According to Deadline, HBO Max will release the newest episode of hit drama The Last Of Us two days ahead of schedule. The series usually debuts new episodes every Sunday night, with the exception of this week’s Friday night debut for the fifth episode.
This is likely because of the Super Bowl, which will air this upcoming Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game, starring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, will be streaming on Fox.
The Last of Us debuted on January 15th and been reaching high audience gains during its run. The premiere episode claimed 4.7 million viewers in its first day, which marked HBO’s largest debut after House of the Dragon since 2010’s Boardwalk Empire. The series also beat popular HBO Original teen drama Euphoria, which claimed 2.4 million viewers for its second season premiere. The first two episodes of the show also averaged over 21 million viewers in delayed viewing. Episode three brought in 6.4 million people, which was a 12% increase from the second episode and a 37% increase from the debut — while the AFC Championship was on the air in the east coast.
Even though the apocalyptic series is receiving much critical acclaim, it seems HBO does not want to compete with the Super Bowl. Last year, the match between the Rams vs. Bengals claimed 99.2 million viewers in the U.S., which is over twice the audience for the NFL playoffs.
The series has already been renewed for second season and features Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones), Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, Hilda), Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Merle Dandridge (Station 19, Truth Be Told), Anna Torv (Fringe, The Newsreader), Jeffrey Pierce (Bosch, God Friended Me), Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus, Noor), and Nick Offerman (Pam & Tommy, Parks and Recreation).
The Last Of Us episode five will debut on HBO Max on Friday, February 10th, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The official trailer is available below.