HBO Max changes: episode five of The Last of Us to appear earlier

This is a way to avoid the disaster that the most recent episode of The Last of Us could have in line with the Super Bowl.

Fans of HBO’s The Last of Us who are also football fans may have faced a bit of a dilemma next weekend: watch the latest episode of the series and avoid the risk of spoilers, or watch the Super Bowl? Fortunately, HBO Max makes that decision much easier. The fifth episode of Naughty Dog’s excellent game adaptation will arrive on the streaming service and HBO On Demand two days early.

So you’ll be able to watch episode five of The Last of Us starting at 9pm ET this Friday. It will still air in its regular 9:00 p.m. ET timeslot on HBO’s cable channel on Sunday, but many fans may choose to watch the titanic battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

Episode five of The Last of Us is coming early

This is a smart, one-off move from HBO, as The Last of Us is already a massive hit, with viewership figures that have grown week by week. It’s also already been renewed for a second season. It’s likely that the linear airing of the next episode will be affected by Super Bowl ratings, but this could help HBO maintain the show’s momentum and take the TLOU talk away from football this weekend.

This isn’t the only time The Last of Us has faced stiff competition during its first season. This weekend, it faced off against the Grammys, and the season finale will air on the same night as the Oscars.

No sooner has the first season of The Last of Us aired than HBO Max is already announcing the second season of the series made after the video game. The exact date is not yet known.