As The Last of Us' second episode lurches toward its gut-wrenching conclusion, seconds before Tess (Anna Torv) makes the ultimate sacrifice, she begs Joel (Pedro Pascal) to bring Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to Bill and Frank's. In that moment, these names mean nothing to newcomers of the franchise. And, in fact, given the emotional intensity of the scene, you could be forgiven for entirely forgetting the pair were even mentioned.

Spoiler alert: The following contains details about The Last of Us season 2, episode 3, "Long, Long Time." Stop here if you have not watched the episode and want to avoid spoilers.

Episode 3 focuses almost entirely on Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). We discover how they meet, fall in love, grow old together, and ultimately die – happily, on their own terms – in each other's arms. It's a moving, emotional, surprisingly romantic story arc that seems quite a far cry from the game's take on the same relationship.

And while the episode indeed marks a significant departure from the game, investing nearly an hour fleshing out a side story that's barely hinted at in the source material, the two versions of Bill and Frank's tale aren't quite as different as they first appear. In fact, upon closer inspection of two key scenes – one from the show, one from the game – you can begin to appreciate how both stories not only began on the same path, but could have just as easily continued down it to reach identical conclusions.