HBO's The Last of Us Sees a Dramatic Decline in Season 2 Finale Viewers

"bit it was a holiday weekend", always with the excuses. If it was actually good and people flocked to it, a holiday weekend would boost the stats. Whatever.

As someone who loves the second game more than the first, I think the momentum has been severely lost. So many problems with season 2, too many to list tbh. Very disappointing

Second series was just plain bad, no way around that. And I understand there are many challenges adapting a story like TLOU2 (which by the way is amazing game, better of the 2), but man, they basically butchered central characters journey and development - along with many support characters ofc.
To conclude, I don't expect it to recover

"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." The Oscars had 18.8 million viewers that year, for reference.

Tit for tat, it really does seem like retention is down, even if it was a holiday weekend.

Oh another Last of Us article where stating the obvious will not be possible?
Everyone knows exactly why (and there are multiple reasons) less and less people are watching this show...

Perhaps PS could do a survey of the reasons people didn't rate S2. Be interesting to see the balance between presentation, story, characters, ahem lead performance, etc etc.

Personally I never played the second game beyond the first couple of hours and strangely S2 makes me want to. It cant be worse than the show being my logic.

I'm not yet watch season 2 and maybe not gonna watch it at all. But after Sony / HBO completed season 3, i hope Sony order Neil to put TloU IP in the coffin and fully focus on Intergalactic. No more TloU or even going back to Uncharted and J&D.

It's about time ND fully moved on from TloU and all the frickin noise that has been around the franchise since TloU Part 2.

@themightyant in my experience, the game recovered from Joel's death more effectively than the show did. I say that as someone who enjoyed both Ellie and Dina in season 2. The penultimate episode showed just how important and powerful Pedro's presence was in the series. Granted, same applies to the games, but there is no arguing that the interactive element remedied that to a huge extent, where in the show you're left to this feeling of less engaging presence inside the frame the whole time. That being said, keeping the character around just for ratings would be a bad call in the long run. The whole story hinges on that death and it's timing.

I guess they lost this battle long before they attempted to adapt the 2nd game. It's just a far more game-oriented experience as a story than the first one was. Therein lies the impossible task of bringing it to a passive medium like TV.

Not being funny I haven’t watched a live broadcast of any show since I got Sky about 18 years ago. I much prefer to record then I can fast forward the adverts

The only people I have seen complain about the quality is man babies on twitter. Was the same with the game.

@betasector Even Game of Thrones delayed season finales in the past to avoid memorial day. It is a major weekend holiday in the US. With streaming though it isn't a big loss anymore as people can watch it later. The truth is we'll only know how the show has done when the 90 day figures are out.

Memorial Day is massive for movies (look at Lilo and Stitch) but awful for tv. Either way I think structurally the adaptation had issues. A 7/10 adaptation of a 10/10 all timer video game

Only 4 episodes in so far and enjoying it, episode 2 was excellent some great scenes! Like others I don't watch TV live these days but I am about 3 weeks behind with all the good weather we have had I just ain't sitting in watching TV.

I'm still enjoying series 2. As I try to do with all adaptations I view it as an alternate take in the story and that helps a bit but I keep saying to my wife (who hasn't played the games) 'the game did that better ' I preferred how that happened in the game', 'that never happened' etc.

I think it's testament to how good the games were that a high budget HBO series can't hold a candle to the games

@Gazray A rather trite comment to make. It's not really very helpful just to lump everyone in the same group just because they have issues with certain aspects of a piece of art. Comes across as bad as the folk you're trying to mock.

No surprise there. Pascal was heart of the show and when he is gone, there was nobody able to fill that void. Like in game.

Also, Ramsay was just bad casting choice. She was somewhat okay in first series where she was meant to be younger. But she is just not believable at her current role, I'm sorry. I have plenty of gripes with story of second game, but one thing I couldn't complain about was Johnson's performance. But Ramsay is just bad...

Probably only saving grace is that third series is meant to focus on Abby, because Dever was probably best thing about this series.

@NeonTiger That's a good take, imo. People adapting games to other media seems to forget that the best games are the one where the gameplay and the story mix together to make something better than its parts.

God of War III is a perfect example of this : 3 games of pure violence where you unleashed your inner rage following Kratos' revenge path, for it to end at a point where your blindness to your own action is revealed, as the violence, and the game, only ends if you stop hitting Zeus. A masterpiece of blending gameplay, story and message.

While I wouldn't praise TLoU2 as much for this, I agree the story was lacking but it was mitigated by your active investment in the world and the characters, whereas in the TV show, you have to suffer through the characters...

the placement for season finale made no sense. after the flashback episode they wrapped everything up so quickly, should've had 1-2 more episodes to raise the stakes

If they make a new last of us game or show it needs to be with an entirely different cast. They game and show are ruined because the story was so badly done.

My opinion is that TLoU2 the game was better than the first game in terms of gameplay, combat and environments (the level design is awesome). Naughty Dog is a very good dev and keep better for each outing. The story/writing however, is subpar compared to the first game.

When adapted to a show, these strengths are gone and you are left with just the story. The weakest part of it. It usually takes a season or two, but the general non-gaming public is starting to catch on.

As a fan of both games, I’ve enjoyed seeing the TV adaptation. However, I can see how non-gamers have grown bored and frustrated with the show. While I’m watching I’m enjoying the anticipation of seeing how things will be shown, but for those with no foreknowledge of events, they are thinking the show has dragged on and they are left with too many questions, not enough answers. I’m certain the way season 2 finished, many people just googled what happens next, knowing that it will be 2 years until they find out if Ellie dies, and if Tommy dies. With Joel and Jesse being killed rather abruptly, I think many worry that Tommy and Ellie could be dead in the final episode cliffhanger, leaving them with no characters to be interested in. At this point in the story Abby is just a random extra and they have no connection to her.
So I can see how some casual viewers are just discouraged with the story and apathetic at this point.

I for one am not though, although I do feel like the last few episodes have been slow to develop.

Crucial caveat??? It's just bad storytelling,no more no less

Very glad I decided to play part 2 in 2020 (although I didn't like the story that much unlike the first game), since I haven't heard a lot of good things about the show. So overall, the game provided me with a better experience than season 2 will so I don't think I'll be watching it. Season 1 was really good though

As much as I adored TLOU part 2 the first half of the game pales in comparison to the second half of the game, it was an outstanding piece of storytelling and I really liked how Abbie, from memory the first half of the game did end a bit weak then we all got that huge jolt of playing as someone else.
Roll on next season and that final scene

@EfYI you will be missed

Moist Charlie says that Season 2 isn't very good, and that Ellie's character is a vast departure from the game.

So this isn't surprising.

@Olmaz in no way was I saying that the story was lacking in Part II, hahaha. Just the opposite, this is my favorite story put to any medium by a long shot.

What I was saying is that, by design, it was very intertwined with the very notion of player's agency. The split narrative with opposing perspectives is very much dependent on, and, really, was conceived FOR the player's implication and compliance with the terrors being done. So you can't remove that without huge consequences and need for transformation of the whole thing (by the end of which the THING in question is going to be something much-much different). And i think they had a good stab at it. It's just that it was a losing game from the beginning.

Love sharing this story with friends who don't game. 5/5 stars for me.

Means nothing. At least tlou2 had the visible white walker/clicker battle that got denied us.

I think that a poll is needed.

@NeonTiger A bit hyperbolic there, aren't you? But tastes are what they are, so I won't argue about your liking of TLoU2 story, it's evident quite a lot of people liked it, even if I don't.

But agree with your take on adapting a game to another media. I think we haven't managed to step up to the point where we can accept that some games are just better at telling a story in a gripping and talented manner thanks to their interactive part. So people are still adapting games that shouldn't be adapted, thinking they'll get something better than the original because of a "nobler" art.

@betasector

Gamers hated the story in 2020. Now TV Viewers hate the show in 2025. Its okay to say Part 2's story is poor. But until now if you said that, you were censored

The entire 2nd game could have easily been done in a single season. They are trying to drag it out to cover multiple seasons and it has killed the momentum of the story. Some of the episodes including the last one was actually boring. I enjoyed the first season but the 2nd not so much.

Potentially three seasons to adapt TLoU2 was just an awful idea. It wasn't a universal fan favorite story direction to start with, everyone can at least agree it was quite polarizing. That's not the sort of project you stretch out over what will probably be 3-5 years of development hoping viewers hold interest.

I at least am happy it's becoming okay again to say the plot is lacking without being censored or shouted down. It's had the same polarizing effect in two different mediums now. Obviously it's not beyond reproach.

My two cents is that they have a mess of a show that either needs to stick to the script or go in a separate direction. It’s fine to play a murder simulator, it’s another thing to watch it.

@Olmaz

> A bit hyperbolic there, aren't you?

Nope, had more than enough time to arrive at this realization in full awareness and honesty, properly taking into account every movie and game I've ever seen/played. And trust me, I do keep a careful account of these things on Letterboxd and Backloggd.

Wow, so a TV adaptation of a game which was very divisive and sold less than its predecessor is.....very divisive and is watched by fewer people than the first series.
I'm shocked, shocked I tell you 😮

@betasector I was just camping with 15 friends over the holiday. Most of them fans of the show. But none of us watched the finale for the obvious reason we didn't have reception. So, yes, the finale was majority impacted by the holiday weekend. This isn't to say that viewership hasn't dropped. Just not as much as indicted by these numbers.

@NeonTiger "this is my favorite story put to any medium by a long shot"

Ok, so we've restricted "any medium" to games and movies (I guess I can safely add series too?).

I can't vouch for what you've seen, but you're really telling us without irony nor sarcasm that TLoU2's story was your favorite, even including every movie ever made?

Do you mean that it's your favorite even though it's not the best (for whatever reason, we all love bad/mid things sometimes, guilty pleasures and all that), or do you think it's the best story you've ever experienced?

It's guaranteed that the viewership would be lower for the finale no matter what excuses Sammy and other people come up with. There's no denying that a portion of the viewers stopped watching after Joel got killed. They weren't going to suddenly come back for the finale.

I continue to watch to see if they can actually turn around some of the portions of the story from the game that I disliked, but so far they've basically streamlined a lot of the story in Season 2 and not for the better.

It's going to be real interesting to see how many non-gamers stick with the show next season when they realize they'll be watching a season that will be dominated by Abby.

As an old US person who was not out partying Sunday night I can say without a doubt there are people who were. This is the start of summer weekend and Sunday night was time to party.

Not saying if the show hadn't been well received people wouldn't have made more of an effort but after that entirely flashback previous episode why make any effort.

As some already said, shows used to skip that weekend b/c they knew no one was watching,

That said. Season 3 may be hurting week in and week out regardless of the day and date. Screw this wait.

@Olmaz

>Ok, so we've restricted "any medium" to games and movies (I guess I can safely add series too?).

I also read books and manga/comics, and I do watch TV series as well - but with all of these I engage not nearly as often as I do with games and film, hence why I mention those two as pretty much all encompassing in regard to our discussion.

> I can't vouch for what you've seen, but you're really telling us without irony nor sarcasm that TLoU2's story was your favorite, even including every movie ever made?

No irony and/or sarcasm needed. The story is of premium quality. If you think otherwise that's ok, I would be interested in hearing your arguments, should you care to express them. And not "ever made", of course, just those I've experienced up to this point. I can share my accounts with you, if you want to assess my expertise on the matter.) Let's say I love film since before I knew how to speak, and I love games since I was 5 years old.

> Do you mean that it's your favorite even though it's not the best

I guess both? I see no point in trying to be objective when talking about art and how it affects me personally. I know some people like to separate these things, in order to stay respectable in the eyes of the other, hence why such nonsensical (to me) terms as "guilty pleasure" were created. And i guess there can be some merit to admitting something is not done very well, but something within it, that is hard to quantify, makes you love it all the same. But TLOU Part II is something I did dissect to an almost atomic level, so I know very well why I love it. So I do also feel that it has the strongest dialogue, acting, direction, editing, facial animations (which are important for the story and its impact, since much of the drama in this game is expressed without words, something not many games can offer to begin with). Judging how only in recent years the technology arrived at such a level where micro-expressions were made possible, and how only few studios can achieve that fidelity while telling a nuanced narrative, and how I'm, as a film lover, try not to miss anything that is state of the art in games storytelling wise, I think I'm pretty equipped to make such a claim. Again, it's my personal opinion, but an informed one.

@Olmaz on a little side note, which will potentially address some of the points that may arrive further in our dialogue. From my point of view, much of the hate this game got was pretty stupid, based on early leaks, poor taste for narrative in general and limited exposure to proper storytelling that can be found outside of games (something, i feel, that is worsening withing the games community as a whole, thanks to tiktok, instagram, twitch and youtube substituting higher forms of storytelling like film as a main avenue of entertainment. golden age of film relevancy is behind us, even worse for literature). Being outraged for the killing of the main guy from the first game and claiming the rest of it is ***** because of that exposes a serious lack of maturity and imagination among gamers. Such "critique" can't be taken seriously.

Other popular argument concerns the mirrored nature of the two storylines. Haters of the game like to call it out as contrived, without engaging with the meaning behind it and its higher thematic intention and relevance. This is not clever as well. Every story ever constructed is just this - a construction, a manipulation, a series of conditions that make the story possible. What matters is a baseline of logic that allows you to accept the rules of the world and higher intention and emotion that stands behind it all. Well, shared humanity and normal human traits, like having a father, a friend, a romantic partner, a hobby, a trauma is not unrealistic or something out of the realm of possibility. This is actually the most common and logical Venn diagram that could be. The scenario just takes these things and makes meaningful parallels out of them, because they are relevant for what this game tries to investigate within its many themes, among which are war, hatred, dehumanisation, vengeance, justice, love, friendship, perspective, legacy and so on. The story is so rich and yet it is poignant as well. It beats with a human heart, and that's one of the many reasons why I love it so much.

Dear lord....nobody wants to read your essays mate. Please stop.

@betasector I think it's worded intentionally to get extra engagement. It's the typical practice of media today.

I adore the game, bur series hasn't gripped me. I like Pedro, but no Joel.

From all the people I personally know that were massively into the first series but hadn’t played the game, interest dropped off a cliff the moment Pedro Pascal was killed off.