Much like the video game that it is based on, The Last of Us Season 2 has been made a victim of review-bombing. This is when a bunch of dudes collectively manipulate ratings on aggregator websites, mainly to vent their frustration at women. Several platforms such as Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb have taken measures to prevent this sort of thing, but there’s only so much that can be done to keep trolls at bay. They’ve really been at it with the second season of The Last of Us, which continues to be critically acclaimed, but has also seen its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes plummet to unreasonable lows over the last couple of weeks.
Having once stood at 55%, and then fallen to 53%, the second season’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes now stands at 51%. This is completely off from the critics’ rating of 95%. The Last of Us remains one of the most acclaimed dramas on the air. The first season broke viewership records and landed 24 nominations at the Emmys, winning eight. It holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a far superior (compared to Season 2) audience score of 87%. Released in 2020, The Last of Us Part II video game was similarly targeted by trolls, with its Metacritic user rating dropping to 3.4/10 at its lowest. It currently sits at 5.8/10.
It was observed that most of the animosity was directed at the game’s perceived progressive politics and characterization, which is exactly the sort of thing that you’d expect trolls to feel outraged about. In cinema, the review-bombing of 2019’s Captain Marvel movie prompted Rotten Tomatoes to amend its metrics. More recently, the live-action Disney remakes The Little Mermaid and Snow White were also targeted for similar reasons. No points for guessing who was at the receiving end of the hate. In the case of The Last of Us as well, it’s star Bella Ramsey who’s being targeted.
‘The Last of Us’ Remains a Critics’ Darling
Co-created by the game’s head writer Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl‘s Craig Mazin, The Last of Us Season 2 brought back Pedro Pascal as Joel. Audiences who weren’t familiar with the game’s story were in for a shock last week, as they witnessed Joel meet an unfortunate fate. But two episodes in, the show remains a critics’ darling. In his review for Collider, Ross Bonaime wrote, “With Season 2, Mazin and Druckmann prove once again why HBO’s The Last of Us is the strongest video game adaptation ever.” New episodes of The Last of Us air on HBO on Monday. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
