Breaking Down the Bonkers Two-Episode Premiere of Vince Gilligan’s Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Series Pluribus

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Vince Gilligan, the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, introduces a new series, Pluribus. This time, the focus isn’t on criminals or lawyers, but on Carol Sturka, played by Rhea Seehorn. Carol is a grumpy, yet successful, author of pirate romance novels. She also holds a crucial secret: she’s one of only thirteen people worldwide immune to an alien virus that’s taken over the planet and controls most of humanity.

The new Apple TV series, Pluribus, begins with a fascinating discovery: two astronomers detect a radio signal from 600 light-years away. The signal, when translated, turns out to be the building blocks of RNA – guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine. Scientists then recreate this sequence in a lab, and testing on animals leads to a rat bite that starts a highly contagious infection. This infection doesn’t cause typical symptoms; instead, it connects the minds of almost everyone on Earth, creating a single, overwhelmingly cheerful group consciousness.

My new show, Pluribus, is a different take on the typical zombie story. Instead of zombies, it features people who are incredibly happy and still fully capable. These aren’t robots or aliens, either. As I was creating the series, I thought about The Walking Dead and realized no one ever wishes they were the zombies – they root for characters like Daryl Dixon. I want viewers to watch Pluribus and think, ‘You know, I wouldn’t mind being one of those happy people.’

The first episode of Pluribus opens with a fast-moving outbreak contaminating the water supply in Albuquerque just as Carol and her partner, Helen, return from Carol’s book tour. This creates a widespread event that tragically results in Helen’s death, leaving Carol to grapple with the shocking new reality. After learning the truth from Davis Taffler, a former government official connected to a collective intelligence, Carol becomes determined to find a cure for the virus – or at least protect herself from being controlled by it.

The second episode, playfully titled “Pirate Lady” after Zosia (Karolina Wydra), who’s become connected to the hive mind alongside Carol, introduces some complications to Carol’s plan to save the world. She quickly learns that focusing too much negative energy on any member of the hive causes a dangerous reaction, usually resulting in the deaths of around 11 million people. This is on top of the nearly 900 million who already died, including Helen, when they initially joined the hive mind.

During a meeting with the other four English-speaking immune people, Carol discovers she’s the only one eager to restore the world to how it was. This realization overwhelms her, leading to an angry outburst and heavy drinking, which triggers another hive-mind episode. Carol describes the result as making her responsible for more deaths than even Stalin.

By the second episode, it becomes clear that the hive’s seemingly perfect unity has a dark side. Though those absorbed into the hive are always happy, calm, and agreeable, they also lose what makes them unique, their ability to make their own choices, and the capacity to experience the complete spectrum of human feelings. This raises questions about whether the hive mind’s ideal society is truly desirable.

Regarding the direction of the new puzzle-box series, creator Vince Gilligan shared with TIME that he has a general plan for the nine-episode first season and beyond, but isn’t afraid to deviate from it. He explained it’s like planning a cross-country road trip: he knows his ultimate destination, but is open to exploring unexpected detours and side routes along the way, which he believes will make the story more engaging.

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2025-11-08 05:07