What's the Real Story for the 'Last of Us' Season 2 Ratings?

There’s been a lot of noise around the ratings for season two of The Last of Us, particularly after the second episode — spoilers — featured a major character death. Viewers unhappy with that twist were quick to point to an apparent drop in viewership between the premiere and episode two, citing early and unreliable data as proof that audiences were jumping ship.

But the official Nielsen numbers —- the gold standard for TV viewership —- are in, and they tell a different story.

According to HBO’s own figures at the time, the season two premiere drew 5.3 million viewers across platforms, a 13 percent increase from the first season’s debut. And now, with Nielsen’s more comprehensive numbers in hand, we see that The Last of Us landed fifth on the streaming charts during its premiere week, with 805 million minutes viewed, a number that accounts for viewership of the entire series, not just the premiere.

The following week, which featured the much-debated character death, actually saw a jump in viewership: Nielsen clocked 937 million minutes viewed, pushing the show up to third place behind only two binge-released Netflix titles — You and Ransom Canyon.

Yes, there was a decline in overnight ratings for the finale — HBO reported a drop from 5.3 million viewers for the premiere to 3.7 million for the finale. But that’s a flawed metric in this case, because the finale aired on Memorial Day weekend, a notoriously low-live-viewing period, when most fans shift to on-demand or delayed streaming.

And here’s the kicker: HBO says season two is averaging 37 million viewers per week globally, up from 32 million per week in season one, which suggests that there will indeed be growth. So even if there’s been some domestic softening, The Last of Us is gaining momentum worldwide.

Also worth noting? Those 3.7 million overnight viewers for the finale still outperformed the Succession series finale, which pulled in 2.9 million viewers when it aired —- also on Memorial Day weekend, in 2023.

So no, the world isn’t abandoning The Last of Us. If anything, it’s growing. Whether that continues into season three —- when Ellie may be sidelined for much of the story —- remains to be seen. Especially since rumors suggest season three might not even begin filming until 2026.