This is a review of the first two episodes of Apple TV’s ‘Pluribus’ with spoiler-free references to primary plot points.
Back in the desert with Vince Gilligan, life is good. From his early Area 51 dispatches (writer at The X-Files) to his groundbreaking anti-hero Albuquerque epics that redefined television (creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul), Gilligan is a pioneering force of storytelling and a master of the episodic structure. It’s no wonder that his latest creation has been kept under tight wraps. Viewers have been starving for another satiating series to whet their eager appetites ever since Jimmy McGill stopped cooking up Cinnabon rolls in 2022.
I’m delighted to say Gilligan has delivered yet another satisfying signature dish with Pluribus. His latest endeavor is once again set against a deserted landscape. Although this time, it’s not only deserted, it’s full-blown dystopian—or is it utopian? That is the question Pluribus poses in its first two episodes, “We Is Us” and “Pirate Lady,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Episode 1: “We Is Us”
Gilligan’s experiences on The X-Files come to the forefront as he returns to his sci-fi roots in Pluribus. Reunited with Better Call Saul actress Rhea Seehorn (Carol), Gilligan doesn’t immediately introduce our protagonist. The series opens with an ominous countdown title card that starts at roughly 400 days. As the seconds tick, within the very first moment of Pluribus, we’re already wondering what is happening—or what is about to happen (in 400 days). The first five minutes show a group of researchers and scientists who have made some sort of breakthrough. The scenes immediately conjure up that classic Gilligan eccentricity we’ve come to know, love, and instantly recognize.
When we first meet Carol, we learn she is a successful author of romance-fantasy novels, as she is giving a reading at a Barnes & Noble, to the excitement of many middle-aged women. Carol is tired of writing what she deems “crap,” as she bemoans to her partner over one too many drinks at a nearby bar. Carol is not a happy person. She has other ambitions as an author, but currently finds her solace at the bottom of a martini glass. As she goes outside the bar for a cigarette, Carol’s life—and the world as we know it—comes to a grinding halt.
When the world suddenly stops, its population shakes and shudders before ultimately uniting as one, leaving Carol alone to make sense of it all. After a few fascinating expository scenes that feel like they belong to an episode of The X-Files, Gilligan ends the premiere of Pluribus with some highly anticipated answers to questions like: What’s wrong with everyone? Why is Carol the only one not affected? Or is Carol the only one not affected?
Episode 2: “Pirate Lady”
The second episode of Pluribus begins in vignettes reminiscent of Season 5 of Breaking Bad. We aren’t sure how these events tie into the current narrative, but we can be confident Gilligan will get us there eventually. After an eight-minute cold opening, we meet Carol again on the other side of a bottle, passed out on her floor. This time, the countdown reads roughly 11 hours. Until what exactly, we still aren’t sure.
As Carol struggles to make sense of the new world around her, she makes a friend and many enemies. The hive mind, “us” or “them,” that the world consists of, seemingly only wants to help Carol. Alas, Carol wants none of it. She doesn’t trust this newly united body of people. With the help of a guide, whom she hawkishly refers to as “Pirate Lady” (Karolina Wydra), Carol embarks on a journey to find others like her. When Carol finds that her growing disdain for the unified “them” isn’t the same viewpoint held by others like her, she’s shocked. Everyone except Carol seems to be quite happy with this new arrangement.
What’s even more shocking to Carol is the deadly consequences of her hatred and outbursts. She’s perhaps the only unhappy person in the entire world. The only thing worse than being unhappy is being unhappy surrounded by the happiest people in the world. Carol is grated. She’s on edge. She’s isolated. She has a drinking problem. And she has anger issues. When she takes it out on “them” (aka the rest of the world), there are disastrous side effects.
All Aboard the Pluribus
To guess where Gilligan is leading us in Pluribus would be futile. In the first two episodes of Breaking Bad, who could have guessed where Walter White would eventually end up? No, we should simply buckle up and enjoy the wild ride that is Pluribus, as we journey into the rest of Season One—and rejoice in knowing there will be a Season Two.
Although it has that undeniable Gilligan flair, there is something uniquely optimistic about Pluribus. This new world contains a zest for life we haven’t seen before in his other work, which is typically bleak, dark, and full of despair. In Pluribus, those feelings of despair only exist within Carol. The rest of the world is unified. In today’s current state of affairs, it’s the most outrageous concept, making it perfect for the genre of science fiction.
In Pluribus, Gilligan ponders what it would truly look like to be a nation that fits its motto. In Latin, “E pluribus unum” translates to “Out of one, many.” With wars around the world and a United States that’s anything but united, the concept feels eerily timely. Will Pluribus unite the world? Obviously, no. Will it unite Gilligan fans and TV watchers every Friday for a couple of months? Possibly. To me, being back in the arms of an hour-long Vince Gilligan drama feels like a warm hug, especially in this strangely unified world he’s created.
Whether you were uncovering alien truths in the ‘90s, getting lost in a chemistry teacher’s drug empire in the 2010s, or witnessing the best spinoff ever created—that arguably surpassed its source material—we’re entering a new era of Vince Gilligan’s that you should consider being a part of. Join us.
The first two episodes of ‘Pluribus’ are now streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes airing on Fridays.
Review Courtesy of Kasey Dunifer
Feature Image Credit to Apple TV+ via The Hollywood Reporter