One of the most beloved series in modern gaming, The Last of Us‘ strong narrative focus ironically makes it a tricky franchise to adapt to live-action. HBO, Craig Mazin, and the rest of the crew behind The Last of Us needed to strike the perfect balance between a faithful adaptation and something that doesn’t just repeat the same plot and action sequences beat for beat. Generally speaking, HBO’s The Last of Us achieved that balance fairly well, and its Bill and Frank-centered episode is the best example of that.
Bill and Frank are barely even a side story in the first Last of Us, with it only being implied that the two had some kind of relationship before the game’s events. HBO’s The Last of Us took this implication and developed an entire standalone episode based on the couple’s life, and it’s widely considered to be one of the best episodes in the show, managing to take an idea from the source material and expand it into something new and beautiful. Hopefully, The Last of Us Season 2 follows a similar approach with some of The Last of Us Part 2‘s sidelined concepts, and there’s one character in particular who deserves an episode of his own.
The Last of Us Season 2 Should Give Jesse The Bill and Frank Treatment
Very Little is Known About The Last of Us Part 2’s Jesse
Introduced right at the start of The Last of Us Part 2, Jesse has direct emotional ties to most of the game’s lead characters, but his own background is barely given any detail during the course of the sequel. All that’s known about Jesse’s life before the events of The Last of Us Part 2 is that he came to Jackson sometime before Joel and Ellie arrived in 2034 and that he gradually became one of the town’s most reliable patrolmen. The only other concrete bit of background on Jesse is that he and Dina had an on-again, off-again relationship for years prior to The Last of Us Part 2‘s opening.
As things currently stand, fans know virtually nothing about Jesse’s life. Fans don’t know where The Last of Us‘ Jesse originally came from, what he experienced during the initial outbreak, how he ended up in Jackson, or where his family is. Fans don’t even know Jesse’s last name. And it’s about time that all changed.
The Last of Us Season 2 Should Shine More Light on Jesse
As mentioned up top, The Last of Us‘ Bill and Frank episode is generally considered to be one of the show’s best because it took an undeveloped idea from the original game and expanded on it in a significant, yet faithful way. The same approach should be taken with The Last of Us Part 2‘s Jesse. Jesse ends up playing quite an important and lasting role in Ellie and Dina’s lives, and the show should try to set this up a bit more with an episode focused on Jesse’s backstory.
This hypothetical Jesse-focused episode of The Last of Us Season 2 should follow the character’s journey from surviving the outbreak to arriving in Jackson, showing any key moments of trauma that informed his personality and experience. This extended look at the character would hopefully give fans more of a connection to Jesse, which would subsequently make his role in the rest of the season feel even more impactful.
