Joel and Eli’s apocalyptic journey has arrived HBO Max this weekend, as the first episode of The last of us landed on the streaming service. The series is being adapted the legendary PlayStation video game series from developer Naughty Dog, with the nine-episode Season 1 focusing on the original entry in the franchise.
The show premiered on Sunday with episodes coming every week until March 12.
The Last of Us release dates and times
Here’s the full release schedule for The Last of Us on HBO Max, and we’ll correct this if the company announces any changes or interruptions. New episodes will arrive at 6pm PT (9pm ET), which you may remember as the timeslot occupied by The house of the dragon last year.
- Episode 1: Available now
- Episode 2: Sunday, January 22
- Episode 3: Sunday, January 29
- Episode 4: Sunday, February 5
- Episode 5: Sunday, Feb. 12
- Episode 6: Sunday, Feb. 19
- Episode 7: Sunday, Feb. 26
- Episode 8: Sunday, March 5
- Episode 9: Sunday, March 12
Where is The Last of Us available outside the US?
The show drops globally at the same time, so there are times for multiple regions:
- Canada, Crave at 9pm Sunday
- UK & Ireland: Sky Atlantic and Now at 2am on Monday
- Australia: Binge and Foxtel at 1pm AEDT Monday
- New Zealand: Neon at 3pm on Monday
What is The Last of Us?
Set in a world where a terrifyingly believable fungal brain infection has turned most of the world’s population into vicious cannibals, the games follow grumpy smuggler Joel and his bubbly teenage girlfriend Ellie as they travel across a ruined USA.
The mysterious teenager Ellie (left) can change the fate of the world in The Last of Us.
HBO
Who’s for?
The series stars The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal as Joel, with fellow Game of Thrones alum Bella Ramsay as Ellie. Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman, Fringe’s Anna Torv and Yellowjackets’ Melanie Lynskey also appear.
It was written by Craig Mazin (creator of HBO’s Chernobyl) and Neil Druckman (creative director of the game series) added this to give newcomers a solid foundation,
Is there a trailer?
Yes, HBO gave us a few tastes of the show. The latest trailer arrived in December.
How scary is it?
It’s more thriller than horror, with plenty of tense moments. The infected don’t show up often – Joel and Ellie encounter more human survivors than monsters – but they’re used to great effect when they do.
Should I have played the games?
No, the show retells the events of the first game (which came out in 2013) with expanded storylines and background elements. However, The Last of Us and its 2020 sequel are some of the most addictive games ever made. You should definitely dive in if the show intrigues you,
The original game is available for PS3, PS4, and PS5 (the PC version comes out on March 3), while the latter is currently PS4 only.
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