The Last of Us finale draws series high ratings of over 8 million viewers

The Last of Us has proven to be an enormous success for HBO; not only is the series a riveting adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game, but it’s brought in quite the audience. The Last of Us finale aired yesterday and set another ratings high for the series, with 8.2 million viewers across HBO Max and linear telecasts.

The ratings for The Last of Us have largely grown week-to-week. The series debuted with 4.7 million viewers, with the second episode jumping up to 5.7 million, which was the “largest week 2 audience growth for an HBO Original drama series in the history of the network,” according to HBO. With the finale bringing in 8.2 million, that represents a 75% increase in debut night viewing compared to the premiere.
 
The Last of Us Weekly Premiere Ratings:

• Episode 1 – 4.7 million (Jan. 15)
• Episode 2 – 5.7 million (Jan. 22)
• Episode 3 – 6.4 million (Jan. 29)
• Episode 4 – 7.5 million (Feb. 5)
• Episode 5 – 11.6 million (Feb. 10-Feb. 12)*
  *Early premiere, includes data from Friday to Sunday
• Episode 6 – 7.8 million (Feb. 19)
• Episode 7 – 7.7 million (Feb. 26)
• Episode 8 – 8.1 million (March 5)

HBO was quick to renew The Last of Us for a second season, and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann recently discussed their approach to the next stage of the story, which doesn’t necessarily involve adhering to the game’s story all the time. “Our process works. Our process of kicking the tires on everything, our process of agreeing that no matter how much we disagree, we will find a way to agree,” Mazin said. “There’s no veto power here. No one gets his way, it’s ‘we will figure it out.’ And to keep the writing process roughly what it was, which is pretty solitary and monk-like … I think we will be a little more efficient in our process, which means we’ll have more time to do some more complicated things.“

The Last of Us series takes place “20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.” You can check out a review of The Last of Us from our own Alex Maidy right here. What did you think of the recent finale?