I was pretty disappointed in this episode.
For what it was, it was fine (I could do without any love scenes in the show, period, and wish they would focus more on the grittiness of post-apocalyptic survival rather than the emphasis on softness and humanity). However, the show strayed way from the source material, and because of that, we don't get to see the nuance or subtlety of the feelings that Bill had in the game, including the regret, and the heightened levels of paranoia after Frank leaves. Some of the differences:
- Bill is a massive prepper in the game, to levels beyond what was portrayed here. This is of importance, because his town (much larger than depicted in show) was actually cohabitated by zombies, such that he had multiple areas/safehouses stockpiled with supplies, was constantly on edge, and had the entire town boobytrapped top to bottom. This led to a lot of tense stealth/action sequences with Joel and Ellie just to get to Bill, and then one of the most exciting scenes/getaways in the end, that we will never have the opportunity to see.
- Bill was gay in the game, but you had to pick up on it through dialogue. He was a mean, snarky, paranoid jerk who made references to Frank in his conversations with Joel. There is no flashback to Bill's origins in the game.
- The fight between Bill and Frank is alluded to in the game. However, once Frank walks out on Bill, Frank gets bitten and ultimately chooses to hang himself before cordyceps takes over. The duo encounters Frank's body and a note he left behind, and the note was NOT apologetic towards Bill in any way. The note highlights a growing rift between Bill and Frank over the years, where Bill's set-in-his-ways attitude really wears Frank down and leaves him "wanting more from life", to the point where he pens that his impending death is better than spending another day with Bill.
IMO, that third bullet is where they really miss out. The "lets die in each others arms" trope is very much played out. Here you had an opportunity to show two people in love, separated in the worst of times over their own interpretation of what "survival" means, and the ability to follow one man's descent into madness, left to live with only his thoughts and regrets for decades to come, never knowing the fate of the partner he drove away until its revealed by Joel and Ellie on a scrap of paper. IMO, they could have struck a balance between how they started the episode, and then gone that direction without the "happy ending" (no pun intended), and made Bill so much more nuanced and complex. Instead, it was just two dudes in love who grew old together and chose to die together because there was nothing else to do or live for.