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There was something I loved and something I hated in the first season of The Last of Us, the post-apocalyptic TV show based on the hit video game of the same name, in which humanity fights against fungus-infected monsters. On the pro side, the scenography is incredible: from creatures infected with a mutated Cordyceps (the 鈥渮ombie-ant fungus鈥� now turning humans into ravaging cannibals) to the eerie overgrowth dominating everything, the imagery presents a hostile world cunningly reclaimed by microbes. On the con side: the creators of the TV show omitted spores, which are essential for a fungus to spread its infection, thus making the show less credible. I鈥檓 currently watching season 2, and I am concerned that the fungal science is going even further off the rails. I give as my credentials a PhD in fungal ecology and having played the game that inspired the series on the most challenging setting, known as grounded mode.

For those not familiar with The Last of Us, it follows main characters Ellie, a teenager immune to infection, and Joel, a hardened father figure who escorts her through a post-apocalyptic US in the hope that she holds the key to a cure. Soon, both realise there is more to fear than 鈥渏ust鈥� the fungus-zombies, and viewers are left wondering who is 鈥渦s鈥� and who is 鈥渢hem鈥�.

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Cordyceps in the show was inspired by the real species Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which uses a nasty trick. Once it infects an ant, the fungus starts spreading within the insect鈥檚 body. Then, like a master puppeteer, it hijacks its prey into a behaviour aimed at spreading its fungal offspring. With a still-mysterious form of mind control (probably involving a chemical, as the ant鈥檚 brain isn鈥檛 physically penetrated by the invader until the end), the fungus directs the ant into a favourably elevated spot. In a final push, it forces the ant to hold tight to its last resting place, kills it and erupts from its skull in the shape of a mushroom that rains down spores on fellow ants. The cycle is completed. Cordyceps can destroy entire ant colonies.

While , imagining it does is an excellent premise for a story. And I was willing to suspend my disbelief elsewhere too: for example, why is patient zero, the original carrier, infected by Cordyceps-contaminated food, but then no-one ever worries about what might be in their food subsequently? Also unrealistic is the thread-like fungal growth that the creators weaved into the story to give the infected some form of sentient interconnectedness: underground mycelial networks are real, but not every fungus forms these root-like structures. There is no doubt that turning a video game into a television show is challenging and there is nothing wrong with tweaks here and there. Season 1 was highly enjoyable and got .

The creators omitting spores from season 1 for practical reasons: in a spore-filled world, actors would need to wear masks and cover their facial expressions. I was delighted to discover that , even if that isn鈥檛 for scientific reasons, but dramatic ones, as the creators have said.

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But four episodes into the latest run, spores aren鈥檛 back yet, and the creators seem to be stretching things too far, science-wise. They are pushing the tendril-like nature of filamentous fungi to grotesque extremes, with tiny tentacles wiggling from the mouth of the infected. I mean, have you ever seen a fungus move in real life? Meanwhile, the creators hint at the environment itself becoming a threat, with Cordyceps fungal networks crawling out of pipes. Bah. Cordyceps can form mycelium, but it can鈥檛 infect new prey with it. That can only happen via spores. In season 2, the infected are more intelligent, attack in swarms and have become more resilient. Sure, a show wants to raise the stakes. But viewers were clever enough to see that Joel and Ellie already lived in an extremely hostile world.

Introducing these wobbly elements is a missed chance to stay true to what made season 1 excellent. With Cordyceps mayhem as the backdrop, season 1 was great in portraying the unseen, latent, creeping nature of fungi, which is what makes fungal infections a real health threat. With against them, pathogenic .

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And there are other terrifying aspects of infection that I think the creators have overlooked, and that could have cunningly raised the stakes. What if the antibiotics that saved Joel鈥檚 life in season 1 weren鈥檛 effective anymore? Or what about the threat of concomitant infection with multiple diseases? As the case of several covid-19 patients in India has shown, . Co-infection is a medical nightmare. It isn鈥檛 about making Cordyceps infection scarier: it is about making the real-life microbial world a lurking horror. Imagine if Ellie had to fear being co-infected with another disease, or if she couldn鈥檛 afford a cut during battle for fear of antibiotic-resistant bugs. I wish the creators had thought about these real-life nightmarish scenarios.

As the show unfolds, I worry that shaky science will eventually sidetrack an excellent story. Please, dear creators: if you can鈥檛 stick to real-life science, don鈥檛 deviate from the excellent video game plot.

Corrado Nai is a science writer with a PhD in microbiology. He has written for Smithsonian Magazine, 快猫短视频, Asimov Press and many more.