re: 'The Last of Us' Episode 3 Gamers Thread: Spoilers!! Complaints, Part 2 talk allowed

The reason the game handles this better is because at the end of the day, Bill is an ancillary character. His purpose to help facilitate and further the story of Joel and Ellie.

We learn everything about Bill that we need to in the game. The background information about his past with Frank was the perfect dosage. It's not overshadowing our main characters, yet at the same time provides some insight into this man's life and what he was going through after civilization crumbled.

The reason the show gets it wrong is because it decides, just 3 episodes into the show, to completely sideline the main characters for an hour and focus on this ancillary character's romantic life. The plot becomes suspended, we see very little of the characters we were told to invest in, and instead we're shown the romantic life of two characters that ultimately we will never see again.

You don't do that 3 episodes into a new show. You just don't. It kills all previously established momentum. If Bill was in a heterosexual relationship with a woman, it would have been just as bad. Nothing changes. But that's the point - if Bill was straight, and they kept him straight, this kind of episode would have never been approved. Because it would have been recognized as bad design. You don't give side characters with no future in the franchise an entire 1+ hour episode while your main characters are sidelined and the plot is paused, especially on just the 3rd episode of the very first season.

But we know why it was ultimately done this way. The desire to prominently show a gay relationship between two older men took precedence over honoring events of the game and maintaining a sound pace and overall structure for the show.