“The Last of Us” just aired the finale to a divisive season 2 and the ending has sparked controversy yet again.
(Spoiler alert for the season finale, don’t continue without watching the show)
The final episode ended with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finally coming face to face with Joel (Pedro Pascal)’s murderer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), after she slaughtered everyone in Abby’s Firefly crew. Since Abby killed Joel in revenge for killing her father many years ago, we already know that their eventual exchange will end with bloody confrontation.
Since Joel’s shocking death in episode 2, the season has turned into another quest – this time of Ellie and fellow Jackson inhabitants as they hunt down Abby. For those unfamiliar with the game, the daring decision to kill Joel has been met with negativity. After all, it’s the Joel and Ellie dynamic that propelled season 1’s emotional core. Now that the engine of the story is gone, the show must reset itself in a bid to keep viewers going. That has proven to be a challenge, since the angry, revenge-driven Abby is by design a tough character to love. Now that Ellie too has grown to be an embittered, violent person in the wake of Joel’s death, many feel that the show has gone too deep into darkness.
This is reflected in the ratings, too. In the US, the season finale drew 3.7 million viewers across all platforms. That is down 30% from its season premiere, which drew 5.3 million viewers – a significant decline. Although, to be fair, the finale had the disadvantage of airing during Memorial Day holiday weekend. The season 2 finale is also down significantly from season 1 finale, the record-setting 8.2 million audiences.