Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Pluribus Episodes 1 & 2.
It’s almost impossible to write about Vince Gilligan‘s new Apple TV show, Pluribus, without wandering into territory that critics have been shooed away from — and with good reason. The sci-fi drama, which just dropped its first two episodes, is best watched with as little knowledge as possible, but given the creative pedigree (AKA Gilligan’s tenure on such critically acclaimed series as Breaking Bad and its equally fantastic spin-off, Better Call Saul), it’s hard to go in without some level of expectation. That said, the series’s arguably brilliant two-parter, “We Is Us” and “Pirate Lady,” written and directed by Gilligan, doubles as both our introduction to a wholly different kind of sci-fi story and raises more questions than it could reasonably attempt to answer. Pluribus doesn’t seem all that interested in easy narrative shortcuts when it could alternate between making you laugh and cry instead — and that, combined with an absolute powerhouse performance from lead Rhea Seehorn, should be more than enough to keep people tuning in.
A Hivemind Virus Infects Everyone in ‘Pluribus’ Episode 1 — Except Carol
Before the world ends — and it will end, though not in the way you might expect — Pluribus begins dropping inevitable breadcrumbs. 439 days before that, satellites pick up a strange, drifting radio signal that repeats every 78 seconds and seems to be coming from 600 light-years away. Astronomers can’t crack the code right away, because it’s not Morse, nor is it a clearly encrypted sequence. Cut to 71 days before everything changes, and that signal has been translated into an RNA sequence that USAMRID (or the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) is now testing on rats, because why not? Seems harmless enough — until one of the rodent subjects pretends to play dead and then bites a scientist through their glove 42 days later. One communal box full of licked donuts and several thoroughly unprofessional kisses between colleagues later, the entire building has been infected, with everyone from janitors to military police in bulletproof vests preparing swabs of their own saliva for wider shipment in an eerily synchronized fashion. Now, it’s not a matter of whether this virus will spread, but how far and how fast.
The larger world remains ignorant of what’s happening — including speculative historical romance author Carol Sturka (Seehorn), who’s wrapping up her latest book tour. Despite a devoted fanbase of readers who ensure her Winds of Wycaro series continues to sell (what was once a planned trilogy has now blossomed into at least a quartet), Carol seems defeated in more ways than one. Her book tour was something to be endured, not celebrated, and she’s resentful of Wycaro‘s success because she doesn’t consider her series as anything close to great literature. When her manager and partner, Helen (Miriam Shor), suggests finally publishing Bitter Chrysalis, the “serious book” she’s been working on for almost five years, Carol initially hesitates — but then starts to consider branching out. Either way, Helen reminds her, making people happy with her writing may not be art, but it’s still something.
As the two women duck outside the Albuquerque bar they’ve been hanging out in for a smoke while reading Wycaro fan reactions, a TV on the wall chillingly declares that the local airbase is now officially on lockdown. When someone crashes their truck right next to them, Carol jumps into action, but both the driver and Helen collapse to the ground — and inside the bar, everyone is frozen in place, having some kind of synergetic seizure. Calls to 911 and the police go to a recording, and Carol’s forced to steal that truck to drive Helen’s unconscious, twitching body to the hospital. It’s chaos on the road, with cars having crashed and people still lying where they’ve fallen. Everyone in the hospital waiting room is experiencing that same seizure. As Carol attempts to put Helen on a gurney herself, the other woman briefly regains consciousness and smiles at her before the light fades from her eyes. Carol tries to resuscitate her partner, but it’s no use — and while Carol sobs in grief, everyone else snaps out of their seizures and walks out of the hospital to surround the truck. One of them tries to kiss a visibly confused Carol, but somehow, she’s immune to whatever’s infected the others.
With Helen’s body still in the bed of the truck, Carol tears out of the hospital and doesn’t stop driving until she gets to their neighborhood cul-de-sac. Two kids from next door ominously approach, but they tell Carol they only want to help, reminding her about the house key she has hidden beneath a potted plant on the front stoop. When she demands they leave her alone, all her neighbors exit their houses and get into their cars, but not before expressing how sorry they are for her loss — this is all done in unison, by the way. Thoroughly disturbed, Carol drags Helen’s body into the house and proceeds to frantically barricade herself indoors. There are answers to be found on TV either, at least at first. Every channel is down, except for C-SPAN, which is broadcasting from the White House. A chyron encourages Carol to call the number on the screen for more answers when she’s “ready,” but Carol needs to pour herself a stiff drink before picking up the phone.
Over the course of this very strange conversation, we learn a few key details. As explained to Carol by Davis Taffler (Peter Bergman), the U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation (several senior members of the government passed away during the event), everyone is now “beneficiaries of extraterrestrial technology,” which has resulted in a “psychic glue capable of binding us all together.” In other words, every surviving mind on Earth is now linked, except for Carol’s and 11 other people like her, who are somehow immune. As for who’s in charge now? Well, that’s no one, or everyone, depending on how you look at it. The first episode ends on a particularly ominous note, though, when the individual previously known as Taffler promises Carol that they’ll figure out “what makes [her] different” so she can join them — so she can become part of “us.” Understandably, Carol hangs up on them, ignoring their attempt to call her back before the episode cuts to black and we finally see the show’s title card.
Carol Wants Answers About What’s Going on in ‘Pluribus’ Episode 2
When Episode 2 begins, and a woman we don’t yet know is winding her way through the streets of Morocco on a scooter, and then solo flying a cargo plane out of the Tangier airport. Not much time has passed at all since the strange hivemind event, and Carol is waking up on her living room floor next to a near-empty bottle of liquor. Despite her hangover, there’s the looming matter of Helen’s body to attend to, a reminder that last night wasn’t some kind of terrible dream, so Carol blearily wraps her partner’s body in a quilt and proceeds to start digging a grave in the backyard. Meanwhile, the woman from Morocco has landed in Albuquerque and showers off the dust and grime before heading on to her destination: Carol’s house. With Carol two hours into shoveling, they’re concerned that she might need a break and some hydration, but Carol refuses to accept any help from the woman who bears an uncomfortable physical similarity to none other than Raban, the proud but haughty pirate hero of her Winds of Wycaro books. “My original version of him was a her,” Carol reveals. “But I talked myself out of it. And we never told anyone. Helen and I were the only ones who knew.” The woman reveals that before she died, Helen was briefly a part of the Joining — so all of her thoughts and memories are now included in what everyone can access.
Carol is thoroughly disturbed by the revelation that this hivemind has access to her partner’s memories, but when she shoves the Raban lookalike they’ve sent her to “make her happy,” shouting in her face about them being “ghouls,” the woman collapses into another strange seizure, as does everyone else within driving distance. By the time Carol gets back to her house, there’s no one in sight, but a hat, work gloves, and pickaxe have been left behind in the backyard, and Carol reluctantly picks up the phone and tells whoever’s on the other end that “the pirate lady” (referring to the episode’s title) “can come back if she wants.” Those seizures, as the “pirate lady” reveals, are the product of Carol’s negative emotions, which can be a little “tough to take,” being directed right at any member of the hivemind. But when Carol asks whether anyone died after that collective seizure, Pirate Lady’s wordless reaction tells her everything she needs to know. The rest of the gravedigging goes a little smoother once Carol finally agrees to let a backhoe be delivered by helicopter — which Pirate Lady already knows how to operate, of course.
It turns out that there are actually 12 others, like Carol, who are immune to this virus — they found one more in Paraguay this morning — and, once Carol expresses a desire to meet the five who can speak English, it’s easy to reach across the globe in an instant when everyone’s minds are connected. After earning consent from the others, Carol hops on a plane with Pirate Lady (and a waitress from TGI Fridays piloting) to Bilbao. Otgonbayar (Amarburen Sanjid), Xiu Mei (Sharon Gee), Kusimayu (Darinka Arones), and Lakshmi (Menik Gooneratne) are all there to greet her, but they’ve also brought their family members, who have all been infected. Meanwhile, the missing sixth member of their group, Koumba Diabate (Samba Schutte), shows up late to the gathering because he’s been taking full advantage of the hivemind’s desire to make him happy — hence, flying in on Air Force One.
Aboard the presidential aircraft, Carol dismisses everyone who’s been infected so that the rest of them can figure out a game plan — but no one’s a doctor, or has a background in science or genetics, so that idea is swiftly discarded. Even Carol’s insistence that they need to save humanity, to put the world right, is met with resistance. Everyone else is perfectly content with the way things are now; Lakshmi, in particular, is resentful because her grandfather died when Carol’s anger sent the hivemind into that seizure. Despite Carol’s efforts in pointing out that these people aren’t really their family anymore, the others are staunchly in denial about that reality. Others, like Kusimayu, are strongly considering the possibility of joining the hivemind if it becomes possible. Over lunch in wine country, the conversation quickly turns to the revelation that the hivemind won’t purposefully kill and tries to avoid inadvertently causing death at all costs. That doesn’t go over well with Carol, who points out that no one on Earth was actually given a choice about whether they wanted to be psychically joined or not — and 886,477,591 people died, despite claims of a peaceful takeover. (Carol’s anger apparently accounted for 11 million of those deaths.)
After downing several glasses of wine in quick succession, Carol decides she’s had enough of this charade and demands to be flown home — but not before spitefully encouraging the others to “eat, drink, and be merry.” When she passes out on the gravel drive, and the hivemind attempts to revive her, her screaming triggers another seizure for them. Hours later, after Carol’s recovered, the others have left, save Koumba, who asks Carol’s permission for Zosia, AKA “Pirate Lady,” to join him and the other model-esque, scantily-clad women who have been keeping him company. It’s a request that Carol balks at, especially because it’s not clear whether Zosia can actually consent — you know, given the whole “we only want to make you happy” deal. Choosing between Carol and Koumba would hurt one of them, Zosia says. After Carol boards her plane alone and sees Zosia seeming to hesitate before boarding Air Force One, however, she chooses to run out onto the tarmac and stop Koumba from taking off — and Episode 2 ends before we learn what happens next.
- Release Date
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November 6, 2025
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Writers
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Ariel Levine
Pros & Cons
- The alien hivemind concept has so much untapped potential given access to unlimited minds and resources.
- It’s great to have little worldbuilding details about the Joining trickled out over two episodes.
- The opening night sequence in Albuquerque when the virus hits is terrifying and unsettling.
- Rhea Seehorn is already giving a great performance as Carol.
- Karolina Wydra’s Zosia warmly personifies the hivemind.
- The show occasionally expresses disdain for romance readers in a mean-spirited way, even if it’s meant to illustrate Carol’s unhappiness.
