, Carol.<\/strong><\/p>\nHave you been watching Pluribus, the new sci-fi show from Vince Gilligan of X-Files, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul fame? Apple TV has confirmed that it\u2019s the most watched show<\/u> in the platform\u2019s history, and that\u2019s an impressive feat since between series like Severance, Foundation, For All Mankind, and Silo, Apple TV has been the place to be<\/u> for science-fiction programming for a while now. Even among such esteemed company, Pluribus is an excellent addition to the sci-fi canon (see IGN\u2019s own stellar<\/u> reviews<\/u> for more).<\/p>\n
With the first season now wrapping up with the Season 1 finale \u201cLa Chica o El Mundo\u201d (which translates to \u201cThe Girl or the World\u201d in Spanish), and a Season 2 confirmed<\/u> to be on the way, IGN interviewed Gilligan and his writing\/directing\/producing partners Gordon Smith and Alison Tatlock. Smith and Tatlock co-wrote the finale, with Smith directing, so we dove with them into some of the biggest events of Season 1\u2019s ending \u2013 and what they could mean for Season 2.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nCarol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) and Manousos Oviedo (Carlos Manuel-Vesga) finally meet!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
Carol, the Joined, and the Road to Albuquerque<\/strong><\/h2>\nJust so we\u2019re all on the same page, Pluribus is about Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), a writer of fantasy romance novels from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who is one of only 13 people on Earth who is immune to an alien virus that turns all of humanity into a hive mind known as the Joining. The blueprints for the RNA sequence that creates the \u201cpsychic glue\u201d which joins all of mankind were transmitted from another planet, and DNA scientists seeking to recreate it accidentally unleashed the infection into the human population.<\/p>\n
Despite this seemingly apocalyptic scenario, which included over 800 million people dying worldwide when the virus was released into the atmosphere, the \u201cOthers\u201d are kind and affectionate towards Carol. But a combination of her grief at the loss of her manager\/life partner Helen (Miriam Shor), her complicated feelings towards her Joined chaperone Zosia (Karolina Wydra), and her own prickly personality have led Carol to going through the emotional wringer as she tries to figure out what to do in a world that\u2019s been horrifically changed but also doesn\u2019t want to be saved.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nPluribus Season 1 Ending Explained<\/strong><\/h2>\nKusimayu\u2019s Joining<\/h3>\n \u201cLa Chica o El Mundo\u201d opens with Kusimayu (Darinka Arones), a Peruvian woman and one of the 13 \u201csurvivors,\u201d who has requested to be added to the hive mind. The Others can develop a specific pathogen for those with immunity by harvesting their stem cells. We see Kusimayu and her village preparing for what feels like a ceremony, singing songs and helping settle her after she inhales the pathogen.<\/p>\n
But once she\u2019s converted, all of that cultural specificity disappears, and Kusimayu joins the Others as they abandon the village, including the domesticated animals, with one particular baby goat seeming very confused and anxious when the previously warm Kusimayu coldly leaves them behind. It\u2019s a chilling scene that strikes at the heart of what the Joined have been taking away from the world despite their friendly exteriors, and sets up the tension at the heart of the finale perfectly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seemed like this incredible opportunity,\u201d Tatlock told us, \u201cto go to a very specific cultural place and have the Others in her world recreating what is familiar to her, and then see what happens when it is dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Hopefully we could see that there was a loss of culture, that there was something that goes away when Kusimayu as Kusimayu goes away.’<\/div>\n
Added Smith, \u201cThis is the first person, really, that we’ve seen, possibly in the world, do this on their own \u2013 that they chose this. She absolutely chose this, but she’s still real nervous. And hopefully we could see that there was a loss of culture, that there was something that goes away when Kusimayu as Kusimayu goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The reference to Kusimayu \u201cgoing away\u201d highlights that the Joining, while technically <\/em>preserving the thoughts and memories of every person they subsume, do not truly remain themselves under most circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\nThe Smilers<\/h3>\n At the end of that opening scene, once Kusimayu has become one with the Others, she and everyone else present seems to be smiling as they go about the business of abandoning their village. We asked the team why <\/em>they\u2019d be smiling at a time like that.<\/p>\n\u201cBecause they’re happy,\u201d Smith replied.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nKusimayu (Darinka Arones) has finally found peace. Or has she?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re a content folk, added Tatlock. \u201cThey’re smiling during the ritual that they’ve created for her in order to help her feel loved and comfortable. Then the moment she’s turned, they’re smiling because they’re smilers. We even refer to them as smilers sometimes in our scripts. Then she becomes one of them. All of her worry falls away. There’s a letting go of neurosis and struggle, and she now has this content smile as well. But at what cost?\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith explained that the Joined have to actively work to be less <\/em>smiley when around the uninfected folks like Carol.<\/p>\n\u201cThey have good social intelligence and they realize that walking around with a grin pasted on your face is a little off-putting to most people, but they’re just joyful,\u201d he said. \u201cThey’re full of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s something we talked about a lot in the [writers] room because our thought was that in the very beginning, their social intelligence is only so-so,\u201d explained Tatlock. \u201cThey don’t understand that if they speak in unison, Carol will be freaked out. So they actually learn and they’re able to adapt not only to Carol, but they can adapt specifically to the needs of each one of their remaining old-schoolers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/section>\n
The Real Zosia<\/h3>\n And then there\u2019s Zosia, who Carol has tried to help become a coherent individual as they settle into a romantic relationship, including encouraging Zosia to use the personal pronoun \u201cI.\u201d This of course raises the question of whether or not it\u2019s possible for Zosia to \u201clove\u201d Carol as an individual and not as an avatar of the Joining.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nIs there a real Zosia in there somewhere?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
When asked about Zosia\u2019s development in the last few episodes, Gilligan said, as he often does when discussing Pluribus, that he wants the audience to come up with their own answers. But he also added that if someone like Carol sets out to put the world back to the way it was, then that would mean every single person would become their former self again.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you believe that’s possible, and Carol does at this point in the story, then I think you\u2019ve got to think there’s a Zosia, a real Zosia, in there somewhere,\u201d he said. \u201cBut also, Carol in Episode 8 is coming off of a really bad time, a really bad 40-day stretch where she was essentially in solitary confinement. \u2026 After 40 days of not interacting with any other human being, she’s kind of broken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith also points to something Zosia says to Carol, which is a key to the true nature of the Joined: \u201cWe love you exactly the same as we love Manousos.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Carol kind of goes back and forth with her understanding of things, I think.’<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd Carol says, \u2018No, it can’t be the same,\u2019\u201d explains Smith. \u201cSo\u2026 is it that she understands that there’s some [part of] Zosia that she’s looking for, or that she maybe even thinks, \u2018Okay, even if this is the person, this Joined person, maybe that’s the person I like, this hive mind in some way. Because she’s on the horns of a dilemma. She kind of goes back and forth with her understanding of things, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Finally, Manousos Arrives<\/h3>\n Things get complicated when Manousos Oviedo (Carlos Manuel-Vesga), a Paraguayan survivor who has refused all contact with the Others and wants to find a way to reverse the infection, finally arrives at Carol\u2019s house after making a multi-month trek from his home country. The language barrier, Manousos\u2019 paranoia, and Carol needing to hide her relationship with Zosia make their early encounters more combative than either likely hoped.<\/p>\n
Tatlock elaborated on Manousos\u2019 headspace when he meets Carol, saying he\u2019s probably a little nervous: \u201cHe wants to make a good impression, and then 10 minutes later, he’s probably wondering why. Why was I trying to make a good impression on her? She’s not my leader. What is happening?\u201d He seems quite disappointed that Carol\u2019s resolve to stop the Others isn\u2019t as strong as when she sent him her first video.<\/p>\n
Gilligan spoke about what the team was hoping to achieve by finally bringing Carol face to face with the only other human being to resist the Others. As he says, we\u2019ve been waiting a long time for this moment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nManousos pats his hair down and tucks his shirt in before meeting Carol. He’s nervous!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/output><\/p>\n
\u201cNine episodes for Stanley to meet Livingston here, and it’s been hard fought,\u201d he said. \u201cHe literally hacked his way through the Dari\u00e9n Gap<\/u> just to meet this woman. And then he arrives in her neighborhood and maybe he’s expecting \u2013 what we\u2019d say in the writer’s room \u2013 he’s kind of expecting Che Guevara or some really charismatic leader. And in Che’s driveway is a Rolls-Royce.\u201d<\/p>\n
But of course where would the fun be if Carol and Manousos just hit it off instantly? \u201cI think you hope always for fireworks,\u201d says Gilligan. \u201cYou’re hoping for drama.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so great together and their distaste for each other was really fun,\u201d laughed Tatlock.<\/p>\n
Things get worse when Manousos reluctantly takes up residence in the house of one of Carol\u2019s neighbors, and he contacts Zosia and interrogates her without Carol\u2019s knowledge. Because the Others can\u2019t lie, he learns all about Carol\u2019s affair with Zosia and how the Others function. He continues his experiments by shouting at another Other and exposing him to a radio signal Manousos believes is possibly linked to a way to reverse the Joining, causing the Others to go into convulsions, something Carol did earlier in the season by showing anger towards them. Worried for Zosia\u2019s safety (Others can be killed by the convulsions), Carol interrupts Manousos by threatening him with a shotgun. The Others subsequently leave Albuquerque, abandoning Manousos the same way they abandoned Carol earlier in the season.<\/p>\n
Oh, and Carol also has an atom bomb with her. The end!<\/div>\n
With the Others gone, Manousos claims he and Carol can now work on finding a cure for the Joining, but Carol leaves him as well, wanting to be with Zosia. Carol and Zosia go on multiple romantic trips, and it seems for a few days that Carol has found some happiness in a post-Joining world. However, while staying at a ski resort, Carol discovers that the Others have found a way to circumvent needing her consent to obtain her stem cells: They have her frozen eggs from her time with Helen, and are currently working on a pathogen to add Carol to the Joining whether she wants to or not. Heartbroken at the betrayal, and knowing she only has months before the Others have a working pathogen, Carol has Zosia return her to Albuquerque via helicopter.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival, Carol tells Manousos she\u2019s ready to \u201csave the world.\u201d Oh, and she also has an atom bomb with her. The end!<\/p>\n
What Does This Mean for Pluribus Season 2?<\/strong><\/h2>\nTalk about a hell of a way to end the season. Carol and Zosia\u2019s romance has crashed and burned, Carol is recommitted to curing the Joining, and now we have a ticking clock as to when the Others can forcibly convert Carol.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know exactly what will happen in Pluribus Season 2, but we can make some educated guesses. Now that Manousos is in Albuquerque, he and Carol will likely become a main cast duo looking to find a way to subvert the Others. Will we finally learn more about that mysterious radio frequency Manousos has been investigating? He seemed to believe he could bring an Other\u2019s original personality back to the surface by playing the signal while they\u2019re convulsing. Is this the method of curing the Joining that Carol nearly discovered when Zosia was in the hospital? And now that Carol has severed her bond with Zosia, will Zosia take on a more openly antagonistic role, or will the Others stay committed to their \u201csmile and wave\u201d attitude? Maybe Carol and Manousos will cure at least one or two people, if only so they\u2019ll have more characters to talk to now that Carol and the Others are once again enemies. No matter what happens, we\u2019ll definitely be watching when Pluribus Season 2 drops.<\/p>\n
What did you think of the Season 1 finale of Pluribus? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on<\/em> <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/u><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n