It would appear that the trolls are out of their caves. Despite the best efforts of Rotten Tomatoes to prevent this sort of thing, the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us seems to have become a victim of review-bombing. This is when a group of disgruntled viewers make a collective effort to manipulate a film or show’s rating on aggregator platforms. One look at The Last of Us‘ Rotten Tomatoes page might make the casual observer curious to know how a show that has been so widely acclaimed can have such a dismal audience rating. The answer is often very simple.
The Last of Us Season 2 premiered last week to excellent viewership figures and positive reviews. It holds a “certified fresh” 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the second season’s audience score is in a free-fall. Only a few hours ago, it stood at 55%, but now, the score has dropped further to 52%. The complaints seem to mainly be coming from folks who’ve played the source video games – the show is an adaptation of Naughty Dog’s beloved series – and have been dissatisfied by the casting of Bella Ramsey in the role of Ellie. Why is it that review-bombers always seem to target women?
In fact, Rotten Tomatoes was forced to rework its audience rating system after Captain Marvel witnessed similar targeting in 2019, due to star Brie Larson‘s perceived activism. Halle Bailey‘s casting in The Little Mermaid remake also ruffled the feathers of trolls, while Rachel Zegler‘s pro-Palestine comments got them to tank the recent Snow White remake’s IMDb scores. Even director Rian Johnson wasn’t spared when Star Wars fans took offense at the handling of Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi.
‘The Last of Us’ Has Often Been Described as the Best Video Game Adaptation Ever
Co-created by the game’s head writer Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl‘s Craig Mazin, The Last of Us Season 2 brings back Pedro Pascal as Joel. It received widespread acclaim from critics. Rotten Tomatoes’ consensus reads, “Grabbing onto thorny moral questions with its bare hands, The Last of Us‘ second season is a challenging 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 again why HBO’s The Last of Us is the strongest video game adaptation ever.“
New episodes air on HBO on Sunday. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
-
January 15, 2023
- Network
-
HBO
- Showrunner
-
Craig Mazin
- Directors
-
Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
-
Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
