{"id":21271,"date":"2025-12-19T11:23:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=21271"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:23:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:23:37","slug":"pluribus-episode-8-review-charm-offensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=21271","title":{"rendered":"Pluribus Episode 8 Review, \u2018Charm Offensive\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Full spoilers follow for <\/strong>Pluribus<\/strong><\/u> Episode 8, \u201cCharm Offensive,\u201d which is available now on Apple TV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really didn\u2019t see this one coming. Carol (Rhea Seehorn) and Zosia (Karolina Wydra) are basically a couple now? What the heck!?<\/p>\n

After Carol\u2019s 40 days of separation from all of humanity, or whatever it is that humanity passes for these days, we saw how desperate she had become in last week\u2019s episode<\/u>. Indeed, it was actually pitiful how relieved she was when Zosia returned to her doorstep after Carol dropped her \u201ccome back\u201d message. But still\u2026 wow.<\/p>\n

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“So that’s where it came from.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Of course, Carol\u2019s no fool, and one of the tricks of this week\u2019s installment (the penultimate before next week\u2019s 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\u2019s all rather soothing and pleasant until suddenly a red, fleshy substance pollutes the whole scene. Yuk! (Don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s just pink lemonade.)<\/p>\n

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\u2019s romance novels made her a perfect point person there. Then there\u2019s 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\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n

I think perhaps it\u2019s a bit from Column A, a bit from Column B, and a bit from Column C even, and Carol doesn\u2019t really quite know herself.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the possibility that the Joined are much closer to winning the battle of wits with Carol than Carol, or we, would like to admit.<\/div>\n

There\u2019s been some criticism that Pluribus\u2019 pacing is too slow. But I haven\u2019t minded the show\u2019s more contemplative approach because I never find it to be boring, and certainly this week is another slow burn, but it\u2019s one that is chock-full of new information about this strange new world that Vince Gilligan has created. \u201cCharm Offensive\u201d 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\u2019s great for energy conservation, sure. But what about my aching back!?<\/p>\n

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\u2026 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.<\/p>\n

And how about the morning after Carol sleeps over in the arena? \u201cWe had a wonderful time with you,\u201d Zosia says before offering to make Carol breakfast. \u201cI had a nice time too,\u201d Carol awkwardly responds. Of course, once she\u2019s back inside, the first thing Carol does is write on her whiteboard \u201cThey. Eat. People.\u201d With \u201cPeople\u201d underlined! She needs to remind herself why she isn\u2019t sleeping at the arena with everyone else (and Bear Jordan).<\/p>\n

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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\u2026 because they most certainly are not.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s where Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) will come in, just in case Carol needs a reminder of what\u2019s really at stake here. He\u2019s on his way, the persistent muther, and their long-awaited meeting is finally about to happen.<\/p>\n

Questions and Notes From Kepler-22b<\/strong><\/p>\n