While Beyoncé was making Grammy history, Harry Styles was reaching the pinnacle of his career, Kim Petras was breaking glass ceilings, and Bonnie Raitt was sweeping the floor with her fellow nominees, HBO’s The Last of Us was minding its own business as record-number viewers tuned in for the show’s fourth episode of the season.
Increasing its viewership by 17 percent, Sunday’s episode – titled “Please Hold My Hand,” – brought in a total of 7.5 million viewers from last week’s 6.4 million, according to Variety.
The show’s first episode scored 4.7 million viewers, making it HBO’s second-biggest premiere in over a decade right behind House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. Its second episode saw a 22 percent increase, followed by a 12 percent increase for its third, per Forbes. Such steady growth is largely unheard of in TV, which makes it clear why the network greenlit it for a second season so quickly.
The post-apocalyptic drama may have been confident in its ability to go up against the Grammys, but it doesn’t intend to push its luck with the Super Bowl. The show’s fifth episode will premiere two days early on Friday, Feb. 10, at 9 a.m. ET on HBO Max to compete with the millions of football fanatics hellbent on seeing whether the Chiefs or the Eagles take home the NFL trophy. However, those who wish to skip the Super Bowl entirely can still catch The Last of Us’ fifth episode during its usual linear telecast on the HBO cable network.
The season finale of The Last of Us will once again bump into a traffic jam when it has to compete with the 2023 Oscars on March 12. However, now that its bested pop culture’s biggest event of the year, its chances of competing with Hollywood’s biggest night of the year are brighter than ever.
