Pluribus Episode 9 – Season Finale Review, ‘La Chica o El Mundo’

From there we return to Carol and Zosia (Karolina Wydra), the strangest couple in Albuquerque, who are watching a satellite image of Manousos’ ambulance as his arrival grows nearer (“And he’s in an ambulance?” “Long story,” Zosia says in that disarming way of hers).

(Of note is the fact that the title card tells us that this is happening some 60 days after the Joining, whereas the previous scene with Kusimayu takes place 71 days before. We’ve seen this kind of time-shifting put to use before, mostly to convey the most important aspects of Manousos’ story as compared to Carol’s, since they didn’t really line up in a linear way for the viewer. And by the end of this episode, Carol will catch up to Kusimayu’s latest development too. It’s just a cool way that creator Vince Gilligan and his writers have been crafting this story.)

But back to Carol and Manousos’ first meeting. Boy, could it have gone any worse? By which I mean, could it have gone any better… for we, the viewers, that is? I mean, how freaking awkward is it when they greet each other outside the house? Sure, the language difference was always going to make things tough, but we’re talking about two of the last 13 people on Earth with free will… and possibly the last two who actually give a damn about that very concept. This could’ve been a Hollywood-style meet-up, complete with soaring fanfare as they ran and hugged each other. But nope, instead we get “I no dangerous” and instant disagreements. And it only gets worse from there… This guy snaps his fingers at Carol!? Man!

It’s hilarious, but these two clashing was inevitable. They’re just too similar, too hard-headed. And that’s surely why they’re the only ones who can save the world.

That’s assuming, of course, that the pair can agree on what saving the world actually looks like. We learn here that Manousos thinks, initially at least, that if the Joined can’t be reverted to their non-hive forms, then they are better off dead. Carol on the other hand argues that they’re still human, and besides, they wouldn’t even hurt an ant. “And isn’t it evil to value a man the same as an ant?” Manousos replies.

Now that he’s in town, Manousos takes to running his own tests to figure out how to un-join the Joined, though he’s more willing to push boundaries. It starts with his finally talking to representatives of the collective, specifically Zosia, which Carol does not appreciate one bit. But this also leads to a moment that is surely important to Carol’s mission against the hive mind, as painful as it may be: Zosia tells Carol that the Joined, and by extension Zosia, love Manousos as much as they love her. And it’s not just the statement of fact that is so painful but Carol, but also the casual way that Zosia unloads that information on her. Like, of course they love them the same, Zosia seems to say. Isn’t it obvious?

The funny thing is, Manousos just might be closer to figuring out the key to undoing all of this, or at least he has a better theory than Carol ever did. His whole mysterious radio frequency/coaxing the individual back plan is interrupted here by Carol’s shotgun, sure, but it seems like as good an approach as any. And he was sure to warn the whole world to lie down before he started, too.

And so this leads to Carol and Zosia’s turn in paradise, travelling the planet and living the perfect life. The girl or the world? Carol seems to have made her choice… which feels very un-Carol-like. Maybe she just had had enough. Maybe she wanted a quote/unquote normal life with a loving companion again. Maybe she disliked Manousos and his approach enough that she was willing to overlook the bigger problems of the Joined. But even if the bombshell about her frozen eggs hadn’t been revealed, it’s hard to believe that she wouldn’t have made it back to Manousos eventually.

But that bombshell did drop, and it’s both heartbreaking and terrifying for Carol. There’s a ticking clock for her now, and she’s got nowhere to go but home… to her new best friend, like it or not: Manousos. Oh, and an atom bomb too.

Questions and Notes From Kepler-22b

• I’m surprised the frozen eggs thread has played out as expected. Seems a bit on the nose, really, with all the times they were mentioned prior to this. I figured we were in for more of a swerve.
• “I mean, it’s not like he’s dangerous, is he?” Huh, Manousos apparently has a darker history than we realized, at least judging by Zosia’s response here.
• By the way, why does Manousos carry a machete instead of, I don’t know, a gun? Certainly he’d have a better chance of defending himself with the latter. Unless the whole “is he dangerous” thing connects to some kind of history with that blade…
• “You know what, you can get right back into your ambulancia and fuck right off. I’m finito!” Who hasn’t said this once or twice themselves?
• Carol’s phone translating everything even after Manousos drops it in the drain is just the perfect touch to their inaugural meeting.
• Yes, that’s the Golden Girls DVD menu playing when Carol wakes up on the couch. “Thank you for being a friend [Manousos]!”
• Radio frequencies to bring individuals back from a hive mind state! It’s not quite the same, but it is reminiscent of the classic Star Trek episode “This Side of Paradise.”
• I’ve enjoyed watching this season and writing about it, so hopefully I’ll be back for Season 2!