Pluribus Episode 8 Review, ‘Charm Offensive’

Of course, Carol’s no fool, and one of the tricks of this week’s installment (the penultimate before next week’s Season 1 finale) is the question of whether or not Carol is really all in with Zosia or not. The opening image here of the first scene with Carol is kind of telling in this regard, as the camera goes in real close on the pitcher in the sink as it fills with bubbling water. It’s all rather soothing and pleasant until suddenly a red, fleshy substance pollutes the whole scene. Yuk! (Don’t worry, it’s just pink lemonade.)

So the fact that over the course of this episode Carol and Zosia get together and seemingly start living together, with Carol even training her new lover/pet to speak in the first person, can be looked at from a few different points of view. For one, Carol is simply easing her loneliness, and you know, the Others/Joined did pick Zosia as their mouthpiece for Carol for a reason. Her physical similarities to the (once upon a time male) pirate/heartthrob at the center of Carol’s romance novels made her a perfect point person there. Then there’s also the notion that Carol is playing along with the Joined while still fighting the fight, but maybe letting them believe they have just a bit more control over her than they really do. Of course, there’s also the possibility that the Joined are actually much closer to winning the battle of wits with Carol than even Carol, or we, the viewer, would like to admit. So what is it really?

I think perhaps it’s a bit from Column A, a bit from Column B, and a bit from Column C even, and Carol doesn’t really quite know herself.

There’s been some criticism that Pluribus’ pacing is too slow. But I haven’t minded the show’s more contemplative approach because I never find it to be boring, and certainly this week is another slow burn, but it’s one that is chock-full of new information about this strange new world that Vince Gilligan has created. “Charm Offensive” continues to flesh out the bigger picture of the Joined and how they operate, including the revelation of what looks to be a terribly uncomfortable living situation for them all. Sleeping en masse on mats and sleeping bags on the floor of a soccer arena? Listen, that’s great for energy conservation, sure. But what about my aching back!?

But this is the weird enigma with these guys. Or at least, so it appears at first glance. Their unwillingness to harvest plant life, their commitment to conservation, their apparent all-encompassing happiness… it seems to be in service to some greater good. And yet they are simultaneously trying to systematically convert the remaining uninfected, as long as they can do so within their own strange parameters of what is decent and what is not.

And how about the morning after Carol sleeps over in the arena? “We had a wonderful time with you,” Zosia says before offering to make Carol breakfast. “I had a nice time too,” Carol awkwardly responds. Of course, once she’s back inside, the first thing Carol does is write on her whiteboard “They. Eat. People.” With “People” underlined! She needs to remind herself why she isn’t sleeping at the arena with everyone else (and Bear Jordan).

But yeah, Carol is still filling up her whiteboard with new information, even as she probes Zosia for more and more details about what makes the Joined tick and, presumably, how they and their plan can be undone. Certainly the revelation, which basically happens off-camera, that the Joined are building a giant antenna to further spread their gift/affliction to other unknown alien races now takes up a prominent part of that whiteboard. And it also takes the edge off the whole idea that the Joined are sleeping in soccer stadiums for purely altruistic reasons… because they most certainly are not.

Maybe that’s where Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) will come in, just in case Carol needs a reminder of what’s really at stake here. He’s on his way, the persistent muther, and their long-awaited meeting is finally about to happen.

Questions and Notes From Kepler-22b

• For his medical treatment, Manousos owes $8277.53 in either Panamanian balboas or American dollars. Plus an ambulance.
• The talk about Carol’s cousin is interesting. Why hasn’t Carol run into more friends or family since this all started? It’s possible she just didn’t have many of either, but you’d think there would be someone out there…
• The concept of having to filter out every sensation and feeling because it would be “unbearable” to experience them all goes a long way to explaining how the Joined perceive the world around them. I suppose they’re almost like clusters of computer servers rather than one giant super-brain.
• There’s that holodeck effect again, what with the rebuilding of an entire diner and all.
• “Don’t want a buffalo eating the Mona Lisa.”