Pluribus review: Apple TV’s latest sci-fi series luxuriates in mystery

Towards the end of the first episode of PluribusCarol (Rhea Seehorn), a woman placed in a bizarre and impossible scenario, asks a very simple question: “What the hell is going on?” This is something you’ll probably ask yourself often while watching. I certainly did. But this permanent feeling of mystery and the measured rhythm with which Pluribus turns out, is one of the best parts of the new series of Break the bad creator Vince Gilligan. I can’t tell you much Pluribus for now – but I can tell you that being baffled is part of the appeal.

Okay, so what can I tell you? Carol is a successful writer of fantasy novels – excuse me, “speculative historical romance literature” – and she hates both her work and her audience. She wants to do something more meaningful, but the money she makes from her books makes that change difficult. Despite being rich and successful and having a caring partner who doubles as a very capable manager (Miriam Shor), Carol is rather unhappy, even though she is largely capable of faking it in public.

But all that changes when… something happens. I don’t want to get into too much spoilers ahead of the series premiere (the first two episodes air November 7), but the conceit of Pluribus is that following a global event of an almost apocalyptic nature, almost every person on Earth is inflicted with an unshakable dose of happiness. They become peaceful and collaborative and incapable of harming any living being. Carol isn’t affected – but it’s not for lack of trying. At first, when she’s outside a hospital that resembles a war zone, the “others” – that’s what I’ll call these happy people for now – try to bring her to their side. When that doesn’t work and she panics, they all say in unison, “We just want to help her, Carol!” »

This is extremely scary and puts Carol in a difficult position. Normally she just complains about everything that’s wrong in the world, but now she’s pretty much the only person who can actually save it. Of course, how she does what is not so easy to understand. Someone facing a few billion puts them at a serious disadvantage. The point is, as much as the others want Carol to be part of their group, they are also willing to do anything to make her happy. It is part of their nature; in fact, when Carol gets really upset or angry, it actually hurts them physically. This creates fascinating tension as she has to regulate her emotions while going through an incredibly stressful situation.

There’s a lot going on and the first two episodes are mostly about Carol dealing with a bizarre situation. Which is good, because it also gives viewers time to get used to it. While Pluribus has some of the energy of a post-apocalyptic story, but it’s also completely different from them in many ways. Because, really, does this world really need saving? Nobody in The Walking Dead wants to be a flesh-eating zombie. But becoming a perpetually chipper person? Well, maybe it’s not so bad. As one of the others said early on, the day the change happened was the “greatest day in human history,” and it’s not impossible to see why some might agree, even though Carol certainly doesn’t.

Pluribus really explores the details of how this new and very unique world works, and it’s not afraid to take its time doing it. There’s a certain level of trust that Gilligan and his team have placed in the structure of the series. “The older I get, the more confidence I have, not in terms of my abilities but in the wisdom of the audience,” Gilligan told me before the premiere. “The kind of shows we make attract really smart viewers.”

This is why there are long sequences, often without dialogue, depicting, for example, a woman getting on a plane and flying to the other side of the world. You have no idea why she’s doing this in the first place, or even who she is, but the series rewards your patience. The same goes for seemingly boring practicalities, like how food production works in a world where most of humanity is incapable of harming any living creature. These aspects of the story provide some of the most impactful – and sometimes disturbing – revelations. Pluribus has a strange premise, but the show’s creators also think it through to its logical conclusion (at least that’s true at first; I haven’t seen the whole season yet).

This slow leak of revelations and information is absorbing because Pluribus is such a well-executed show. This is especially true when it comes to Seehorn’s performance, which anchors the whole thing. Carol is not a typical heroic character; he’s a miserable and often frustrating character, and yet it’s hard to take your eyes off Seehorn, who makes you laugh, cry, and want to wring his neck, often at the same time.

Which means that while these “What the fuck?” the moments are common, they’re not frustrating like they can be in similar shows. (Sorry, Lost.) Revelations are not difficult moments. Pluribus isn’t this a puzzle box meant to be solved. It’s a story with a lot of weird and complicated things to share with you – and it’s more than comfortable to take your time to do just that.

_{The first two episodes of Pluribus premieres on Apple TV on November 7.}