Apple seems to know how to get me obsessed in these science fiction dramas they keep pushing out. I’m very much in love with Silo, a big fan of For All Mankind, anticipating more Severance, and can’t wait for Season 2 of dark Matter in August. I guess I can add Pluribus to that mix, because as with seemingly all things Vince Gilligan, I’m hooked.

Pluribus follows the idea that at some point, an alien species invaded our planet, but we didn’t notice. Somehow, they managed to infect us all, and on “joining day” they activated their hive mind mentality connecting everyone on the planet simultaneously. Well, almost everyone. Some people were not physically ready for the joining and died, and eleven people failed to join. One of those eleven is Carol (rhea Seahorn), a mediocre romance novelist, who was likely already sarcastic and confrontational prior to the joining, and is even more so after the joining claimed the life of likely the only person on the planet she cared about.

Over the course of the season, Carol works to understand what happened, what these aliens want, if they can be stopped, and if the joining can be reversed. She tries to reach out to the other survivors, but in large part, they want little to nothing to have to do with her. the lone exception becomes manassas (Carlos Manuel Vega), a South American who doesn’t speak English, but learns in order to join Carol on her quest to save humanity. However, over the course of the season, Carol learns things that shape her opinion and change her tactics. For example, they want to make her happy, which is made evident when they give her a real grenade. They also can’t lie, so even when there’s something they may not want to tell her, it still becomes evident what the truth is, which is how Carol learns that there might be a way to reverse the joining. but, when she learns from another survivor that they cannot force her to join, that too alters her opinion and approach.

She spends quite a bit of time with Zosia (Carolina Wydra), who is an ambassador of sorts to Carol, empathetically trying to help her understand what is going on, and be her go between. of course, she can also just pick up the phone, and they are always right there.

Pluribus does such a wonderful job introducing us to this world, its lore, and the rules by which its characters exist. It helps that Gilligan knows how to keep viewers interested, and even though he’s best known for the drug controlled world of Breaking Bad, he also cut his teeth on the X-Files, so he understands science-fiction obsession as well. For carol, the truth is still out there,and if the response to the first season is any indication, she’ll have a few seasons to figure it out.

Seahorn does a wonderful job leading the show. there’s a bit of her better Call Saul’s Kim Wexler in carol, being someone who doesn’t take shit from anyone, and is a capable individual in her own right. she won over fans hearts and minds in the Breaking Bad spinoff, which earned her a few Emmy nominations in the process. I’d b shocked if she didn’t receive another for her work here. The show rests nearly entirely with her. She is the show, even if the premise might be why you are watching, a lesser actress would kill even a great concept.

But the show is admittedly high concept, so the premise is likely why you tune in. The idea of the entire world being covertly infected by an alien race, supposedly for our own good, and causing a loss of autonomy in the process really does make you be thankful for your own freedoms. While it does seem that the hive mind is happy, they also have almost a cultish presence, and this shared mentality where they can access the memories of everyone alive at the time.All things are certainly connected in this circle of life. But should they be?

I would assume a second season will address whether it is possible to reverse the joining, or if it just kills people. As we see, causing one of them stress, can effect all, which if done at the wrong moment can kill millions.

Obviously, Pluribus comes from the Latin phrase for out of one, many. The interesting flip here is that it is somewhat reversed, as there are many, but they all act as one. If you speak to one, you speak to all, and since the non-joined population is so low, they too are close to the reverse, being out of many, one.

Pluribus is a highly entertaining grand design that is expertly crafted to lure in fans patient for world building science fiction with the opportunity for a large payoff over time.

Fresh: 9.1/10