“The Last of Us” Sets a Record Breaking Rating on its Second Episode on HBO

24.01.2023 - 17:51

The second episode of HBO's post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us attracted 5.7 million viewers across linear airings on HBO and streamed on HBO Max, up from 4.7 million views from the series debut, suggesting that viewers are clearly invested in Joel and Ellie's destinies.

The increase in viewers from Episode 1 to Episode 2 represents the 'highest week 2 audience boost for an HBO Original drama series in the history of the network,' according to HBO.

'The Last of Us' is currently reaching an even larger audience and setting a new record for the premium TV channel, following its achievement of HBO's second-most watched series premiere in more than a decade.

Based on Nielsen's evaluations in conjunction with Warner Bros.' own statistics. 5.7 million people watched Discovery, Episode 2 on its HBO linear airings and HBO Max streams. That represents a 22% increase from the record-breaking 4.7 million viewers from last week, according to Warner Bros. After two days of availability, Discovery later stated that the number had already increased to 10 million.

Why “The Last of Us” is a Hit

The fact that The Last of Us performed so much better than it did in its debut shouldn't come as a complete surprise. There was some concern about how Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann would handle the beloved game's transition to television given the reputation of video game adaptations.

The Last of Us is regarded as one of the best video games ever developed with over 10 million copies sold and numerous accolades, so the creators had to take care not to copy what made it unique.

Other iconic franchises, like Halo and Resident Evil, haven't been able to fully win over fans since they either caused controversy among fans of the original IP or were viewed as a complete failure by them. HBO succeeded in winning over some of the skeptics with a very exceptional debut that received almost universal acclaim for its portrayal of the emotional epic by Naughty Dog's opening minutes.

Another update on the series premiere's popularity was provided by the network, which noted that 'after one full week of availability, Episode 1 is now tracking at 18 million viewers, up nearly 4x from its debut night audience.'

The drama series 'The Last of Us', a remake of the wildly successful computer game of the same name, has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, thus its initial success is not surprising. The 'Game of Thrones' sequel series, 'House of the Dragon,' which began in August 2022, is the only HBO program that can be compared in recent memory. Both programs have performed much better than 'Euphoria,' which behind Game of Thrones, became HBO's second-biggest series of all time during its second season in 2022.

With The Last of Us setting the bar high, things are looking bright for video game adaptations this year. The Super Mario Bros. will join the competition later this year from Nintendo and Illumination. David Harbour will star in the summer release of the movie Gran Turismo. It's also likely that at some time this year, we'll learn the premiere dates for further films like Twisted Metal by Peacock and Borderlands by Eli Roth.

SPOILER ALERT! “The Last of Us” Storyline/Synopsis in the Game

Official Synopsis from IMDB:

In 2013, Joel (voiced and motion captured by Troy Baker) is a single father living near Austin, Texas, with his twelve-year-old daughter Sarah (Hana Hayes). One night, an outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus ravages the United States, transforming its human hosts into cannibalistic monsters. As Joel, his brother Tommy (Jeffrey Pierce), and Sarah flee the chaos, Sarah is shot by a soldier and dies in Joel's arms.

Twenty years later, most of civilization has been destroyed by the infection. Survivors live in heavily policed quarantine zones, independent settlements and nomadic groups. Joel works as a smuggler with his friend Tess (Annie Wersching) in a Boston quarantine zone. They hunt down Robert (Robin Atkin Downes), an arms dealer, to recover a stolen weapons cache. Before Tess kills him, Robert reveals that he traded the goods to the Fireflies, a rebel group opposing the quarantine zone authorities.

The leader of the Fireflies, Marlene (Merle Dandridge), promises to double their stolen cache in return for smuggling a teenage girl, Ellie (Ashley Johnson), to Fireflies hiding outside of the quarantine. Joel, Tess, and Ellie sneak out in the night, but after an encounter with a patrol, they discover Ellie is infected. Full infection normally occurs in under two days, but Ellie claims she was infected three weeks ago and that her immunity may lead to a cure. The trio make their way to their destination through hordes of infected, but find that the Fireflies there have been killed. Tess reveals she has been bitten by an infected; believing in Ellie's importance, Tess sacrifices herself against pursuing military soldiers so Joel and Ellie can escape.

Joel decides to find Tommy, a former Firefly, in the hope that he can locate the remaining Fireflies. With the help of Bill (W. Earl Brown), a smuggler who owes Joel a favor, they acquire a working vehicle. Driving into Pittsburgh, they are ambushed by bandits and their car is wrecked. They ally with two brothers, Henry (Brandon Scott) and Sam (Nadji Jeter); after they escape the city, Sam is bitten by an infected but hides it from the group. As his infection takes hold, Sam attacks Ellie, but Henry shoots him and then commits suicide out of grief.

In the fall, Joel and Ellie finally find Tommy in Wyoming, where he has assembled a fortified settlement near a hydroelectric dam with his wife Maria (Ashley Scott). Joel contemplates leaving Ellie with Tommy, but after she confronts him about Sarah, he decides to stay with her. Tommy directs them to a Fireflies enclave at the University of Eastern Colorado. There, they find the university abandoned, but learn that the Fireflies have moved to a hospital in Salt Lake City. As they leave, they are attacked by bandits and Joel is severely wounded.

During the winter, Ellie and Joel shelter in the mountains. Joel is on the brink of death and relies on Ellie to care for him. Hunting for food, Ellie encounters David (Nolan North) and James (Reuben Langdon), scavengers willing to trade medicine for food; David reveals that the university bandits Ellie and Joel killed were part of his group. Ellie manages to lead David's group away from Joel, but is eventually captured; David intends to recruit her into his cannibal group. She escapes after killing James but David corners her in a burning restaurant. Meanwhile, Joel recovers from his wounds and sets out to find Ellie. He reaches Ellie as she kills David; Joel consoles her before they flee.

In the spring, Joel and Ellie arrive in Salt Lake City and are captured by a Firefly patrol. In the hospital, Marlene tells Joel that Ellie is being prepared for surgery: in hope of producing a vaccine for the infection, the Fireflies must remove Ellie's infected brain, which will kill her. Joel battles his way to the operating room and carries the unconscious Ellie to the parking garage. There he confronts and kills Marlene to prevent the Fireflies from pursuing them. On the drive out of the city, Joel lies to Ellie about what happened, telling her that the Fireflies had found many other people who are immune, but were unable to create a cure and have stopped trying. The pair arrive on the outskirts of Tommy's settlement. Ellie expresses her survivor guilt and asks Joel to swear that his story is true; he does.

Co-produced with Sony Pictures Television is 'The Last of Us.' Along with Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam, executive producers of the show are Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who also pen the scripts. Naughty Dog created the first video game, which Sony Computer Entertainment then released for PlayStation platforms. Together with Word Games and the Mighty Mint, the series is produced by PlayStation Productions and Naughty Dog. Catch the trailer below!