Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 2, episode 7.The Rotten Tomato audience score forThe Last of Usseason 2 was significantly worse than the score for season 1, and there are a few reasons why. The entirety ofThe Last of Usseason 2 proved divisive to viewers, and theending ofThe Last of Usseason 2was no different. From Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) death to Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) more questionable choices, the entire show wasn’t what many viewers unfamiliar with the games were expecting. As a result,The Last of Usseason 2’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is significantly lower than the first season’s.
The Last of Us' divisiveness isn’t new, but there’s a confusing factor in its Rotten Tomatoes score: season 2 did tremendously well with critics. The review aggregator’s “Critics Consensus” feature calledThe Last of Usseason 2 a “challenging expansion that retains its predecessor’s superb performances and verisimilitude.” Audiences obviously don’t feel the same way, and it’s hard to tell for certain what exactly was the biggest cause of backlash after an almost universally-acclaimed first season. There were a variety of factors at play, and they all contributed to the show’s lower ratings.
How The Last Of Us Season 2’s RT Scores Compare To Season 1
The Last Of Us Season 2’s Audience Score Is Nearly 50% Lower Than Season 1’s
The Last of Usseason 2’sRotten Tomatoesscore currently stands at 94% with critics and an astonishingly low 39% with viewers. Conversely,The Last of Usseason 1 had 96% with critics and 86% with audiences. That stellar set of scores even factors inThe Last of Usseason 1, episode 3’s review bombingdue to depicting a gay couple.
As of May 27,The Last of Usseason 2 scored 47% lower than its predecessor among viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s a huge shift in opinions, made even stranger by the fact that there was only a 2% drop in scores between seasons among critics.
How The Last Of Us Season 2’s Audience Score Has Changed
The Last Of Us Season 2’s Scores Dropped After Joel’s Death & Hit Their Lowest At Episode 6
Interestingly enough,The Last of Usseason 2’s drop in review scores was a somewhat gradual process.The Last of Usseason 2, episode 1 opened to a respectable score of 74% with audiences. Then, understandably, episode 2 - which featured the brutal death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) - dropped significantly to 55%.By episode 5,The Last of Usseason 2 had already reached a 41% score from audiences, just 2% shy of its current score of 39%. The last two episodes didn’t have much impact on the season’s overall score, even considering the divisive cliffhanger ending ofThe Last of Usseason 2.
The biggest driver of negative reviews forThe Last of Usseason 2 seems to be Joel’s death. It’s a somewhat understandable point of controversy, too, as his sudden and brutal murder robbed the show of one of its main protagonists just two episodes into the season. Evidently,many viewers ofThe Last of Usseason 2 were keenly aware of Joel’s absence, and not even his flashback appearances could help the show’s audience approval ratings. Joel’s death was the turning point inThe Last of Usseason 2’s review scores, and they never recovered from it.
The Last Of Us' Game Changes Have Proved Divisive
Ellie’s Personality & A Few Key Moments Being Different Affected The Last Of Us Season 2
One of the biggest reasonsThe Last of Usseason 2 alienated so many viewers is because of the creative liberties it took withThe Last of Us Part II. However, there’s a split between reviewers who thought the show was faithful to the game and those who thought it took too many liberties.There were certainly some controversial decisions inThe Last of Usseason 2, though, and those changes alienated some fans of the video games. There’s a long list ofchanges just inThe Last of Usseason 2, episode 7alone, and the larger shifts were divisive.
Perhaps the biggest change inThe Last of Usseason 2 concerned Ellie’s characterization.Ellie’s “dad” line in episode 4, for example, emphasized how much cheerier and less gritty she is in the show versus her revenge-obsessed game counterpart. Other changes weakened her connection to Joel, such as theporch flashback between Ellie and Joelin episode 6. In general, however,it felt likeThe Last of Usseason 2 pulled some punches with the morally ambiguous and often disturbing story of the games. Of course, there are also likely some reviews that were made in bad faith by viewers who didn’t want to watch a story about a lesbian character.
The Last Of Us Season 2 Was Always Going To Be A Hard Sell To Audiences
Probably the single biggest reasonThe Last of Usseason 2 has proven so divisive to audiences is because its story is inherently divisive.The Last of Us Part IIis built around one central event that saw the extremely likable protagonist, Joel, brutally murdered in its opening scenes. Many viewers and players alike loved Joel, and the game and show just didn’t feel the same without him. Then, both the show and the game made the risky decision to empathize with Joel’s killer, Abby. No matter how well it handled Abby, there was always going to be audience members who couldn’t forgive her for Joel’s murder.
Most of those problems only applied in earnest to new TV viewers, butThe Last of Usseason 2 also had a problem with appealing to gamers. WhenThe Last of Us Part IIcame out, it split the fanbase in half, with some gamers loving it and others hating it.The Last of Usseason 2 was stuck between a rock and a hard place: make a faithful adaptation that appeals to gamers who liked the game, or make changes to attempt to draw in those who disliked it. The show ended up splitting the difference and alienating both camps, which contributed to its lower audience ratings.
What The Last Of Us Season 2’s RT Audience Score Means For Season 3
The Last Of Us' Rotten Tomatoes Score Likely Won’t Change Much, But Could Make Season 3 More Faithful To The Games
Ultimately,The Last of Usseason 2’s audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes likely won’t have much impact onThe Last of Usseason 3.The Last of Usseason 3 is set to focus more heavily on Abby’s story rather than Ellie’s. As such,most of the story forThe Last of Usseason 3 is already set, and HBO isn’t going to make massive changes to things that have already been seen. Abby’s perspective will definitely give us a different interpretation of those events, butThe Last of Uscan’t make a huge course correction, barring aRashomon-style storytelling decision.
Abby’s perspective will definitely give us a different interpretation of those events, but The Last of Us can’t make a huge course correction, barring a Rashomon-style storytelling decision.
There is, however, still a chance that fan backlash could have some impact onThe Last of Usseason 3.HBO may take the criticisms of the show’s changes toThe Last of Us Part IIto heart and strive for a more faithful adaptation in season 3. Alternatively, it could make new changes to the game that make Abby even more likable and empathetic, which would help soften some of the blow of following Joel’s killer for an entire season. It’s too soon to tell for sure, butThe Last of Usseason 3 may end up listening to its viewers in the long run.
