This article contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Apple TV's Pluribus.
Fellow Misanthropes, Season 1 “For manyWhat should we do now other than rely on our usual harshness of judgment and distrust of others?
Our spirit series has us wondering who or what will put the final nail in humanity's collective coffin: an alien virus or an atomic bomb malcontent. As for saving everyone? Disgruntled protagonist Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) struggled to find ways to preserve the human race throughout most of the series, but by the end she was quite convinced that the planet would be better off without us.
For those of you who don't know best show on television this year, Carol is among the 13 people left on Earth who are immune to the alien virus that would otherwise merge all of humanity's consciousness into one blissful hivemind. Now everyone thinks alike and has the same knowledge base, which means TGI Fridays waiters can fly passenger planes and kids can perform surgeries. Nobody is a person anymore. They simply occupy the body formerly known as Tom, Sally, or whatever. “We” is their chosen pronoun.
This army of smiling empty vessels just wants to please Carol – until they can turn her into one of them. According to her, joining them will make her happy. It's wonderful to have your mind wiped. But the mortally unsatisfied Carol would rather wallow in her own low-grade depression and anxiety, which robs her of her free will. Additionally, her rage and rage are strong against those who have “joined in.” When faced with her anger, they physically shut down and stop functioning. Their paralyzing fear of Carol's wrath is inspiring, touching and hilarious. The world literally stops when it breaks. No wonder she's my hero.
Pluribus belongs to Vince Gilligan, the same brilliant mind who wrote Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The Apple TV series has nothing in common with his previous successes, except that it is set in Albuquerque, stars Seehorn, and is exceptionally great. And like other seminal dramas, it raises deeper questions about how we see ourselves, who we really are, and who we aspire to be.
To be fair, Carol was annoyed with the human race long before the alien virus turned them into worker bees. She was convinced that most people were sheep, including those who loved the florid writing and cheesy romantic plots of her novels. But the complete loss of the free-thinking community is not so pleasant either.
In the finale, she is paired with Manusos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga), a fellow survivor who is also immune to the virus. He wants nothing to do with the suffering, no matter how peaceful they may seem. It seems that he used to be a self-sufficient loner. In the post-apocalypse, he travels all the way from Paraguay to meet Carol after receiving a video message from her. He travels most of the way before reaching the treacherous Darien Gap, where he wanders off the road after falling into a thorny tree, but “they” rescue him, much to his chagrin. He eventually continues his journey in an ambulance.
Now the human race must be saved first of all by two people who never had much love for it. They communicate through a language translation app, making their difficult task even more challenging and fun.
Many theories have arisen around what Pluribus is. Really O. One prevailing idea is that “unification” is a metaphor for AI creating a world in which all individual thoughts and creativity are synthesized into a single, malleable voice. Give up your critical thinking for easy answers or, in the case of Pluribus, an easy life where you never have to make decisions for yourself again. Most people would rather be a doormat than a battering ram, no matter the urgency or circumstances.
Optimists may say, “Why choose one extreme or the other? Surely there is a place in the middle where we can all live in harmony, with our own opinions and self-worth.” This is cute. Carol and I strongly disagree, given the course of history and all.
It remains to be seen how my favorite new anti-hero will deal with his contempt for the Other. Save the world or destroy it? We'll all have to wait until next season to find out. For now, Pluribus just needs some space.
