section_path: Reception/Audience response
section_name: Audience response
paragraph_text: Audience response
  
  The season was the subject of review bombing on Rotten Tomatoes, sitting at a 61% approval rating after the first episode and dropping to 49% after the third and 39% after the sixth. Similar bombing occurred on Metacritic, resulting in a user review score of 3.6/10 at its nadir, with 62% classified as "negative". The initial backlash criticized Ramsey and Dever's lack of resemblance to their in-game characters, the manner of Joel's death, and some of the larger changes from the source material, such as Abby's arc. As the season aired, journalists attributed much of the later backlash to a homophobic response to Ellie and Dina's love story and complaints about " woke culture "; Variety ' s Matt Minton called it "a sad reflection of the kind of hateful rhetoric becoming more and more common under the political climate ". The fourth episode—which features a sex scene with Ellie and Dina—was the lowest-rated on IMDb, with over 20% of users scoring 1/10.
  
  GameSpot ' s Lan Pitts noted most reviews contained "nothing of nuance or value". While some users criticized Ramsey's acting, several mocked their appearance and gender identity; the subreddit r/TheLastOfUs2 was largely dedicated to criticism and memes about their looks. Journalists identified a trend in young, female-presenting actors being targeted for their roles, such as Halle Bailey for The Little Mermaid and Rachel Zegler for Snow White, which some compared to Gamergate. Slate ' s Rebecca Onion lamented the inability to criticize the show without contributing to the online backlash. Many journalists compared the response to the video game, which was similarly review bombed; some—including Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in the game—felt selected scenes were adapted differently in response to the game's backlash, like presenting Abby more sympathetically from her first appearance.
  
  The season was the subject of review bombing on Rotten Tomatoes, sitting at a 61% approval rating after the first episode and dropping to 49% after the third and 39% after the sixth. Similar bombing occurred on Metacritic, resulting in a user review score of 3.6/10 at its nadir, with 62% classified as "negative". The initial backlash criticized Ramsey and Dever's lack of resemblance to their in-game characters, the manner of Joel's death, and some of the larger changes from the source material, such as Abby's arc. As the season aired, journalists attributed much of the later backlash to a homophobic response to Ellie and Dina's love story and complaints about " woke culture "; Variety ' s Matt Minton called it "a sad reflection of the kind of hateful rhetoric becoming more and more common under the political climate ". The fourth episode—which features a sex scene with Ellie and Dina—was the lowest-rated on IMDb, with over 20% of users scoring 1/10.
  
  GameSpot ' s Lan Pitts noted most reviews contained "nothing of nuance or value". While some users criticized Ramsey's acting, several mocked their appearance and gender identity; the subreddit r/TheLastOfUs2 was largely dedicated to criticism and memes about their looks. Journalists identified a trend in young, female-presenting actors being targeted for their roles, such as Halle Bailey for The Little Mermaid and Rachel Zegler for Snow White, which some compared to Gamergate. Slate ' s Rebecca Onion lamented the inability to criticize the show without contributing to the online backlash. Many journalists compared the response to the video game, which was similarly review bombed; some—including Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in the game—felt selected scenes were adapted differently in response to the game's backlash, like presenting Abby more sympathetically from her first appearance.