'The Last Of Us' Sets HBO Ratings Record Amid Massive Hype

"The Last of Us" is a massive hit with fans, and the numbers prove it.

The second episode of the post-apocalyptic thriller about a virus destroying the world aired this past Sunday, and as expected, it was epic. You can check out a review from OutKick's Alejandro Avila here.

"The Last of Us" is a huge hit with fans. (Credit: HBO)

Now, HBO has revealed the second episode of season one was a historic one. In fact, the show saw the largest week two jump for an original drama in the network's history.

HBO announced the following about the incredible ratings:

Episode 2 of THE LAST OF US tallied 5.7 million viewers Sunday night, up 22% from the series debut. This marks the largest week 2 audience growth for an HBO Original drama series in the history of the network. The episode’s 5.7 million viewers across HBO and linear telecasts in the U.S. is an additional one million viewers vs. last week, based on Nielsen and first party data. After one full week of availability, Episode 1 is now tracking at 18 million viewers, up nearly 4x from its premiere night audience.

"The Last of Us" shows serious staying power.

Even though only two episodes have aired, it's clear "The Last of Us" is here to stay, and the following will only get bigger.

As HBO pointed out, the ratings for the premiere episode, which was awesome, went up 4x over time. "The Last of Us" is currently putting up ratings over time that TV fans only really see from a couple other shows like "Yellowstone" and "House of the Dragon."

As we've mentioned many times here at OutKick, we're really living through the golden era of TV, and "The Last of Us" is further proof of that fact.

The production value is off the charts. It carries itself more like a tentpole movie than it does a TV. Of course, that's what HBO fans have come to expect.

The exact same can be said about "House of the Dragon" and "Game of Thrones" prior to that.

"The Last Of Us" sets HBO week two ratings increase record. (Credit: HBO)

If you haven't already started watching, "The Last of Us," today is a great day to start. It's very rare a show captivates the country. It just doesn't happen outside of maybe once a year. It happened twice in 2022 with "Yellowstone" (slated to return this summer) and "House of the Dragon.

Now, it's early 2023 and we have our first bonafide hit with "The Last of Us." It's chilling, captivating and pretty much dares you to look away. It's just not possible.

Make sure to keep checking back to OutKick for all our coverage as we have it on "The Last of Us." I can't wait to see where we go from here.