In the game, Bill and Frank were almost nothing. Bill was a joke character, he shows up, he’s a doomsday prepper, he helps you fight zombies, gives you a truck battery, and you leave. Ellie steals some comics and a gay porno magazine from him, and he’s never seen again.

Frank WAS nothing. You never see him. You find his BODY, he got bit and hung himself, and he got bit trying to escape Bill because he hated him so much and the note says he’s happier dead than living another day with Bill 

And then the show. The show took that shallow, mean storyline, and made it beautiful. 

Now Bill and Frank are real characters. We know them. Really KNOW them. And they don’t hate each other. In fact they’re in love. They’re really IN LOVE. And yes they argue and disagree sometimes but they’re a real couple who really love each other while still being two people so sometimes they fight. That doesn’t change that they’re in love 

And they GET TO BE IN LOVE, the whole time, they’re doing things for each other. They’re living in their little gated paradise and it’s beautiful. They make it pretty. They grow food. They’re eating gourmet meals. They’re not just surviving. They’re thriving. They’re living

They took that mean spirited game story, and they made it the point, the heart, the example of what people are still fighting for. The proof that yes, even in the middle of the apocalypse, you can still live a good life. Not an easy life, you will still have bad days, you’ll have bad days with the ones you love, but you will still love them, and they will still love you. And then, with all these grizzly, horrific deaths we see two deaths that are peaceful. Painless. Two men who die old, satisfied, and in the arms of their purpose. 

Don’t you see? It’s about hope 

Bill and Frank are hope