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‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Finale Viewership Down 55% From Season 1
With 3.7 million viewers, HBO says it expects viewership to pick up this week due to the holiday weekend The post ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Finale Viewership Down 55% From Season 1 appeared first on TheWrap.
HBO’s “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale aired to half the audience that tuned into the Season 1 finale of the video game adaptation, as Sunday’s season closer saw 3.7 million cross-platform viewers. That’s down 55% from the Season 1 finale, which scored 8.2 million cross-platform viewers, then an impressive feat given that it aired opposite the Oscars.
Season 2 premiered to 5.3 million cross-platform viewers.
HBO cautions that “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale viewership is expected to grow due to low tune-ins on the holiday weekend, and stressed that the franchise overall has seen 90 million viewers since Season 1 ended. Season 2 is tallying nearly 37 million global viewers per episode.
The show has already been renewed for Season 3.
Season 2 shocked many viewers (but not gamers) by killing off Pedro Pascal’s protagonist Joel in its second episode, switching lead characters to Bella Ramsey’s Ellie for the rest of the season. This storyline mirrored what happened in the games, a move that drilled down the themes of grief-driven revenge but still proved challenging for some who were attached to Joel.
The show is once again due for a switch-up in Season 3, with Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby due to become a major central force.
“There is another side to this story that we have yet to really delve into. And there’s no question that Abby is the hero of her story. Where we go next, all I can say is it will always be centering on somebody, whether it’s Ellie and Dina or whether it’s Abby,” co-creator Craig Mazin said during a press conference tied to the Season 2 finale. “But really, if you want to boil it down, everything is under the cloud or sunlight of Joel — what Joel did to Abby and what Joel did for Ellie — and that will never change.”
The post ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Finale Viewership Down 55% From Season 1 appeared first on TheWrap.
