes. It's incredibly sad, and definitely resulted in many tears on my end. I love that Spielberg was affected as well, and I’m not alone in my grief for this beautiful and tragic love story.
Spielberg’s praise is definitely warranted, as the episode became a fan-favorite fast, despite it making changes to the Bill and Frank story from the video game. The rest of the season is also fantastic, and it earned Mazin and other members of the cast and crew Emmy nominations for their work -- including Offerman and Bartlett. Hopefully Season 2 of The Last of Us will be just as incredible, and will live up to the tremendous heights of the debut season. Now that they know Spielberg is watching, the pressure is on.
You can watch the episode, “Long Long Time,” as well as the rest of Season 1 of The Last of Us, now a Max subscription. Fans of Steven Spielberg should also check out our feature on where to stream some of the Saving Private Ryan filmmaker's most quintessential films, including his own dystopian classics.
