How Scientifically Accurate Is Apple TV's New Sci-Fi Hit ‘Pluribus’?

Apple TV’s newest sci-fi show, Pluribus, might have one of the most subtly terrifying premises in a series this year. Rather than a violent alien invasion, like something out of War of the Worlds, Pluribus focuses on far more human consequences. What if you were left alone after everyone assimilated, or you lost your individuality to a hive mind? Is this a phenomenon we truly need to worry about? Could there be a day when scientists push too far and unlock a mysterious alien signal that leads to a shared consciousness like the Others possess?

Thankfully, science would point to something like the Joining currently being an impossibility, at least by our current understanding of human consciousness. However, that doesn’t mean that Pluribus is a completely made-up idea. In the metaphysical school of thought, religions have already explored this idea, and the concept of hiveminds is seen in the insect kingdom, though not in the way anyone would first assume. However, the brilliance of Vince Gilligan‘s work is what makes this pseudoscience so convincing.

Carol holding onto a doctor in Episode 1 of 'Pluribus' — Carol holding onto a doctor in Episode 1 of ‘Pluribus’

Trying to understand and rationalize the premise of Pluribus brings up immediate issues. Simply put, despite thousands of hours of research and countless published materials, there is no definitive notion of what consciousness actually is. The idea itself is one that is certainly metaphysical, rather than scientific. Yes, there is the science of how our brain receives and interprets data, such as light, smells, touch, and other things, but there are abundant theories around why we perceive the world around us in the way we do. Some have attempted to use quantum mechanics to explain consciousness, while Buddhism argues that there are layers that make it a fundamental piece of the universe, like matter itself.

Some psychologists, such as Carl Jung and Émile Durkheim, make the idea even more abstract, arguing that there is such a thing as a “collective consciousness.” This refers to a more social aspect of how shared ideas, morality, and values shape how large groups of people think and behave, based more on emotive factors than facts. This is probably the closest idea of consciousness that Pluribus represents, as the assimilated humans seem to have tapped into collective responsibility, another key aspect of Jung and Durkheim’s hypotheses. Yet there are currently no RNA sequences that could unlock a direct link between all of our brains, which the premise of Pluribus is rooted in, but that doesn’t mean biological hive minds don’t exist entirely.

The Insect Kingdom Shows Signs of ‘Pluribus’s Hivemind

While individual human consciousness is far from understood, there is a well-known precedent for hivemind qualities in the insect kingdom, which is often referred to as swarm intelligence. For example, ants are not considered individual thinkers, and instead respond to pheromones, a chemical stimulus that instructs the entirety of the colony how to behave to solve a task. This allows them to accomplish huge feats that one ant alone could not achieve on their own, from clearing obstacles to farming and building their nests. This can also be reflected in Zosia’s (Karolina Wydra) explanation of the Others’ infiltration of humanity as a “biological imperative,” rather than any sinister intent.

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This concept of swam intelligence also connects to how the Others have acted somewhat irrationally at times. In the closing minutes of Episode 3, “Grenade,” Carol (Rhea Seehorn) asks if they would give her an “atom bomb,” to which they inevitably confirm they would, given their desire never to upset anyone, even if it risks their own existence. In the insect kingdom, infiltrating ants known as Lasius Orientalis will douse a Lasius Flavus ant queen in a pheromone that tells the other ants she is now an impostor, leading them to kill her so that an infiltrator can usurp her position and become the new queen. The Orientalis ultimately take over the colony until all the Flavus workers are dead and replaced. While it goes against every instinct of the Flavus workers to kill their queen, they go along with it simply because of a biological response. This poses an interesting question for Pluribus: will the Others similarly follow their own biological imperative to their demise?

Vince Gilligan Grounds His Sci-Fi Premise Through Believable Detail in ‘Pluribus’

Rhea Seehorn and Miriam Shor in Pluribus Episode 1

If Pluribus‘ hivemind is impossible in humans, and only partially seen in other kingdoms of species, why does it feel so believable? The answer lies in Gilligan’s approach to pseudoscience that has been apparent since Breaking Bad: focusing on what the audience sees, rather than greater details. The creator and director previously revealed to Polygon that he based the Others’ movements on schools of fish, which also show traits of swarm intelligence in how they move “faster than the human eye.” Making the Others a fluidly choreographed organization greatly helps the authenticity of the premise without actually explaining the microdetails of why they are moving in sync.

Gilligan’s attention to detail, however, is also key in understanding why Pluribus‘ premise feels so real. By depicting the signal from space, detailed lab experiments, and a linear progression to the invasion, Gilligan creates a convincing premise that shows step-by-step how the world gets to this point, leaving the audience without questions about how this occurred and trusting that any relevant questions surrounding why it happened will be answered. Similarly, in Breaking Bad, the idea of 99% pure meth is a fantasy, but the scenes of Walter explaining his process, stealing the methylamine, and painstakingly creating his blue version help the audience to believe it.

In the end, Gilligan is showing, just as he did with Breaking Bad, that viewers can suspend their disbelief about a fantastical sci-fi premise if enough realism is communicated instead. While you don’t need to fear being assimilated, unless you’re an ant, you may still need to worry about Carol and the other 12 immune humans still fighting to retain their own individual agency on Pluribus.