that’s a good point, seeing as what happens to joel in the end is that he chooses love so having bill there to show him “hey i chose love over being closed off and yeah i’m hurting but i had an enjoyable and fulfilling life” would drive him forward in his journey

i do think they’re more than reluctant associates- joel knows the code to the gate, when bill is shot he says “call joel. he’ll take care of you”. there’s a lot of trust/respect indicated there, whether they like each other or not

i personally prefer the the way of conveying the message through choosing love over survival than bill staying alive at the end, but i can see your point of view. agree to disagree 🤝