The season 1 finale of The Last of Us brought in over 8.2 million viewers on Sunday night. To call the series a success, would be an understatement. In the US the series is averaging 30.4 million views, with the first episode nearing 40 million views. But the viewership is not contained to only the United States. Outside of the US, The Last of Us has become the most-watched show in the history of HBO Max in both Europe and Latin America.

WEEKLY PREMIERE VIEWERSHIP

The series started strong with 4.7 million viewers for the debut episode. Viewership continued to go steadily, increasing each week as the series continued. The season finale on March 12 was a 75% increase over the premiere episode back on January 15.

  • 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)
  • Episode 9 – 8.2 million (March 12)

MORE THE LAST OF US CONTENT

Episode 9 will not be the end of The Last of Us content for fans. On March 14, at 9 PM HBO will air an all-access featurette detailing the daunting behind-the-scenes efforts that went into the production of the series. The featurette is also available as an “Extra” attached to episode 9 on HBO Max.

Fans can also tune in to The Last of Us Podcast, the series’ official companion podcast where host Troy Baker, who plays Joel in the video game, sits down with series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the creator of the acclaimed video game, for a scene-by-scene deep dive of each episode. Since its premiere, the series’ companion podcast remains in the top 5 on Apple and Spotify’s TV & Film charts in the U.S. It reclaimed the #1 spot on Apple’s TV & Film chart following the season finale. Esquire has named it one of “The Best Podcasts of 2023 (So Far)” and called it “…the perfect ally for your streaming journey.”

At this time, there is no word on when fans should expect Season Two to arrive. However, given HBO’s track record for two-year gaps between seasons for its biggest shows, The Last of Us might not be returning for a while. We do know that Season 2 will focus on the story told in The Last of Us Part 2. The first season of the show followed the original game storyline pretty closely, including its intense ending. It won’t be much of a surprise to see Season 2 do the same and follow the story told in the Part 2 video game. Of course for those who have played the game, how exactly that might play out in the TV series could be interesting.

The Last of Us
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO
The Last of Us
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO

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