The trolls have clocked in to take a dump once more, dragging down what should’ve been one other celebration for prestige television. Despite HBO’s The Last of Us returning with a bang, with high rankings, glowing critic reviews, and a rock-solid 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, its audience rating is slipping fast, like a runner with a busted ankle in clicker territory. Just hours ago it clung to 55%, and now it’s already sunk to 52%, Collider reports.
The Usual Suspects
There’s a stench within the air, and it reeks of targeted review-bombing. The type that’s turn into a drained ritual anytime a show or film dares to solid a girl, especially one who doesn’t fit into some narrow, outdated mold.
Bella Ramsey’s return as Ellie seems to have lit a fireplace under a subset of keyboard crusaders, most of whom have latched onto their love of the unique video game like a badge of authority. But their real gripe isn’t fidelity to source material. In actual fact, it’s control, masked as critique.
This behavior isn’t latest as Rotten Tomatoes already needed to tweak its audience scoring mechanics after Captain Marvel drew similar fire. That point, Brie Larson’s real-world feminism sent trolls right into a frenzy. Then got here Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid, attacked for existing in a task they didn’t want her in. Rachel Zegler voiced her political stance and suddenly the Snow White remake saw its numbers tank on IMDb. Even Rian Johnson got dragged through the mud for not delivering a Luke Skywalker frozen in nostalgia.
The Last of Us Is Still Winning Where It Counts
Meanwhile, The Last of Us Season 2 continues to get love where it matters, from critics and fans who aren’t foaming on the mouth over casting. The show, co-created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, literally thrives. Pedro Pascal returns as Joel, with razor-sharp tension, and the storytelling is as unflinching as ever. It’s a heavy, emotional ride that doesn’t back down from moral murkiness.
Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus reads, “Grabbing onto thorny moral questions with its bare hands, The Last of Us’ second season is a difficult expansion that retains its predecessor’s superb performances and verisimilitude.” In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote, “With Season 2, Mazin and Druckmann prove once more why HBO’s The Last of Us is the strongest video game adaptation ever.”
Recent episodes air on HBO on Sunday.
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