- Guide
- The Last of Us
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- This guide covers seasons 1 and 2 of The Last of Us, all 16 episodes aired so far; the series is ongoing, and a third season is in production.
The Last of Us Episodes Guide: Both Seasons Explained, with Directors
HBO has aired two seasons of The Last of Us, 16 episodes in all, and a third season is in production. Below, each season's contents and length are laid out along with a place to begin.
The Last of Us episodes, every season explained
The Last of Us is an HBO drama created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and adapted from the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog. It is set decades after a mass fungal infection turned its hosts into zombie-like creatures and brought society down. Pedro Pascal plays Joel, a smuggler, and Bella Ramsey plays Ellie, a teenager whose immunity makes her valuable to people searching for a cure. Season 1 sends the pair across the United States. Season 2 finds them five years later, settled in Jackson, Wyoming, and the story turns from a road trip into something much closer to home.
The first question about The Last of Us episodes is how many there are, and the answer today is 16. Season 1 has nine episodes and aired on HBO from January 15 to March 12, 2023. Season 2 has seven and aired from April 13 to May 25, 2025. HBO renewed the series for a third season on April 9, 2025, and that season began filming in British Columbia in March 2026. The Wikipedia article on the series describes it as expected in 2027, so no third-season episode has aired yet. All counts and dates in this guide follow the Wikipedia season pages, checked in October 2026.
The show changes shape between seasons. Season 1 adapts the 2013 game and is built around one trip with two people at its center, plus a rotating set of guests: Anna Torv as Tess, Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, Storm Reid as Riley, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen. Season 2 adapts the first half of the 2020 sequel, The Last of Us Part II, and widens the cast. Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Isabela Merced as Dina and Young Mazino as Jesse are in the main group, Jeffrey Wright arrives as Isaac, and Kaitlyn Dever appears as Abby, the character the third season is set to follow.
Behind the camera, the series is a joint production of Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions and Naughty Dog, with Gustavo Santaolalla credited as theme music composer. Season 1 was filmed in Alberta between July 2021 and June 2022, and season 2 in British Columbia from February to August 2024. Mazin wrote every season 1 episode except the seventh, which Druckmann wrote, and the two co-wrote the premiere and the finale. In season 2, Mazin wrote the first five episodes and co-wrote the last two with Druckmann and Gross, according to the Wikipedia article on the series.
Where to start is easy. Begin with the first of the Last of Us episodes and go in order. The seasons depend on each other, and season 2 assumes the viewer has seen everything in season 1. Playing the games is optional, because the series sets out its own world as it goes. Individual episodes run between 43 and 81 minutes across the whole series, so nine episodes is a long weekend and the full 16 is a long run of evenings.
Rough Cut Review keeps this guide free of ending spoilers. For each block of the Last of Us episodes it says what the stretch is about and how it is built, not how it resolves. The sections below cover the two aired seasons in order and the third in its current state, and the franchise guides index lists the other series covered on the site.
Seasons at a glance
| Season | Episodes | Aired | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 9 | January 15 to March 12, 2023 | Joel and Ellie cross a collapsed United States, adapted from the 2013 game |
| Season 2 | 7 | April 13 to May 25, 2025 | Five years on in Jackson, Wyoming, adapted from the first half of Part II |
| Season 3 | Not yet aired | Expected 2027 | Set to follow Abby in Seattle, from the second half of Part II |
Episode counts and air dates follow the Wikipedia season pages and the series article, checked October 2026. The 16 aired episodes are seasons 1 and 2; season 3 is in production.
The season-by-season guide
Each section below takes a block of episodes in order, with directors and titles from the Wikipedia episode lists. None of them describes how a season ends. The three season 1 blocks are three episodes each, the two season 2 blocks are three and four, and the last section covers what is known about season 3.
Season 1, episodes 1 to 3: the outbreak and the first road (2023)
The premiere, "When You're Lost in the Darkness," aired on January 15, 2023, and was directed by Craig Mazin, who wrote it with Neil Druckmann. It opens in 2003 with Joel in Austin, Texas, as the infection spreads, then jumps twenty years ahead. The second episode, "Infected," is directed by Druckmann and widens the picture: it opens with a mycologist in Jakarta, Indonesia, two days before the global outbreak, and sets Ellie's immunity up as the reason for the trip.
The third episode, "Long, Long Time," is directed by Peter Hoar and is the one most viewers bring up first. It follows Bill and Frank, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, across years, and much of the hour has little to do with Joel and Ellie. Viewers who want to know whether the show is willing to step away from its leads will have their answer by the end of it.
The first three of the Last of Us episodes establish the rules: what the infection does, who runs the quarantine zones, and what the Fireflies want. They also give the clearest read on whether the series suits you, since the tone stays the same for the rest of the season.
Season 1, episodes 4 to 6: bandits, strangers and a town (2023)
"Please Hold to My Hand" and "Endure and Survive" were both directed by Jeremy Webb and aired on February 5 and 12. The road takes Joel and Ellie to Kansas City, Missouri, where they meet other survivors, among them the brothers Henry and Sam, and the group they are hiding from led by Kathleen. These episodes are the most action-heavy of the season and the most dependent on the infected as a direct threat.
"Kin," directed by Jasmila Žbanić, aired on February 19 and brings the pair to Jackson, Wyoming, where Joel is reunited with his brother Tommy and meets Tommy's wife Maria (Rutina Wesley). Jackson matters beyond this season. It is the setting for the start of season 2, so these are the best episodes to watch closely if you want season 2 to land.
The three episodes together move the story from survival to something closer to trust between Joel and Ellie, and they do it mostly through conversation, not set pieces.
Season 1, episodes 7 to 9: the flashback and the destination (2023)
"Left Behind" is the season's seventh episode, aired on February 26 and directed by Liza Johnson from a script by Druckmann. It is built around Ellie and her friend Riley, played by Storm Reid, and spends most of its running time in the past. Like "Long, Long Time," it spends most of its length away from the leads' present, and it says the most about who Ellie is.
Ali Abbasi directed the last two episodes, "When We Are in Need" and "Look for the Light." The first introduces the preacher David, and the second brings the trip to its destination in Salt Lake City, Utah. The finale aired on March 12, 2023, and its ending is the hinge for everything that follows in season 2. This guide does not describe it.
Season 1 works as a complete story. If the finale leaves you wanting more, season 2 picks up the consequences directly.
Season 2, episodes 1 to 3: five years later (2025)
Season 2 opened on April 13, 2025, with "Future Days," directed by Mazin. Five years have passed since the first season's finale, and Joel and Ellie are living in Jackson with Tommy, Maria and Ellie's friends Dina and Jesse. The relationship between the two leads is more strained than before, and the season makes that tension its starting point. Episode 2, "Through the Valley," is directed by Mark Mylod, and episode 3, "The Path," by Peter Hoar.
These episodes introduce Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever, and the Washington Liberation Front, a militia based in Seattle. They also change the show's sense of scale. A town of survivors has more to lose than two people on a road, and the early hours of the season are about what that costs.
Viewers who found the first season too sparse in characters will find more to hold on to here. Viewers who liked its small scale will notice the shift.
Season 2, episodes 4 to 7: Seattle and the long way around (2025)
"Day One" was directed by Kate Herron and "Feel Her Love" by Stephen Williams, and they carry the story to Seattle. Isaac, the leader of the militia, is played by Jeffrey Wright and gets his own introduction in "Day One," and the Seraphites, a group based in the city, enter the picture. The tone is tenser and the geography more specific than anything in season 1.
Episode 6, "The Price," is directed by Neil Druckmann and is built largely from flashbacks to Joel and Ellie's life in the years after season 1. The finale, "Convergence," is directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado, aired on May 25, 2025, and ends the season on a note that points straight at season 3. Season 2 has seven episodes, two fewer than season 1.
The season ends on a setup, not a conclusion. That follows from the structure: it adapts only the first half of Part II, and the rest is left to season 3.
Season 3: in production (expected 2027)
HBO renewed The Last of Us for a third season on April 9, 2025. The season is based on the second half of Part II and, per the Wikipedia article, is set to follow Abby's three days in Seattle with her friends Owen, Nora, Mel and Manny. Filming began in British Columbia on March 2, 2026, under the working title Calm Current, and production is scheduled to finish on November 27, 2026.
Craig Mazin is the sole showrunner for the third season: Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross stepped away from creative duties on the series in July 2025. Mazin directed the premiere, and other directors include Vincenzo Natali, David Petrarca, Andrew Bernstein and Hiromi Kamata. The season is described as longer and larger than the one before it. Wikipedia also notes that a fourth season had once been expected, but that Druckmann and HBO's Casey Bloys have indicated the third would be the last.
The cast for the season is already taking shape. Kaitlyn Dever leads as Abby, and Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer and Spencer Lord were promoted to series regulars. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. replaces Danny Ramirez as Manny, and Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter join as Yara and Lev, members of the Seraphites. No release date had been confirmed at the time of writing, so any guide to its episodes has to wait.
The entries that matter when time is short
If only part of the series is on the schedule, these seven carry the most weight. Titles and directors follow the Wikipedia episode lists.
- Season 1, episode 1, "When You're Lost in the Darkness": the premiere, directed by Craig Mazin, and the setup for the whole series.
- Season 1, episode 3, "Long, Long Time": directed by Peter Hoar, and the episode that most shows what the series can do outside its leads.
- Season 1, episode 6, "Kin": the arrival in Jackson, Wyoming, which also sets up season 2.
- Season 1, episode 7, "Left Behind": written by Neil Druckmann, an episode centered on Ellie and Riley.
- Season 1, episode 9, "Look for the Light": the season finale, directed by Ali Abbasi.
- Season 2, episode 1, "Future Days": the five-year jump, directed by Craig Mazin.
- Season 2, episode 6, "The Price": directed by Neil Druckmann, and the season's longest look at the relationship between Joel and Ellie.
Reading on The Last of Us
1 takeFor more detail on single seasons and episodes, Rough Cut Review has separate pages on the series.
Frequently asked questions about The Last of Us
How many seasons of The Last of Us are there?
Two have aired. Season 1 ran on HBO in 2023 and season 2 in 2025. A third season is in production and is expected in 2027, according to the Wikipedia article on the series.
How many episodes does The Last of Us have?
16 so far. Season 1 has nine episodes and season 2 has seven. Individual episodes run between 43 and 81 minutes.
Do I need to play the games before watching The Last of Us episodes?
No. Viewers do not need the games to follow the series. Season 1 adapts the 2013 game and season 2 adapts the first half of The Last of Us Part II, and the show explains its own rules as it goes.
Do I have to watch The Last of Us in order?
Yes. The series is serialized, and season 2 builds on events at the end of season 1. Skipping ahead, even to the best-known episodes, costs the story its payoffs.
Who created The Last of Us TV series?
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann created it for HBO. It is based on the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey star as Joel and Ellie.
When does The Last of Us season 3 come out?
No release date has been confirmed. The third season began filming in British Columbia in March 2026, and Wikipedia describes it as expected in 2027. It is based on the second half of The Last of Us Part II.
Sources
Episode counts, dates and credits on this page follow the reference below; each figure was checked against it in October 2026.
- The Last of Us (TV series), Wikipedia — season and episode tables, release dates and credits