The fifth episode of The Final of Us is arriving early—and avoiding a rankings dogfight with the Tremendous Bowl. HBO introduced that the subsequent installment of its buzzy post-apocalyptic sequence shall be accessible to stream an entire two days early, giving viewers only some sleeps to arrange for a haunting new chapter.
On the heels of Melanie Lynskey’s harmful debut in episode 4, episode 5 will hit HBO Max and HBO On Demand beginning this Friday, Feb. 10, at 9 a.m. ET. The linear telecast on the HBO cable community will nonetheless air at its typical time slot on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET. After this week’s switcheroo, the sequence will return to its unique launch schedule, which implies its March 12 finale will air immediately in opposition to the 2023 Oscars.
However one will get the sensation that ABC needs to be extra nervous that Hollywood’s greatest night time has to compete in opposition to the dystopian juggernaut led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Since its debut final month, the HBO sequence’ have continued to rise, luring 6.4 million cross-platform viewers for final week’s episode, up from 5.7 million the earlier week and 4.7 million for its Jan. 15 premiere. The Final of Us, which has been renewed for a second season, is averaging greater than 15 million viewers throughout all platforms. Final 12 months, the Oscars drew 16.6 million viewers, up 58% from the 12 months earlier than, however nonetheless one of many lowest showings within the awards telecast’s historical past.
Nick Offerman, star of the sequence’ heartbreaking third episode, praised creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin’s bold adaptation of the beloved Naughty Canine online game, telling Self-importance Truthful: “It’s a loopy golden age of all types of reveals, and one factor that I’ve actually cherished are reveals like The Leftovers or Noah Hawley’s Fargo that explode style.” He added of the present’s popular culture resonance, “I like what Neil and Craig are doing with the present, the place they’re saying: Let’s try to break the curse of online game reveals.”
Think about the curse damaged—and the Tremendous Bowl fortunate that its most evident competitor is shifting nights.
