The new series by Vince Gilligan, creator of ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’, presents a disturbing dystopia where, overnight, the majority of humans have lost the ability to think autonomously, thus becoming all part of a great collective consciousness. Consequently, the world has become a peaceful and seemingly perfect place, where humans live in harmony with each other and with enormous respect for animals and nature. One of the few people on Earth immune to this inexplicable mental invasion is Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), a successful and depressed fantasy writer from Albuquerque who is absolutely horrified by this new order.
This loss of individuality helps Gilligan draw an allegory that is as clever as it is relevant to the world in which we live. The arrival of artificial intelligence has burst into our reality with such force that it is almost difficult to remember that just a few years ago we did not have it, causing curiosity and the capacity for reasoning, which were already worn out with the global addiction to technology, to have decreased to truly alarming levels. We are feeding a monster that feeds on our information while gradually taking away part of our humanity without us realizing it.
‘Pluribus’ responds to this rabidly topical social anxiety with an attractive and suggestive approach that avoids at all costs the narrative conventions of the series of the streaming era, always so concerned with ensuring that the viewer does not get bored and understands everything at all times. Instead, Apple TV+ has known how to take risks and give Gilligan carte blanche to develop the story at his own pace, stopping at details and subplots that others would not stop at and making them the true heart of the series.
The first season progresses slowly but decisively, gradually solving a fascinating and unpredictable enigma. Its nine chapters are nothing more than an introduction to what promises to be an unforgettable universe. And if there is anyone you can have faith in in the television field, it is undoubtedly Vince Gilligan.
‘Pluribus’ is partly reminiscent of ‘Breaking Bad’, and not only because of the desert landscapes of New Mexico, but because from the beginning one has the feeling of being witness to something big. Narratively it is ambitious and complex, leaving several fronts open and endless themes and characters to explore, but making sure that absolutely everything it does show has a purpose, even if at first it may not seem like it.
At the helm of all this is an extraordinary Rhea Seehorn, who already worked with the celebrated showrunner on ‘Better Call Saul’ (and earned her an Emmy nomination). She is the soul of the series, building a charismatic character full of complexities and contradictions. With all her flaws, Carol brims with humanity in a world that has lost it, and is therefore the perfect (anti)heroine to guide the viewer through her helplessness and frustration in a desolate apocalyptic reality. There are chapters in which only she appears, where she does not interact with any other human being, but her presence is so magnetic that you never miss that there is anyone else on screen. In fact, one of the great successes of this season is the narrative freedom that Gilligan takes to tell the story in her own way, but without an actress of Seehorn’s talent it would be impossible for it to work.
There are many reasons to be excited about this impressive start to ‘Pluribus’, but the most important of all is that it leaves a lot of room for the next season to be even better. Are we at the beginning of a future classic?
