Get ready for more clickers, jokes from Ellie, and maybe a trip to a run-down Seattle: HBO has revamped The last of us for a second season. That’s not exactly a surprise, since Naughty Dog’s game adaptation is already a huge hit for the network. About 22 million people have now watched the first episode, five times as many as the number of people who tuned into the premiere night twelve days ago. The show also saw the biggest jump in the second week in ratings of all HBO original drama series.
If you haven’t caught The last of us nevertheless and being curious what all the fuss is about, there is good news. You can now watch the first episode for free on HBO Max.
The streaming service often offers free previews of certain shows in hopes of hooking viewers and enticing them to subscribe. The first episode of Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragonanother huge success for the platform, is free to watch on both HBO Max and YouTube.
For the uninitiated, The last of us is based on a PlayStation 3 (and PS4 and PS5) game of the same name. It is often regarded as one of the best examples of storytelling in video games. It tells the story of a smuggler who reluctantly escorts a teenage girl across the US after the world is ravaged by a fungus that turns humans into terrifying, mutated creatures.
So far, HBO’s great adaptation largely followed the same story with some clever deviations and changes. Critics have hailed the third episode, which airs this Sunday, as the best episode of the season. It focuses on a side story mainly told through a note that players find in the game.
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