The Last of Us Season 2 hit a major milestone for the fan-favorite series. The premiere episode, titled «Future Days,» which aired on April 13, saw a positive ratings jump for the popular HBO series.
Per Variety, the episode reached 5.3 million viewers at its peak, marking a 13% increase from the 4.7 million viewers who tuned in to the series premiere in 2023. These numbers come from the Nielsen measurements of linear viewers watching the series via cable access to HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery’s internal data regarding the number of viewers who streamed the episode on Max.
Based on the hit Naughty Dog video game series of the same name, The Last of Us Season 1 premiered to rave reviews from critics and audiences. The series stars Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller, a middle-aged man trying to survive in the post-apocalyptic, cordyceps zombie-infested remains of the former United States. The series also stars Bella Ramsey as Ellie, a fierce and capable teenager who might just hold the answer to the plague that has swept over nearly every corner of the globe.
The Last of Us Season 2 takes place five years after the events of Season 1, during which Joel quite possibly damned all of humanity when he killed the doctors who would have sacrificed Ellie to develop a cure for the cordyceps infestation. In that time, Joel and Ellie have made a home for themselves alongside other survivors, not all of whom they share a friendly relationship with.
Among the series’ newcomers are Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Catherine O’Hara as Gail, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, a member of the militant Fireflies who has her sights set on ending Joel’s life personally.
The Last of Us Season 2 Makes Some Changes To The Source Material
The Last of Us creator, Neil Druckmann, recently discussed the decision to showcase Abby’s nature as a Firefly and her hatred for Joel in the live-action series, which is a drastic change from the character’s true motives in The Last of Us 2 video game. «The fact that Abby is a Firefly is something we withheld in the game for a very, very long time. But here we just decided to reveal it very early and to just lean into it and show who she is,» he said.
«To me, the key was to find a certain ferocity and a relentlessness, and I think you’ll see some of that as the season goes on. There is a power that Abby gives you in the game as you’re playing her, but we don’t have gameplay. So, the information delivery system had to be different,» Druckmann continued.
The Last of Us is streaming on Max.
