It’s a very good factor that we already know a second season of Pluribus is on the best way. As a result of the season finale for the present — a sci-fi drama on Apple TV, helmed by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan — made it clear that issues are simply getting began. The episode introduced collectively various important threads however, extra importantly, opened up probably explosive (actually) new traces of inquiry for what comes subsequent.
Spoiler to comply with for the primary season of Pluribus.
First, slightly reminder of how we acquired right here. The inciting incident of Pluribus was the discharge of a virus of unknown, however extraterrestrial, origins, that turned virtually the whole lot of the Earth’s human inhabitants into an interconnected hive thoughts. The hive are peaceable, to the purpose that they received’t even kill a bug or decide an apple off of a tree, and they’re bodily harmed by adverse feelings. There are round a dozen individuals who weren’t impacted by the virus. Most notably this contains an American lady named Carol (Rhea Seehorn) and a Paraguayan man named Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga). For a lot of the season, the pair have been separated bodily, however united in being vehemently against the hive’s presence, whereas making an attempt to determine a technique to “save” the world by making it the best way it was.
The finale sees these two lastly in a position to meet up with one another — however issues have modified for Carol. In the penultimate episode, her emotions towards the hive started to melt, primarily as she grew nearer to her chaperone Zosia (Karolina Wydra). The truth is, by the point the finale begins, they’re a full-on couple. It’s a far cry from the early days of the present, when Carol was so antagonistic to the hive that they deserted her and the town of Albuquerque for security causes.
However Carol’s new view of the hive, and Zosia particularly, implies that issues don’t go fairly the best way Manousos anticipated. As a substitute of discovering a like-minded comrade who would assist him “save the world,” he finds a model of Carol that’s reluctant to even converse to him. The dynamic is very like Pluribus’ second episode, through which Carol fails to persuade the remainder of the survivors that they need to work towards placing the world again the best way it was. Solely this time the roles are reversed. Mix this dynamic with the truth that Carol and Manousos are each extraordinarily cussed people who find themselves utilizing Google Translate to speak and, nicely, it’s not precisely a easy assembly. After the primary time the 2 discuss, Manousos mutters to himself “nicely that is going simply nice.”
By the top of the episode, although, the 2 appear largely on the identical web page. And that’s as a result of Carol learns that, regardless of her budding romance with Zosia, the hive are nonetheless diligently engaged on bringing her into the fold (the episode really opens by exhibiting one of many different survivors becoming a member of the hive by way of a brand new process). This all culminates with Carol receiving a big package deal that seems to be an atom bomb. I guess she wasn’t joking earlier in the season.
The primary season of Pluribus has been a studying expertise. Whereas there are plenty of postapocalyptic shows, there’s actually nothing fairly like this unusual, hive-mind-infected model of Earth. And so over 9 episodes we see Carol emotionally coming to grips together with her new actuality, but additionally utilizing that point to study as a lot as she will about how the hive operates. This, in flip, helps us, the viewers, perceive simply what the heck is occurring. All tales require some sort of scene-setting, however Pluribus’ distinctive nature requires that rather more.
However the reveal of the atom bomb on the finish means that issues are getting into a unique path in season 2. I don’t count on Pluribus to abruptly develop into a fast-paced present; its measured pace is part of its appeal and permits it to essentially dig into the nitty-gritty particulars of the world. However lots of the remaining plotlines and questions require extra motion than merely studying extra concerning the hive. Manousos could have discovered a technique to pull people out of the hive utilizing radio indicators; the hive are within the midst of constructing a “large antenna” to presumably talk with whoever or no matter despatched the virus within the first place; the remainder of the survivors must resolve whether or not or not they wish to be a part of; the hive have to type out an answer to their impending meals disaster; and, oh, there’s that bomb that Carol could or could not have a plan for.