HBO Renews ‘The Last Of Us’ For A Second Season; Watch The First Episode For Free

The clickers are coming back for more! HBO has officially renewed The Last of Us for a second season. This comes as no surprise. After just two episodes, the first having reached 22 million households altogether, the series has become one of the most talked-about on the Internet and at the water cooler.

Episode two reached 5.7 million households last Sunday night, a 22% increase from the 4.7 million who watched the debut a week earlier.

Neil Druckman, series exec-producer and the game’s creator, had this to say on the news…

“I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey. The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations. Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!”

Mazin added… “I’m so grateful to Neil Druckmann and HBO for our partnership, and I’m even more grateful to the millions of people who have joined us on this journey… The audience has given us the chance to continue, and as a fan of the characters and world Neil and Naughty Dog created, I couldn’t be more ready to dive back in.”

Star Bella Ramsey, who plays 14-year-old Ellie, a girl being smuggled by hardened survivor Joel  (Pedro Pascal) through a quarantine zone, recently told BBC that “if people keep watching, I think [a second series] is pretty likely. It’s down to the guys at HBO”.

To coincide with the announcement, HBO has uploaded the debut episode of The Last of Us to Sky TV’s YouTube channel for free, and also HBOMax.com.

The Last of Us episode three hits HBO this Sunday, and will feature the debut of Nick Offerman as Bill. So far, the series has remained very faithful to the video games, with only a few changes like increased backstory detail.

 

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.