Rotten Tomatoes is highlighting The Last of Us Season 2 as a critical success, announcing this week on X that the show is “Certified Fresh” with a 94% rating on the Tomatometer based on 238 critic reviews. However, noticeably absent from the post is any mention of the show’s significantly lower audience score—currently sitting at 39%.
#TheLastOfUs Season 2 is Certified Fresh at 94% on the Tomatometer, with 238 reviews: https://t.co/f1sdPmxpVr pic.twitter.com/DN3A8cgfJd
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) May 26, 2025
The wide gap between critic and audience reception reflects a growing trend in entertainment coverage where high-profile series receive glowing critical endorsements from the legacy access media while viewer dissatisfaction and independent new media reviews are dismissed or ignored. In this case, the disconnect appears especially stark.
The Last of Us Season 2 has faced a wave of fan criticism over its creative direction which was reflected in its Rotten Tomatoes popcorn meter audience rating. This included outrage over the early departure of main character Joel and the introduction of Abby as a central figure. These choices reflect story beats from the video game The Last of Us: Part II, which itself was met with a highly polarized reception upon release in 2020.
The ratings for The Last of Us Season 2 on Rotten Tomatoes – Rotten Tomatoes
Despite the feedback, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed that Season 3 will continue the adaptation of the Abby storyline. Druckmann, speaking recently on the Sacred Symbols+ podcast, stated that gaming creators (or, as he put it, “artists”) should “ignore” media and audience reactions and instead “stick to your guns and do what you believe in.”
Neil Druckmann speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for “The Last of Us”, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In defense of the show, some media outlets have attributed the low audience score to so-called “review bombing.” In an article published by Collider, writer Rahul Malhotra claimed the disparity was likely due to bad-faith actors and trolls, writing: “It’s about time to revoke some people’s internet privileges.” While the line may have been written in jest, critics of the article have pointed to the growing tendency to dismiss audience criticism entirely rather than engage with the reasons for the backlash.
For a full editorial picking this take apart, click here.
Collider has published multiple pieces defending The Last of Us from its detractors, often generalizing critical viewers as online trolls and broadening the criticism to those who rejected other major progressive Hollywood releases such as Captain Marvel or Ghostbusters 2016.
Abby in The Last of Us Season 2 – Max
In another article, Malhotra suggested the criticism stemmed from opposition to “mildly progressive politics,” a characterization that many fans dispute.
Others in the entertainment media have responded differently. YouTube film critic Grace Randolph publicly acknowledged that she “really disliked” a recent episode of The Last of Us, but opted to stop reviewing the show rather than continue offering critical coverage. Randolph stated that she didn’t want to “bash” the series and preferred to step away entirely.
Meanwhile, the show’s ratings continue to reflect a significant drop in engagement. After a strong Season 2 premiere, linear viewership numbers have leveled off in the mid-600,000 to 700,000 range. The most show’s penultimate episode drew just 701,000 viewers with a 0.16 rating in the key 18–49 demographic (roughly 160,000 viewers in that segment). The prior episode hit a season low of 652,000 total viewers and a 0.14 demo rating.
Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams in The Last of Us (2023), HBO
The growing disparity between industry accolades and audience reaction has become a story in itself. This debate over whether fan criticism is legitimate or merely “review bombing” continues to divide commentators and viewers alike.
The Last of Us Season 2 concluded on Sunday, May 25 on HBO. A third season is already in development.\
Are you surprised by The Last of Us Season 2 Rotten Tomatoes score? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Of course critics (read overpaid propaganda pushers) loves it; it promotes the “right” ideologies. Frankly, I never really cared about what some stooge with degree in “social feminism and it’s impact on fishing near Galapago islands” thinks. I would rather watch someone like Critical Drinker/Gamer on anyone else like that.. at least they he is fun.
I agree with your point, but Drinker can be a bit soft on woke garbage. He did recommend the first season of The Last of Us despite the woke propaganda.
Can we stop calling them critics already? The times where critics used to be critical are long over. Nowadays they are shills. They hype garbage just because it aligns with their ideology. And if it doesn’t align they trash it.
I don’t take any “professional” review serious anymore.
Indeed. Since “professional” alludes to you being compensated. Since there are no worthwhile rags with a meaningful payroll, how exactly do these,……. journalists earn their,… “professional” status? Not like Siskel and Ebert being footed by a Chicago newspaper.
How are these “professional”… journalists,…. “professional”?
Hmmmmmmm?……
These people always, ALWAYS bring up Rotten Tomatoes scores whenever they need to cover up failure.
RT is bought and paid for media. Fandango is nominally their owner but Fandango answers to Warner Brothers. It is in WBs best interest to make sure scores are as sanitized as they can make them, and remove “critics” who are actually critical.
Most critics/shills are bought and paid for in the same way most journalists are compromised. They like their access, be it to money, fame, or the halls of power. And most of them are not going to burn a major player unless there is a crowd to hide in.
Critical Drinker, Nerdrotic, and others don’t care about access, talking to famous people, or walking the halls of power. That gives them a lot of freedom to be real.
That said, they get it wrong too. Neither liked the new Mission Impossible movie much, but I thought it was a great send-off for the Ethan Hunt MI team.
But at least they were HONEST.
RT is lying to its readers. This will simply mean we IGNORE RT scores into the future. Sooner or later, a competitor that is not a shill site, will eat RT’s lunch.
These aggregator sites are there for marketing. None of their scores mean anything – the critics are paid off and the audience ones can be manipulated.
Many of those were caught deleting reviews. Metacritic for example did mass review wipe when tlou2 was released. But it still did not help. Years after, the game still has below 6 rating. I also saw suspiciously AI like reviews for some of the new flopped movies on IMDB. I wonder sometimes, what are the real ratings for modern content.
Could we subtract 2-3 stars from each of latest Disney or WB movies? I think we could.
The Last of Us died in the TV womb. HBO had to know what they were getting themselves into while the shills have to crow over the LGBTQABCDEFG characters and the unlikable cast the people are the final arbiters. And the people have spoken.
If HBO had bothered to check the fans of the games and seen the massive backlash at Joel’s fate in part 2 they could have saved themselves hundreds of millions of dollars.
At the end of the day HBO should have asked themselves if, knowing what was coming, people would subscribe to see a show with plotlines and characters who’s whole identity is based on ethnic or deviant traits and would they continue to subscribe after they kill the only relatable character in the whole series.
I think they need to reconsider kicking off production of Season 3. Just call whatever they’ve done so far a loss because Season 3 is not going to net them many new subscribers. They probably won’t get many current subscribers who watch mainly for TLoU to return for Season 3.
Pedro Pascal is someone I will never support because I can only separate the art from the artist so much and he has passed his limit. Still, they should have known I knew people would turn off and leave the show with an incredibly weak and unlikable cast of characters.
Still, in a world where Amazon is plowing ahead with Rings of Power maybe HBO figures “whatever.” Still, RoP is not funded by subscriptions to Amazon’s TV and movie service, it is funded thanks to free 2-day delivery for anything in the biggest shopping mall in the world.
I was a huge fan of the original game. This was the game that made me want to buy a PS for the first time in my life. And getting close to tlou2 release, I bought it. But then the leaks happened, and more info escaped, and I learned about “amazing” people working at this studio. I never got the second game. And having learned a lot more about it later, I am totally glad I did not.
But after all these years, I think that the thing that troubles me the most is this.
There is a repeating message about a great sacrifice in the second game. And having checked the show, I see that they doubled down on it. The message is that it is worth to die to save humanity. And the characters, specifically Ellie, is so angry that she cannot even forgive him “I do not know if I can ever forgive you” or “my life would have mattered,” speaking about Joel getting her out of that surgery room.
I hate this message. Not trans ideology and Abby being its beacon (no it was not Lev, it was always Abby, a girl with 100% male body), not lesbians on top of lesbians and their drama. I hate that Druckman says that her life would matter if she was not saved by evil white man who doomed humanity. I hate that the man who prevented it is demonized throughout the game and show.
The dirty room at the end of the first game clearly showed how desperate these terrorists were. Vaccine was not their gift to humanity but them desperately grasping for power and hoping to gain some. And that is why the second game and the following show are so horrible. They tried to rewrite the first game, but being utter hacks, both Gross and Druckman, they made a parody, they butchered a cohesive and convincing story that spoke to ordinary people.
Who do bigot sandwiches speak to except for youtubers who trashed it mercilessly?
The second game, the show is made by liberal Hollywood minds. And it accurately reflects their views, values, and morals.
And that guarantees that this sort of content fails a basic quality test.