The third episode of The Last of Us has already been dubbed “one of the greatest episodes of TV ever made,” and it’s no surprise when you clock just how many people tuned in!
Sunday’s episode was a twelve percent increase on the previous week’s viewer numbers, and a whopping thirty-seven percent increase on the week before that, which marked the show’s premiere.
This means that 6.4 million viewers tuned in to watch episode 3 on the same day as it came out, compared to 4.7 million for the first episode.
Per Deadline, the show’s first 2 episodes have already been viewed by over twenty million people, making it HBO’s fourth current show to average over fifteen million viewers.
It’s no wonder that they’ve already renewed it for a second season!
Just over 2 weeks ago, audiences were first introduced to the HBO Max series, which is the first live-action adaptation since the video game wowed audiences way back in 2013.
Just like the games, the series is set in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by an unstoppable, brain-eating, fungal outbreak that transforms humans into cannibals.
The writers have been commended for honouring the original source material, which rapidly gathered a devoted fan base when it first came out. The engaging storylines, impressive visuals, and music propelled it to its massive success.
For those who haven’t watched the show, Joel, portrayed by Pedro Pascal, is a ruthless smuggler who is responsible for transporting the young teen Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey) to a medical facility situated on the opposite side of the country after it turns out she’s immune to the infection, leading him to believe she could hold the cure to the deadly parasite.
The Last of Us premiered on January 15, and has been met with rave reviews from both critics and fans, resulting in an unbelievable score of 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes when it first hit screens.
Then on Sunday, episode 3 dropped, and fans think it’s the best one yet.
In the episode titled Long Long Time, fans got to meet 2 new characters, Bill, a paranoid survivalist played by Nick Offerman, and Frank (Murray Bartlett), who were only ever briefly mentioned in the games.
The episode is set just a little while after the outbreak and centres around the partnership they both share before going on to meet Joel and Ellie on their journey to deliver her to the Fireflies.
This differs from the games entirely, as in them the pair die way before Joel and Ellie meet, both resorting to taking their own lives.
But it seems like this alternate character arc has gone down extremely well with fans, despite the change of direction.
One fan wrote that it “will probably go down in history as one of the greatest episodes of TV ever made”.
Another echoed: “The last of us episode 3, one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever watched.”
A third added: “Ok so #LastOfUs ep 3 is one of the most moving and beautiful and devastating stand-alone tv episodes I’ve ever seen. I love that it showed us another option in the end of the world than the Walking Dead’s ‘hell is other people.’”
