Pluribus: A Revival of the think piece

In a world where everything is increasingly becoming an echo of everything else, can you trust yourself to stand your ground as an individual? This is the primary question that Vince Gilligan’s latest show, Pluribus, poses to its audience, and it does so really well.

In the show, we witness the entire global population coalesce into one collective hive mind, with the exception of 13 individuals. Within those 13, we primarily follow Carol (Rhea Seehorn), a pessimistic author, who loses the love of her life to the hive mind. Throughout the show we see her push back against this hive mind, and attempt to reverse whatever process created the initial “joining”.

Given that Gilligan’s repertoire is as admirable as it is, with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul being among the most critically acclaimed television shows within the television landscape, it is inevitable that expectations for his newest show would be exceedingly high. I found myself guilty of this, unable to balance my excitement for a new Vince Gilligan project with my willingness to be objective. But, it is safe to say that from either perspective, the first season of this show was fantastic.

The pilot had me hooked from the get-go, as we are very effectively shown the gradual introduction of the “virus” that turned the world into a hive mind. As usual, there were a lot of devices that Gilligan used to do this, for example an ominous countdown to the catastrophic event of the show, termed by many to be “the joining.”

The concept is rooted in science-fiction, and while I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan out there, Pluribus makes it work as it doesn’t just look at the scientific aspects in isolation, but also presents dilemmas to the viewer – as sci-fi was always meant to do.

If you were presented with a seemingly ideal world, one where there is perfect equality and no pre-existing prejudices based on arbitrary characteristics such as skin colour, sexual orientation and gender, would you sacrifice your individuality and independent thought in order to participate?

A weak point of this show definitely has to be its pacing. There were many chunks of time where the show felt slightly stretched out, but upon reflection I can see that this slowness is necessary for world-building in the show. After all, it is a dystopian situation for our protagonist to experience – she’s dealing with the loss of the love of her life alongside everything she ever knew, and is now expected to singlehandedly pull it all together and get to work to “fix” this world.

The characters in Pluribus are extremely well-written, and each of the their motivations were visible in the actions they undertook throughout, even though they often remained unspoken. Everyone stayed true to the people they were supposed to be, and I felt that Carol’s character was refreshingly realistic and human, acting as a great contrast to the very non-human hive mind.

The hidden details in this show could take years to fully analyse and do justice to, whether they be its recurring themes and patterns, or Gilligan’s playful easter eggs from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. So when you watch this show, make sure to fully engage with it rather than passively view it. Maybe watch a few analysis videos on YouTube afterwards as well: that’s what I did!

I think that this show does a lot more for TV today than it initially appears to. Once you watch it, you’ll realise it’s the opposite of what shows today have become. Not to name names, but there’s many shows where character-writing has become one-dimensional and the scripts have become…a joke. Pluribus defies that, and fights for the think-piece.

Of course, it’s not alone in this battle. It can definitely be likened to Apple TV’s Severance, in terms of its sci-fi premise, high budget and social commentary, but I will say these shows are among the exceptions to the rule.

We only have the pleasure of viewing nine episodes in the first season of Pluribus, and will probably have to wait until 2028 to see its second season. However, I see immense potential in it, and I’m sure it’s going to be worth the wait. As long as it’s filming, there may still be hope for TV in the near future.

★★★★½