Season 2, episode 5, of HBO’s The Last of Us gave fans of the source material something that was revealed in the first video game: It was finally revealed that the survivors can get infected by breathing in spores.
Originally, spores weren't something that the show used. As crucial as it was to the game, it seemed like it wasn’t needed for TV, particularly because it would mean that the actors would have to wear protective masks for most of the show. There was also so much going on with Joel and Ellie's journey that the addition of getting infected by breathing in the cordyceps may have taken away from the story.
After listening to HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 Podcast, it's clear that saving this reveal for the right moment in season 2 was a brilliant decision.
*** WARNING! SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2, EPISODE 5 OF HBO’s THE LAST OF US! ***
When asked about spores in the game vs. the show, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann said:
“The function of the spores in the game, why we had them in the game, is we wanted something to show that Ellie is immediately immune. Because, when she gets bitten, you don’t know, and we show it in the show over and over again, until the whole night is passed. Hours have passed, and you see that the person hasn’t turned because that’s how long it takes some people to turn. Some people take up to two days. So we needed another mechanic, a narrative mechanic, to show, with evidence, Ellie is breathing the stuff, and nothing happens to her.”
Druckmann went on to mention the importance of the spores in Nora’s scene with Ellie because she needed to immediately know that Ellie is “that girl.” The immune one from Utah that was supposed to save the world, and the reason the Fireflies disbanded after their members were slaughtered. That added a new layer to the scene and made their confrontation even more intense. Especially after Ellie says she knows what Joel did.
After watching the fourth episode of the season, and then getting this explanation for episode 5, this made sense. As much as we love the source material because it made us feel a certain way, the two platforms are different. Therefore, they have to be worked as such. It’s impossible to recreate emotions for different things, even if they’re based on the same characters. Too much is different despite the similarities.
Bella Ramsey and Ashley Johnson both play Ellie, but their approach and the platform they’re presented on are different. The creative team is different, or, if they are the same, they have new ideas after seeing what they initially created. Plus, in the video game, you’re spending more time with the characters and controlling them yourself. Here, you’re watching it. Those are two vastly different actions.
As series creator and showrunner Craig Mazine says:
"The challenge for us was to figure out where the spores would make sense, and then, also, what could we do to make them even more dangerous, actually?"
Weekly, this writer mentions that HBO’s The Last of Us continues to change elements from the source material to fit the needs of its own story. It’s the same in this episode, but the writers also added a lot of elements from the game, and with reason. Sometimes a moment has to stay as close to the original as possible. In this case, viewers have spores and their importance to the scene with Ellie and Nora. And even though this shouldn’t be the last time we see spores used, the introduction was executed perfectly.
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