This is it, Carol: the first season finale Pluribus. Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi thriller got a two-season order on Apple TV early on, so fans know the happy ending isn’t coming.
However, even though the ship was expected to end, the climb we took to get there was packed Pluribus‘ a trademark combination of careful pacing, high-wire tension, and humorous and poignant observations about humanity.
First, an unpleasant introduction begins “La Chica o El Mundo”: it is now 71 days after joining, and we are in a remote place in Peru, the home of Kusimayu—one of the survivors who attended Carol’s disaster conference back in the second episode. He decided to join the hive mind.
We do not have a part of the process that produces stem cells; we see the following. All he has to do is inhale the vapor and deal with a momentary blackout, and when he opens his eyes again, he’s on the team. With that usual smile now plastered on his face, Kusimayu opens the barn containing all his animals, including the saddest baby goat in this case. Separation.
In Albuquerque, Carol and Zosia watch satellite images of Manousos approaching. Carol is nervous about this intrusion; has just settled comfortably into his newfound happiness (or an illusion of happiness, anyway) with Zosia, and her arrival will disrupt the fairy tale. “I’ll just hear him and take him on his way,” said Carol.
(However, this is 60 days after joining, so we are back before the Kusimayu change.)
Zosia makes herself scarce, and Carol accepts the Manousos alone, in a place about a million times stranger than we imagined. Their previous interactions consisted of shouting back and forth on the phone—frustrating, but also a hopeful sign that someone, or anyone able to even have a screaming argument is still there. And as we’ve seen, Manousos was so mesmerized by Carol’s video that he went on a long, heartbreaking journey to find her, learning English (sort of) and suffering from grievous injuries along the way.
But when they came face to face, the two quickly collided. He was stabbed by the machete he was carrying. Determined to break into his home, he confirmed that the Others (he calls them “miracles”) installed surveillance equipment without his knowledge. When they finally talk outside, she insists on holding an umbrella to prevent the drones from looking up. (If we think we saw how closely he was watched when he approached Albuquerque, his fear sounds reasonable in this case, although his overall vibe is very confused.)
But even when they finally agree on where to talk, things are still very difficult between them. Carol insists that she does not want to “destroy” the Others; Manousos insists, “These criminals are bad” because they “stole everyone’s soul.” Carol argues that they are still human; Manusos argues that they are not.
Then, Carol—who has just emphasized the fact that the Others can’t lie—tells the Manousos, saying she doesn’t know why they returned to Albuquerque after leaving her for 40 days. (It’s good that he asked Zosia to have the “comeback” graffiti she painted on the street removed before Manousos arrived.)
Finally, they take their conversation—aided by the monotone of Google Translate, though Manousos’ English is now much better than Carol’s casual Spanish—to Carol’s house. He won’t share until he thoroughly researches the listening devices and finds something strange hidden in Carol’s liquor cabinet.
When Carol calls Zosia for answers, she discovers that it is a feeling that has been around for years. Like, since 2011, when she froze her eggs. It seems that Helen hid it there to keep an eye on her fat mate, and it’s been hanging around ever since. Details are considered Pluribus fans will remember that Carol has talked about freezing her eggs before, joking about it during a flashback to Carol and Helen’s stay at a Norwegian ice hotel.
So that’s double talk about Carol’s eggs on the other side Pluribus season one, and series creator Vince Gilligan doesn’t let that information slip. But before we get to that, we still have more Carol-Manousos drama to get through. Needing some time away from her new obsession, Carol takes her into the empty house next door, something she doesn’t really like doing. This reaction is very much in line with his desire to pay for everything he takes, or at least sign your IOU. This guy has strong morals, even as the world has changed a lot for him.
Anyway, when Carol gets drunk and falls asleep The Golden GirlsManousos intervenes in his duties by talking to Zosia. He could talk to any of the Others—it wouldn’t really make a difference—but calling Zosia in particular is designed to get Carol out, and it works. He is angry. He drags Zosia away, but Manousos quickly asks someone else to come and talk to him instead.
Although Carol fumbles with Zosia’s insistence on “Love her the way we love her”—logically, Carol knows that’s how the hive mind works, but emotionally, she doesn’t understand it; Zosia himself his special, er, “chaperone,” after all—Manousos is taking a page from his Carol playbook.
“Something’s going to happen,” Zosia announced, laying down calmly before she started shaking. Carol, busy, runs next door and sees that Manousos has caused a mass shower this time. He has been deliberately interfering with the One sent to replace Zosia to try and get him out of his predicament.
It doesn’t work, and to Carol’s dismay, the Others decide it’s Manousos’ turn to be isolated—and now that he’s in Albuquerque, that means another big exodus from Carol’s hometown.
“I think there is a way to put things back in their place,” Manousos insisted to Carol. “Now the work begins!”
When he hesitates, he goes to kill, and here we learn why the episode has the title “La Chica o El Mundo”: “Do you want to save the world or find the girl?”
For a while, Pluribus it makes us think that Carol chose Zosia. There is a delightful encounter between the two during various luxury vacations (Carol’s beach reads by choice: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin). There is peace. It is idyllic.
But a fireside chat on their ski trip stops all that. Carol is excited, and it scares her how it sounds. “It only gets better,” roared Zosia.
Slowly Carol realizes that he means… Joining. It’s something that Carol has strongly resisted from the start. Although this new found happiness is a joy, he prefers to be miserable forever as his personality is intact.
And besides, back in Las Vegas, Mr. Didn’t Diabaté assure him that the survivors would not be converted without their express consent? The process of removing stem-cells is invasive, and without obtaining permission to perform the procedure, Some would not have the necessary equipment to participate in the brain of the hive.
That knowledge was liberating. It puts Carol in a real good mood. But now, he notices the worst: his eggs. Others have her frozen eggs. They don’t need to stick a big needle in his waist. They have received the goods.
“How much time do I have?” Zosia asked.
“The moon,” Zosia answered. He is happy that Carol will soon be forced to receive this wonderful gift. “I hope it won’t be more than two or three.”
Needless to say, this changes everything.
It is now 74 days after joining. Manousos is alone in Albuquerque, and he hears a helicopter coming. It carries a large box, which Carol sits outside of. We see that Zosia is the pilot, and Carol is sitting next to her. They looked more crowded as Carol walked up. A sad moment. But they are sad for different reasons.
When a confused Manouso arrives, Carol tells him, “You’re succeeding. We’re saving the world.”
What’s in the box? Well, the atomic bomb, of course!
Others for sure he hoped he wouldn’t ask for it after his critical investigation following the bomb incident. But they are responsible for giving Carol whatever she wants. Bringing a big bomb to the story is a way to set off the events of season two, right?
You can watch all nine episodes Pluribus season one on Apple TV. The second season has already been aired, but so far there is no word on when the new episodes might arrive.
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