In the episode, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) travel to Lincoln, Massachusetts, to find Bill (Nick Offerman).

Mazin wanted to expand on Bill's story from the video game; he felt it allowed a deeper look at love, happiness, and the passage of time.

Filming for the episode took place in the former Beachwood area of High River, Alberta, in September 2021; production designer John Paino and his team constructed the town of Lincoln in around six to twelve weeks.

Critics overwhelmingly considered the episode the season's best, with Offerman and Bartlett's performances, Mazin's writing, and Hoar's direction receiving particular praise.

Traveling on foot to Lincoln, Massachusetts, Joel searches for his stashed provisions while Ellie enters the basement and stabs a trapped infected to death.

Encountering a pile of human skeletons, Joel explains the military culled some survivors to conserve food and living space.

Joel convinces the misanthropic Bill to accept Frank's plan by pointing out deficiencies in the town's defenses they can help fix.

[11] Hoar's original version was around 77 minutes long; he cut it down to 72 but Mazin insisted they reinsert some elements, resulting in the final 75-minute runtime.

[12] He found the game's version of events—wherein Bill saves Joel's life in the present and Frank is already dead—would have been too boring as a television episode without player agency, and likewise the show's story lacked the action sequences required for gameplay.

[14][18] Druckmann considered Bill's suicide note a reminder of Joel's failure at protecting his daughter Sarah and partner Tess in the two preceding episodes.

[2]: 13:36 [29] Mazin wanted gay men to play Frank and Bill, but after O'Neill's departure, he was drawn to casting Offerman at the suggestion of executive producer Carolyn Strauss.

[9] Mazin felt inspired to cast a comedic actor like Offerman because "funny people have soul", a mantra he learned from Vince Gilligan, citing performances like Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad and Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul.

[30] A scheduling conflict originally prohibited Offerman from accepting the role but he decided to take it after his wife Megan Mullally read the script;[9] he felt attached to the material and found a kinship with Bill due to his experience in crafting.

[7] Bill's first line in the episode—"Not today you New World Order jack-booted fucks"—was originally written as a description but Offerman insisted on saying it aloud.

Mazin ultimately considered their age more important than their sexuality as he wanted to explore a long, committed relationship;[2]: 13:54  having been married for 27 years, he understood "there's a different kind of love" in long-term partnerships.

[16] Mazin felt Offerman's inexperience in playing gay men added to the role, as Bill is similarly inexperienced in exploring his sexuality.

[34] In the sex scene, Offerman found Bill's discomfort "easy to channel" due to the crew members watching on set.

The moment with Frank at the piano marks the beginning of profound change for Bill, who finds himself in an unexpected long-term, loving relationship that eventually sees him care for another individual.

[36] In the hour after the episode's broadcast, Ronstadt's song saw a 4,900 percent increase in streams on Spotify in the United States over the previous week; outlets compared it to the 2022 resurgence of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" after its use in the fourth season of Stranger Things.

[1] The opening scene of Joel at the river was filmed in Banff, Alberta; the production team discussed digitally removing mountains in the background to better resemble Greater Boston's topography but they were ultimately included.

[50] The following scenes with Joel and Ellie was filmed at Sheep River Falls;[51] Bolter had large lights in place in case clouds covered the sun.

[50] The walking sequences were filmed in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area, at a stone bridge in Fish Creek Park, and the Priddis General Store near Alberta Highway 22.

[9] The front room of Bill's house existed both on a soundstage and on location; the latter version was used to allow the camera to move from inside to outside during an action sequence.

[70] Reviewers lauded Offerman's ability to portray Bill's gentler side, and Bartlett's eager and charismatic attitude as Frank;[77][78][79] TVLine named them the Performers of the Week.

[80] Den of Geek's Bernard Boo wrote their "performance as a pair is pitch-perfect",[67] and Vulture's Keith Phipps praised their ability to convey emotions without dialogue.

[81] Conversely, Vulture's Jackson McHenry found Offerman and Bartlett were "stuck in wooden roles acting out maudlin dynamics".

[84] Push Square's Aaron Bayne applauded the decision to tell a different story from the game;[85] Mashable's Belen Edwards felt the episode's beauty would have been impossible otherwise.

[87] IGN's Simon Cardy called Bill and Frank's final day "remarkably touching from start to finish";[79] Den of Geek's Boo said it was "overwhelming to watch", an impressive feat considering the limited time with the characters.

[67] Evening Standard's Vicky Jessop felt, while beautiful and moving, the episode lacked explanation for viewers unfamiliar with the video game.

[94] The Washington Post's Riley MacLeod thought it suffered from tropes like Frank's illness and the couple's isolation, though acknowledged these were partly due to the apocalypse rather than their sexuality.