HBO has done it. The expectations were very high and, finally, ‘The Last of Us’ has fulfilled. Has become the most watched series of the audiovisual giantsurpassing, even, its also jewel in the crown, ‘the house of the dragon‘ (‘House of the Dragon’), which had achieved an average audience of 29 million viewers per episode. the fiction of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey has placed that average in the 30.4 million people.
Whenever a series that has become a phenomenon comes to an end, it leaves a void that is difficult to fill in the viewer. After ‘Game of Thrones’ it happened and it wasn’t until almost last year when it seemed that another series could cover that gap. HBO Max premiered ‘The House of the Dragon’practically the same plot as the original fiction, based on a novel by the same author, same families… but covered file and the audience was satisfied.
The platform knew that it was playing with a new goose that laid the golden eggs and therefore announced that there would be a second season of ‘House of the Dragon‘. However, it seems unlikely that they knew that there would be another series whose reception would exceed the story of the Targaryens.
On January 16, the television adaptation of Naughty Dog’s best-selling video game distributed by Warner Bors. ‘The Last of Us’ came to the small screen. He did it among a divided public: those who had never played the game and only based on what they saw, those who had played but supported the way of telling the story and those who had played but were more detractors of it.
The fiction has achieved record audience growth in a single season.
Now, two months later -since HBO plays with the card of brand new weekly chapters-, the first season of the series has concluded and only the first, because when only two chapters had been released, its creators already announced that there would be a second installment.
The most watched series on HBO
Thus, ‘The Last of Us’ has become the most viewed so far on the platform audiovisual in Europe and Latin America, as reported by the Warner Bros. Discovery company. But breaking down the data, he has also achieved spectacular audience growth in a single seasonsetting new records.
The apocalyptic drama debuted to 4.7 million viewers in January and its growth has been constant throughout its first installment -all this in a market saturated with platforms and content-. The final chapter, issued last Sunday, featured 8.2 million viewersaccording to audience analysis company Nielsen and Warner’s own data.
After the launch date, the data indicates that the series has achieved an average of 30.4 million of spectators in their first six episodeswith the opening chapter approaching 40 million In U.S.A. In addition, the final hearing last Sunday night marked a 75% increase in debut nightly viewing compared to the series premiere.
(From here there may be ‘spoilers’)
End of ‘The Last of Us’
The end of the first season of ‘The Last of Us’ recounts the events that occurred in the video game. For those who had not played the video game, two ideas could appear about how the outcome would be: either, knowing that there will be a second installment, the same protagonists would continue in some way; or if the plot of the second part of the video game was based on another story, maybe the protagonists would change, expecting the worst for the end of Pascal and Ramsey.
The last episode is a cocktail of emotion, drama, paternity display and feelings, of love… but, at the same time, it is a moral dilemma.
However, although during the television adaptation there have been variations with respect to Naughty Dog’s game -you cannot forget the masterful episode ‘Long, Long Time’ and the story of Bill and Frank-, in the end they have opted for respect the original argument.
Thus, the last episode is a cocktail of emotion, drama, display of paternity and feelings, of love… but, at the same time, it is a moral dilemma. Would you save a person you love even knowing that it could be the cure for a horrible and cruel pandemic that affects the entire planet?
Fiction puts the viewer in the position, makes him reflect and think about what one would do in his place and, finally, despite sowing doubts on several occasions, the protagonist, an excellent Pedro Pascal throughout the season, opts for leave alive who has given him back his. The story of the video game is maintained and, therefore, a completely open ending.
The hardest thing about adapting something for television is that, while a video game or a book does not have to have a limit of hours or pages, on the small screen, by force, the footage cannot be infinite. Therefore, the main problem, as happens on so many occasions, is that you have to summarize and, with this, many details are lost. But that yes, it’s a good ending, which closes gaps and leaves others open, but it’s a good climax and proves once again the incredible interpretation of its protagonists.
Second season of ‘The Last of Us’
With this outcome, viewers already have that feeling of emptiness again and that desire for the second season of ‘The Last of Us’ to be released now. The big question is what will be the release date of the season 2 of the series, however, nothing confirmed yetbut this could be at the earliest end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.
According to specialized media, Bella Ramsey will return as Ellie -there could be doubts if the young woman had grown- and a most violent way of the girl. Peter Pascal it will be Joel again -in this there were no such doubts-, and more will be investigated in the relationship of both, which began to change course at the end of the first installment.
In addition, there will be many more infected and the story of ‘The Last of Us Part 2‘, so those who have played the video game will start again with an advantage.
Of course, according to its creators, the second season will not cover everything that happens in the second part of the game, so they are expected, at least, one or two more seasons. Also, there could be new types of infectedas well as new infection systems.
There will also be, as has happened in the first installment, parallel stories to the main plot. There was a lot of talk in its day about the number of characters that died in ‘Game of Thrones’ but in ‘The Last of Us’ it is not convenient to get too attached to any of the protagonists of each chapter. We will have to wait to see if the same thing happens in the second season.
