While HBO's The Last of Us adaptation often hemmed so close to the games it recreated scenes shot for shot, it also took some creative liberties - the most obvious being expanding Bill and Frank's story. We're going to see more of that this season, with a less-muscular Abby and the likely removal of Dina's faith. But we're also going to see more of the game bleed into the story, with the return of spores.
In the game, spores are one of the main ways the disease that eradicated most of humanity is communicated. In the show, this was downplayed, replaced by tendrils. Spores are obviously tricky to shoot, as they obscure vision and dirty the lens, while they also force the actors to wear gas masks, making it harder to emote. However, we now know that in season two, spores will play a much bigger role. Series creator Neil Druckmann says it's because "there had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now," and I suspect there is one scene in particular these spores have been brought back for.
While you can argue the botanical sense of tendrils over spores, they don't really change the narrative. There's...
