In its nine episodes, Pluribus quietly dismantled the alien invasion genre and rebuilt it in the signature storytelling style of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Just a few years out from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hit Apple TV series introduced a novel disease where most of the world's population contracts an otherworldly happiness virus.
At the center of the story is Carol Sturka (played by Rhea Seehorn of Better Call Saul), a successful yet cantankerous romance novelist. When reality around her shifts -- and it does so quickly -- her grumpy demeanor sets her apart from the happy hive mind that takes shape. She makes it her mission to set things right, but it isn't a simple task.
The ninth episode, titled La Chica o El Mundo, hits like a silent bomb. Its final moments recenter the show's emotional stakes and urgency. What does it all mean? Where do things go from here? I sat down for a chat with Seehorn to dig into Carol's mindset, the watershed moment that snapped her back into reality and her potentially incendiary motivations moving forward.
If you're not caught up on the Pluribus finale, turn back now. Major story spoilers follow.
Rhea Seehorn stars in Pluribus on Apple TV. Apple TV
The final act of the episode revealed Carol's chilling realization. Although she had officially told the hive mind they did not have her consent to access her stem cells in order to turn her, in fact, Zosia (Karolina Wydra) and the rest had been actively tinkering with a workaround: her frozen eggs. Up until that moment, Carol had been romantically involved with Zosia, an understandable move after being abandoned by the hive mind to live a solitary existence as the only person in the entire state of New Mexico.
But this betrayal? It was the slap in the face Carol needed. According to Seehorn, the scene exists in layers and informs Carol's fight to maintain her free will and undealt with grief over the death of her wife. "First of all, I thought I had to give consent," Seehorn said. So did we.
"That's being taken away," Seehorn said. "That clock is now ticking again, and you're going to lose your individuality. On top of that, the idea that this entire time, someone would say they have real care for me, and that behind my back, you were still plotting to change me. Even intellectually, Carol probably could have guessed that, because of their biological imperative. But it feels like it's drawing attention to the fact that Carol knows she was a fool."
Rhea Seehorn and Karolina Wydra star in Pluribus. Apple TV
Losing a loved one at the same time the world loses most of its humanity would probably make me do foolish things too.
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