There are a lot of spoilers in "Pluribus" that make it difficult to talk about. It's a science fiction show from Vince Gilligan starring Rhea Seehorn, it's very conceptual and deliberately paced, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's not going to appeal to everyone, because it's not in a hurry at all, but I loved the way that the first season unfolded, slowly giving us more and more information over nine episodes, and letting the characters work through various dilemmas at their own pace. About 90% of the show is solely focused on Seehorn, playing our protagonist Carol Sturka, a difficult woman who is still a good person. How much you like "Pluribus" may come down to how much you like spending time with her. From this point on, I'll be spoiling the events of the first two episodes.
"Pluribus" is my kind of science-fiction, all about exploring a fantastical concept that isn't just an excuse for cool action sequences or power fantasies. Rather, the focus is on how the world changes because of this new event, and exploring all the unintended consequences and unexpected issues that come about in its wake. In this case, you have everyone on Earth, minus eleven people, becoming part of a single hive mind through an extra-terrestrial agent. Gilligan and his collaborators have clearly spent a lot of time thinking this through, and a lot of the fun of "Pluribus" is watching them spend an impressive amount of Apple TV+'s money to realize the sweeping, grand scale spectacle of humanity's transformation. You don't need a lot of society and infrastructure when everyone is in perfect agreement with each other, and you can get so much more done, more efficiently. Some of the most unnerving images in the show involve groups of people simply moving or talking in unison, which must have taken a monumental amount of work to achieve.
I always liked Seehorn as Kim Wexler in "Better Call Saul," and she's similarly fantastic as the very different Carol Sturka. The show is just as much an examination of Carol as it is about the hive mind. She's a successful romantic fantasy writer who wants to write more serious books, but isn't good enough to do that. She doesn't like people much, except her partner Helen (Miriam Shor), and takes the loss of her very hard. And despite being a curmudgeon and world class grump, who ticks off nearly every other person on the planet over the course of the first season, Carol discovers that she needs other people. Seehorn is often the only character onscreen for large amounts of time, and the role is often very physical and demanding. She does such a great job of keeping us in her headspace as she goes through doubts, frustrations, discoveries, and the grieving process. Her relationship with the hive mind is fascinating to watch develop, since Carol is often stubborn, prickly, and downright mean, while the hive mind, usually embodied in the form of Carol's assigned "chaperone" Zosia (Karolina Wydra), is nothing but kind, generous, and accommodating. I love that there's a real ambiguity as to whether Carol's resistance to "The Joining" is actually a good thing for her and the rest of humanity.
"Pluribus" is the rare kind of show where I have no idea what's going to happen in most of the episodes, and I love it. Most of it takes place in Albuquerque, but "Pluribus" also regularly goes globetrotting to Morocco, Peru, Colombia, and other far-flung locations. Multiple episodes open with characters I don't know, speaking languages I don't speak, and I'm instantly caught up in figuring out what's happening every single time. Vince Gilligan and his collaborators have earned the benefit of the doubt from me after all those years of "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul." But even if they hadn't, "Pluribus" is executed so well, and the material is so consistently interesting that I'd be hooked regardless. Of all the shows that came out in 2025, this is easily the most distinct, unique, and ambitious. And it has my full attention.
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