Pluribus, the latest project from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan, is finally out in the wild. The first two episodes have given us plenty to think about, and I guess that’s kind of the exciting thing about shows like these. I’ve been waiting for a new series to really sink my teeth into, something I could ruminate on week to week, coming up with ideas and theories about where it’s going and what it’s really trying to say. So far, Pluribus is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
After the premiere of the first two episodes, Apple released a short behind-the-scenes video with Vince Gilligan and Rhea Seehorn, who plays Carol, where they share some of their thoughts on the show and what it’s about.
Seehorn teases that viewers may have some preconceived notion about what kind of show Pluribus is, but quickly states that we likely have no idea what it really is. She then states: “I do think it’s for people who don’t want to be spoon-fed on what to think.” Which, in my opinion, might actually give some insight into what Pluribus‘ real message is.
There are two ways to interpret this statement. The first is that just like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Pluribus is a show that prefers to show and not tell. It doesn’t feel the need to over-explain things. It doesn’t feature scenes of Carol monologuing out loud about how she thinks she’s capable of writing better, smarter books, but feels trapped because her romance fantasy series is what’s making her money. Sometimes, all a character needs to do is nod their head towards a bookstand, and trust that viewers will pick up on the subtext.
The second way to interpret the statement is that Pluribus might be commentary on groupthink and how humanity, as a whole, has gotten lazy about coming up with new ideas, pushing boundaries, and having an original thought, and instead falling back on what’s easy, or what everyone is going with. This is depicted through the show’s second episode, where the hivemind is presented as having no will of its own when it comes to appeasing the anomalous humans like Carol.
Gilligan goes on to state that he hopes the show will get viewers to consider both sides of the equation. When you’re in a zombie apocalypse, naturally your first instinct would be to resist becoming one of the zombies. However, in Pluribus, he hopes that viewers will think, maybe becoming a zombie isn’t such a bad thing.
Pluribus is now available for streaming on Apple TV.
