Joel's Death Causes 'The Last of Us' Ratings to Plunge

The repetition of the plot of the second part of the game The Last of Us caused a wave of negative reactions from viewers of the television adaptation. After the release of the second episode of the second season, where the character Joel played by Pedro Pascal died, the audience ratings quickly dropped to 49% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.0 points on Metacritic.



Audience analysis showed that a significant portion of viewers unfamiliar with the original game story stopped watching the series after this plot twist. Many note that the loss of the central character deprived the project of an emotional connection, turning it into a standard story of revenge between unattractive heroes.

Viewing statistics confirm the negative reaction of the audience - the second episode collected 31.5% fewer viewers compared to the season premiere. Despite a partial recovery in the third episode, the creators of the series were unable to avoid a repeat of the scandalous situation that previously accompanied the release of the game sequel. The case has once again raised questions about the wisdom of literally transferring controversial plot decisions from game originals to their screen adaptations.