The second season of The Last of Us is experiencing a severe ratings downturn, according to newly released Nielsen streaming data—and HBO’s internal figures are backing up the trend.
In the week of May 5–11, following the May 4 debut of Episode 4 (“Day One”), The Last of Us logged just 738 million minutes of viewing time, Nielsen reports. That’s down from 827 million minutes the previous week (Episode 3), and a notable drop from 937 million minutes following Episode 2.
This represents a 21.2% decline from Episode 2 to Episode 4, and an 10.8% drop from Episode 3 to Episode 4. The series has now slid to seventh place in overall streaming rankings for that week.
These declines reflect an even sharper drop when viewed in context with HBO’s own internal numbers, which indicate Season 2 has lost over 50% of its audience compared to Season 1. That’s a dramatic reversal from earlier claims that Season 2 was outperforming the first. At one point, HBO reported Season 2 averaging 37 million viewers per episode—up from Season 1’s 32 million within its first 90 days.
But the numbers have not held up as the season progressed.
The Last of Us Season 2 finale drew 3.7 million viewers across all platforms, a 30% drop from the 5.3 million who tuned in for the April premiere. This brings the finale’s performance significantly below the 8.2 million who watched the Season 1 closer, which later totaled 32 million over 90 days.
The sharp drop aligns closely with fan backlash following the death of Pedro Pascal’s character, Joel, in Episode 2—a controversial narrative decision lifted directly from the video game. While critically faithful, the move has alienated a portion of the show’s audience, many of whom expressed frustration with the new season’s direction online and in reviews.
Season 2 picks up five years after Season 1, following Ellie’s personal journey through a world even more fractured and brutal than before. The cast is led once again by Bella Ramsey, with Pascal’s early-season departure casting a long shadow over the remaining episodes.