[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for “The Last of Us” Episode 3, “Long, Long Time.”]

It’s not often that a song is so crucial to a TV episode that it ends up becoming the title, too. But given how important the Linda Ronstadt song “Long, Long Time” is to the love story of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) in this week’s episode of “The Last of Us,” it’s the title that makes most sense.

An early, pivotal moment in the episode sees Frank and Bill sing the 1970 Linda Ronstadt hit while playing it on an antique piano. Frank’s clumsier rendition, paired with Bill’s soulful version, ends up being a catalyst to their relationship and sets the tone for the rest of their first day together. Craig Mazin, episode writer and series co-creator (along with original game writer Neil Druckmann), knew that he wanted to structure the episode around a musical moment,...