Long, Long Time

I can still vividly remember watching this episode for the first time and just started bawling my eyes out because its so tragic. One of the most beautiful hours of television I have ever seen and it's so heartbreaking. I have seen the controversy that this episode is a waste of time but I have never felt or understood that. This episode earns its place in these season, delivering such an emotionally powerful story that offers so much context to this world and humanizes such a bleak world. One of my favorite episodes of television, and possibly this shows best. A deeply powerful episode that will live in my head forever.

Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett's performances were outstanding. Their ability to convey so much humanity, courage, perseverance, and emotion in what could be described as a side quest managed to outshine the main characters. This episode made you forget the tragedy and brutality of the world surrounding them, instead focusing on what could happen when given the chance for happiness-like a small flower blooming in the aftermath of a wildfire. It was a rare, beautifully crafted story that reminded us of the resilience of love and the power of human connection. This episode was perfect, unforgettable, and deeply moving.

Heterosexual man here not interested in pushing any agenda. I mention the foregoing fact only to highlight some of the oddly angry reviews about this episode. It was simply a beautiful heart wrenching love story. It made me think of my wife and what kind of world it would be without her in it. That's about it. I wasn't expecting this episode and honestly I usually hanker after more escapist fun, but this was so undeniably beautiful and so profoundly moving, I was lost in it. I'm not saying I want very episode to be like this. I loved the action, sets and world building of the last episode and I would say on balance I want more of this, but this episode really affected me. How can I not applaud it?

How the the producers of this show make such an episode?

The storyline is beautiful but tense, the characters interesting without being overbearing, and the general mood ( lighting, SFX, music, setting ) is brilliantly chosen.

Bit the main clincher for this being a perfect episode is that in the tiny amount alotted for each episode, it tells a self-contained story. This is so rare. Often, am episode tells a great story for the first 90% of its run time and then finally realised it must finish up and crams all necessary conclusions int the last 10% , thus leaving behind a bad taste in the viewer's mouth.

Not so here. Here, a well rounded, well chosen and certainly perfectly acted-upon story is told in an episode I didn't even know I had missed until I had watched it.

Highly recommended re-watchable material.

Well done.

I tried to understand and level with a lot of other people who disliked or even hated this episode because it didn't feel like story straight out of the game. Although i feel when you make a TV series whether it's from a game or a book, creating back story is a key element otherwise certain characters may seem a little flat especially major characters. Bill was only in the game for a short while and we only met Frank's body after he'd already ended his life, so when you convert this to a TV series it seems a little shallow for development if said characters are an appear and dismiss without knowing about them first.

I don't look at this as a filler, more of an expansion on character.

An emotional love story in a world so torn apart. I loved every minute of it and i nearly cried.

Yes it was different from the game, maybe they could have stuck to the roots a bit more. Although i can't see it as a terrible episode.