Pluribus, the new sci-fi series from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan, is addictive viewing. But it’s also addictive discussion fodder. Once those of us at Polygon who’ve seen advance screeners started talking to each other about the show, we realized we’d all immediately started either thinking about what we’d do in the world of Pluribus, or asking other people in our lives about it — and we also learned that we had radically different answers.
It’s been a long time since we’ve encountered another piece of media that lit up our collective imagination this way. So we decided to put some of the discussion in print, and poll our readership for responses as well. Initial teasers for Pluribus were deliberately coy about the show’s inciting incidents, but there’s a brief summary below.
[Ed. note: Basic Pluribus setup spoilers ahead.]
In Gilligan’s new show, Earth receives a signal from outer space that turns out to be a recipe for an RNA molecule. Scientists build it in a lab, but it inevitably escapes contamination and spreads through humanity like a virus, linking everyone into a blissful, pacifistic hivemind state — except for around a dozen immune people worldwide, including protagonist Carol (Rhea Seehorn), who’s terrified and angry at what she sees as an alien invasion and the destruction of humanity.
The hivemind, speaking indiscriminately through the mouths of anyone who comes into contact with Carol and the other immunes, tells them it loves them and just wants them to be happy until it can figure out how to absorb them. The hivemind repeatedly tries to keep them healthy and content, whether that means monitoring Carol when she’s working in her yard and offering her bottled water and a sun hat — or procuring Air Force One and a staff of sexually pliant hiveminded supermodels to convey another immune character around the world to wherever he might want to go.
Gilligan has said the initial idea for the show came from a mental image of a character “who everybody suddenly, inexplicably was very, very nice to,” no matter how unpleasant he was in return. “Everybody suddenly loves this guy,” he told Polygon in an interview. “They will do anything for him. No matter how mean he is to them, he can never hurt their feelings. He can never shake their enthusiasm for him as a person.”
The hivemind insists that everyone it’s absorbed is still alive and still themselves, and some of the immunes accept that claim at face value — but it’s hard to believe when the hivemind is using language like “This individual is named Todd” to refer to parts of itself, and when no one’s unique personality has survived the merge. So what would you do in a world where nearly everyone was fanatically devoted to your well-being and satisfaction, but all your friends, family, and loved ones had been absorbed into a single placid, homogenous personality? Let’s talk about it.
Tasha Robinson, Entertainment Editor: The “You can have anything you want until we absorb you, probably soon” aspect of the hivemind changes the math on this a lot from how I’d feel about it if it was clear that I was going to spend the rest of my life as a hivemind pet. That deadline means I’d feel a lot freer to go for broke.
Mostly, I’d just want to travel to places I haven’t been — to see the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower and New Zealand and the Pyramids. Sure, I could do that in real life, but the Pluribus setup makes it a lot more appealing — I could go touch Stonehenge instead of seeing it from a distance (because too many tourists were taking chunks of it home!), see the Mona Lisa without waiting in line for two hours, and travel to countries that hate Americans, tourists, and women without fearing for my safety.
Maybe it’s odd that I’d want to expand my personal sense of the world, since if the hivemind gets me, I’ll have access to all those things through other people’s memories. But I’d like to experience them as me first. That said, I think traveling alone would get boring pretty quickly, and I’d never feel comfortable treating hivemindees as casual travel friends, since I’d always be too aware of them regarding me as a kid who needs placating and amusing. I don’t think it’d take long before I’d want to know what their goals were, and how I could use my individuality and non-hivemindedness to help, solely to feel like I had a purpose. Sorry for selling out the human race, Carol.
Claire Lewis, Games & Entertainment Writer: I’ve always been obsessed with space, so I’d want to visit the ISS. I can never sleep on flights because I love aviation so much, and know that commercial airline flights are the closest I’ll likely ever get to outer space. If possible, I’d spend months undergoing the physical training required to visit the moon. Also, I’d enlist a member of the hivemind to help me get my pilot’s license.
Once back on the ground, I’d likely ask the hivemind to take me to a fancy spa for a lash lift & tint. I do my hair, nails, and lashes at home to save money, but in a world where there’s a giant hivemind that claims to care deeply about my happiness, I wouldn’t feel too bad letting them foot the bill for my beauty treatments. Heck, I might even ask for a personal trainer. Of course, I wouldn’t really have any real humans around to show off my fancy new lashes to, but that’s not really a problem. Like my tattoos and piercings, my hair, nails, and makeup are styled for my own happiness — not for the approval of anyone else.
I’d also start a cat rescue. Given how many people die once the hivemind arrives, I have to assume there are a lot of lonely felines out there who could undoubtedly use a can of tuna and some affection from someone who isn’t a pod person.
Aimee Hart, Entertainment & Games Writer: I won’t lie, I’m worried about all those animals. So I’m teaming up with you, Claire. I don’t discriminate; I’m saving all these animals and making sure they’re well cared for. Because what do you mean that the hivemind has set all the zoo animals free? You haven’t met my 13-year-old blind Shih Tzu. She’s cranky, she’s mean, and I do not think she has the mental or physical fortitude to go up against a pack of wild elephants.
Honestly, I’d take it a step further. Is the hivemind able to gel with animals? Why not? If you’re going to make everyone like you, you might as well go the extra mile and turn animals into pod people (pod animals?) too. Let’s get on that, people. I need to know what my dogs really think.
Also, I’d want to join the hivemind just for the gossip I’d know simply by going through other people’s memories. It’s a shame there wouldn’t be anyone left to gossip with or write exposés for, but at least I could explore everything there is to know about Hollywood drama. Nice!
Chris Hayner, Senior Editor: My initial reaction was aimed at hedonism. After taking my meds, because clearly I’m going to have a panic attack, I would ask for an expert tattoo artist, two pounds of the finest cannabis the hivemind can get its hands on (to start), the cast of the new Paddington musical performing the show in my living room, and Gordon Ramsay as a personal chef, because I’d like his Beef Wellington for dinner.
After that initial phase of just finding reasons to not leave the house, I’ll remember there’s an entire world out there and I have dreams to see a bunch of it that I haven’t gotten to yet. The top of the list is Japan. Going there is important for so many reasons, but most of them are theme-park related. I need to see Tokyo Disney Sea for myself, and finally ride the Jaws ride at Universal Studios Osaka. I’ll probably have to operate the ride myself, but it’d be worth it. And while I’m there, I’ll also be visiting Sanrio Puroland and Tokyo Dome City.
Like my colleagues, I’d also be worried about the pets left behind, and would probably take on a bunch of new dogs and cats. I’m going to need a farm for that, though, so I’m moving. And while I’m moving somewhere with land, I’m going to have the hivemind help me with some projects, like a golf course in my giant yard so I can learn to golf better, or building an exact re-creation of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. The world is basically over, right? Nobody can blame me for cosplaying as the kid from Blank Check.
Tasha: Point of order here, Chris: Any reason you’d want your chef to be actual Gordon Ramsay, and not just any random pod person channeling his memories and skills?
And Aimee, I really hope the hivemind doesn’t include animals. I already get too much nagging from my cats about my tragic failure to feed them in quantities they deem sufficient. I don’t need those reminders coming from human hivemind members as well. “Tasha, your cats are hungry. Tasha, your cats are hungry. Tasha, your cats are soooooooo hungry.”
Chris: It has to be Gordon, because if it’s anyone else, regardless of hivemind, my mind won’t allow me to say Gordon cooked for me. Plus he’s got a rad accent, and I also want to quiz him about his hair routine.
Aimee: I totally get where you’re coming from, Tasha. But look at it this way: you wouldn’t have to feed your cats by yourself anymore! We’re all feeding your cats. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Jake Kleinman: Chris, forget Paddington the Musical, I’ll do you one better. If I was in Carol’s situation, the first thing I’d do is reassemble the cast of my favorite TV show that got canceled too soon, Freaks and Geeks, then have the hivemind tap into Judd Apatow’s memories and find out what should have happened in season 2 and beyond. Production of new episodes starts immediately. And that would just be the beginning of a new Hollywood studio devoted to reviving everything from Firefly to Better of Ted.
Meanwhile, I’d also have some other pod person harness the comedic skills of Matt Groening, Al Jean, John Swartzwelder, Conan O’Brien, and everyone else who wrote The Simpsons back when it was in its prime, and have them start work immediately on new episodes that are actually good.
While this is all happening, I’d embark on a world tour, flying by private jet with all my friends and family (or at least, their pod-person equivalents), plus a supergroup of all my favorite musicians to keep us entertained, on a quest to see, touch, and eat everything I possibly can. That last verb is particularly important. The hivemind might be vegetarian, so until the last moment before I get subsumed into the Borg, I’m making the most of it, with steak, sushi, and fried chicken for every meal.
Chris: Jake, I love this idea of bringing back shows that ended prematurely. That said, sign me up for season 4 of Sports Night. It’s not like Aaron Sorkin will have anything else going on.
Tasha: I’m not going to waste pod-person resources on actually having them cast, perform, shoot, edit, and broadcast the other four planned seasons of Carnivalé. I’ll settle for having the hivemind summon up Daniel Knauf’s memories and walk me through a point-by-point plot summary.
Claire: Can’t believe it took me this long to think of this. I’d start a game studio! I want to see what kind of games the pod people would make if given general directions like, “Make me a fantasy RPG,” and left to their own devices. Without a ton of corporate nonsense resulting in a whittled-down budget, crunch, and poor writing, I bet we’d get something good. I’d also ask them to make me that Twilight Princess sequel we never got.
Isaac Rouse, Entertainment & Games Writer: If I found myself in this predicament, I’d demand the finest cannabis (good call, Chris), sit down, and ask the hivemind to tell me the truths of the world. Everything in Area 51, everything the highest authority knows, every little secret. And after I learn all the dark deeds of humanity, I’d take a plane and go to Disney World, just to cleanse the palate.
Then I’d do what Carol does, and inquire about the other people unshackled from the hivemind. Before meeting them, though, I’d ask the hivemind to tell me everything they can about these people before we meet. Are they dumb? Malleable? Selfish? Naïve? Dangerous? I’d have a gun, and we’d meet, and depending on how they feel about the hivemind taking over humanity, and what I learned about the world’s secrets, that would determine whether I’d leave them (and the world) to their own devices, or kill everyone in the plane and try to fix humanity myself. I feel like I’d be that guy, unfortunately.
But I also think I’d be akin to Shane from The Walking Dead, coming to the conclusion faster than others that anybody who isn’t part of the solution is part of the problem. I can see it now: the other immune humans — under the delusion that joining the hivemind is a good thing and that their family members are still alive despite being part of the collective — trying to stop me from saving the human race. There’s only so much time before the hivemind figures out a way to take our autonomy, and before the food supply rots and only vegetation is left; there’s no time to dilly-dally!
Deven McClure, Games & Entertainment Writer: First of all, I second Isaac and Chris — if it’s the apocalypse, I’m going to be securing the good kush. Once that’s taken care of, I think it would let me fully indulge my deep love of being nosy. I’d be asking about true-crime mysteries — what really happened to JonBenét Ramsey? Who was the Zodiac killer? What’s in Area 51?
And like Aimee, I’d want to secure tons of gossip. I’d be asking for all the most embarrassing secrets of government officials, checking in with Taylor Swift’s memories about when she knew Travis was the one, asking about the final straw in the Kimye divorce — I would basically be treating the hivemind as my own personal Google for anything and everything I can think of.
Then I’d ask the collective consciousness to make me The Sims 5 to my exact specifications. Who wouldn’t want their favorite game rebuilt the way they’d always imagined it?
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Author: 360 Technology Group
