The Last of Us is picking up some serious steam. The series premiere was watched live by some 4.7 million people, the biggest audience for a new show on HBO in years (excepting House of the Dragon, which came out of the gate even stronger). Ratings rose for The Last of Us Episode 2, which is unusual on TV; usually a lot of people tune in for the premiere before ratings slacken a bit. And now, even more people watched Sunday’s new episode live: 6.4 million, up by 37% from the series premiere, per Deadline.
The third episode of The Last of Us, “Long Long Time,” was easily the best yet — I’d go so far as to say it was the most moving episode of television I’d seen in years — although it was also the most experimental, and took something a break from the main story to build up the themes of the series. We’ll see if that translates to even better ratings for Episode 4.
If nothing else, the episode has generated a ton of buzz for The Last of Us. I can see the beginnings of a devoted following. Between this and House of the Dragon, HBO seems in no danger of losing its genre crown.
HBO has understood the power of ‘water cooler’ television on Sunday nights for a quarter century. You only get that from a weekly episodic series. Binging will never replace the unity of everyone experiencing something at the same time.
— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) January 30, 2023
The Last of Us is becoming another jewel in HBO’s increasingly crowded crown
All told, The Last of Us is averaging 21 million viewers per episode, when you also factor in those who aren’t watching live. That means HBO now has four ongoing series averaging over 15 million viewers per episode: House of the Dragon (29 million viewers per episode) The Last of Us (21 million, Euphoria (19.5 million) and The White Lotus (15.5 million). This is the first time HBO has had more than one show pulling that off at a time.
If there’s any justice, the new season of Succession will make it five when it premieres later this year. As for The Last of Us, new episodes drop Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max. The show has already been renewed for a second season.
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