‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Finale Scores 8.2 Million Viewers, Reaching Series High

[John Elden Ring]

“The Last of Us” closed its first season with yet another triumph. With an audience of 8.2 million people for Episode 9, the series broke its own viewership record — a significant feat, considering that the finale was released during ABC’s telecast of the Oscars.

A combination of Nielsen data and first-party data from Warner Bros. Discovery, this number accounts for those who tuned into the Sunday night airing on HBO’s cable channel as well as streams on HBO Max through the night. WBD also shared that the first six episodes of the series are now averaging 30.4 million viewers, with Episode 1 approaching 40 million. In Europe and Latin America, “The Last of Us” is the most watched show on HBO Max ever.

‘The Last of Us’ Season 1 Finale Scores 8.2 Million Viewers, Reaching Series High Despite Oscars Competition

“The Last of Us” closed its first season with yet another triumph. With an audience of 8.2 million people for Episode 9, the series broke its own viewership record — a significant feat,…

variety.com

 

[Sircaw]

After watching the entire series I am going to give it a solid 7.5/10, it's well-made and entertaining but I think pales in comparison to the game.

My main issue with the series is that it feels way too rushed, there are so many sequences left out from the game that makes certain encounters feel shallow or have a lack of depth and gravitas to them.

 

[Swift_Star]

The clowns at GAF that were crying about "teh gays" must be salty af.

 

[EN250]

Liked the final episode, only wished Show Joel was more like that but in previous episodes, other than that it was good all around

 

[Dick Jones]

My biggest issue with TLOU tv show is the year of the outbreak. This means no PS Vita in Season 2.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Not enough action sequences but I enjoyed the few that were incorporated and I'm glad they said next season there will be more. The world needs to feel dangerous and as if infected are really an issue.

Solid 8 for me.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

I found that this episode had some awkward moments, like the conversation between Joel and Ellie after the giraffe thing... it felt heavy handed.

 

[Remember_Spinal]

After watching the entire series I am going to give it a solid 7.5/10, it's well-made and entertaining but I think pales in comparison to the game.

My main issue with the series is that it feels way too rushed, there are so many sequences left out from the game that makes certain encounters feel shallow or have a lack of deep and gravitas to them.

“Not as good as the book”

 

[anonpuffs]

“Not as good as the book”

Always the case, and for the same reason. Visual media is way more expensive to produce and thus has less time to develop the characters and story, assuming the source is well-written.

I'm giving it an 8.5/10, it's a good adaptation and decent as far as TV shows go but the game is just so much better. Also I kinda feel like Craig Mazin is a little full of himself lol

 

[Zeroing]

After watching the entire series I am going to give it a solid 7.5/10, it's well-made and entertaining but I think pales in comparison to the game.

My main issue with the series is that it feels way too rushed, there are so many sequences left out from the game that makes certain encounters feel shallow or have a lack of depth and gravitas to them.

I agree, it feels rushed and at times it seems they had to cut corners.
Video games are the most immersive medium so it’s hard to top that into film but they had a great story and they still managed barely done it right. Let’s not forget that what they changed or added was a mindless nothing.

People will get mad at me but I have 0 expectations for the second season, this is Mazin, the guy who made a ton of bad movies and only managed to produce a good tv show that was basically a documentary about Chernobyl. I don’t think he can come up with good ideas to expand the Last of Us universe.

Shrugs

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

It was supposed to be awkward, it was Joel trying to pull Ellie out of the state that the encounter with David had put her in.

I wonder if some of the critics of the show have any understanding of psychology or human thought processes and emotions sometimes.

No, the delivery was off.

I assume I was not clear enough for everyone here, I should have known better.

The level of efforts some people here are willing to go to defend every single aspect of the TV series is off-putting and should be studied by sociologists and psychiatrists for generations to come.

Let me just say one thing, if it was not TLoU I would not have watched it, maybe I would not even have made it to the second episode.

 

[anonpuffs]

No, the delivery was off.

I assume I was not clear enough for everyone here, I should have known better.

The level of efforts some people here are willing to go to defend every single aspect of the TV series is off-putting and should be studied by sociologists and psychiatrists for generations to come.

Let me just say one thing, if it was not TLoU I would not have watched it, maybe I would not even have made it to the second episode.

I don't think it was the delivery tbh, it was the episode direction. The cold open broke the continuity with episode 8. To be honest i think that was a decent idea that was terribly executed...it could have gone in literally any of the other recent episodes. Or hell, put it as a flashback after joel gets flashbanged and knocked out.

 

[KiryuRealty]

No, the delivery was off.

I assume I was not clear enough for everyone here, I should have known better.

The level of efforts some people here are willing to go to defend every single aspect of the TV series is off-putting and should be studied by sociologists and psychiatrists for generations to come.

Let me just say one thing, if it was not TLoU I would not have watched it, maybe I would not even have made it to the second episode.

I’m kinda thinking you just shouldn’t have watched it.

 

[Darkknight2149]

The final shootout seemed unrealistically easy, but overall, I think it hit all of the right emotional beats. Loved the exchange between Joel and Ellie ("It wasn't time that healed it").

What's announced for Season 2 (more infected, Part II stretched across multiple seasons, possible spores, ETC) also sounds like exactly what I wanted to hear. Hoping for more horror, suspense, and action in addition to the character exploration that made Season 1 great.

 

[Yobo]

The problem with more episodes is ... how?

They hit nearly every major story beat, people lost their minds almost every week because of how effectively it was structured.

You expand it out any more and you don't have a satisfying arc and conclusion each week. That's what kept people coming back

Episode 4 was like this where they spent more time with Joel and Ellie, nothing much really happened. It was the least liked episode for a reason.

At most I would like to them have tackled the tunnel before the end just to re-emphasise the threat of clickers but at most that's 10-15 minutes not more episodes

 

[anonpuffs]

I think they could have had 1 more episode if they expanded Jackson to include a big setpiece at the hydro dam, in my opinion the show did a poor job of handwaving away the dog not being able to sniff out Ellie's infection. IMO they should have put a stealth section where they had to sneak past infected at the hydro dam, then after they get out they are immediately met by the patrol from Jackson, but as the dog goes to sniff Ellie the infected come out of the dam and they have a big action setpiece where the dog is useless afterwards because infected blood is everywhere. Instead they get quarantined at the dam while they restore power. They could end the episode when Joel sees Tommy. This would both establish the threat of the infected to the only stable and non-shitty place they have experienced, and raise the stakes of the final choice Joel makes.

Then they could expand the university scene with more firefly backstory and lore, had them do a flashback when they find one of the researcher's tape recorder with the progress of their cure/monkey experimenting, a clearer reason why they moved to salt lake city (the show imo didn't do a good job of giving a motivation for the fireflies to move out of colorado, they just handwaved it away), maybe solidify that the vaccine is a possibility i.e. they moved from experimenting on to needing surgical facilities for human trials to make up for the runtime missing from the previous episode.

 

[Swift_Star]

The problem with more episodes is ... how?

They hit nearly every major story beat, people lost their minds almost every week because of how effectively it was structured.

You expand it out any more and you don't have a satisfying arc and conclusion each week. That's what kept people coming back

Episode 4 was like this where they spent more time with Joel and Ellie, nothing much really happened. It was the least liked episode for a reason.

At most I would like to them have tackled the tunnel before the end just to re-emphasise the threat of clickers but at most that's 10-15 minutes not more episodes

The game has only 12h and that's counting gameplay segments. To me, the show covered the whole game story and barely cut content. I'm fine with it. If I want to see the game story I just play it or watch it.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

The game has only 12h and that's counting gameplay segments. To me, the show covered the whole game story and barely cut content. I'm fine with it. If I want to see the game story I just play it or watch it.

They had to make some changes, for sure and I'm not certain that more time would have improved it.

However, the show is missing an element of tension caused by the constant threat of the infected.

 

[KiryuRealty]

They had to make some changes, for sure and I'm not certain that more time would have improved it.

However, the show is missing an element of tension caused by the constant threat of the infected.

20 years after the shit hit the fan, nobody is going to be tense about the infected unless they know they are nearby.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

20 years after the shit hit the fan, nobody is going to be tense about the infected unless they know they are nearby.

Yes sure, I also feel no tension when I come across a bear in the woods.