Why you should be watching Pluribus – Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan’s promising new show

“Bullshit.”

That’s the first word uttered, in disbelief, in the new show from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. A memorable way to kick off Pluribus – or PLUR1BUS – which may very well be one of the most promising starts to a show since Severance.

After a signal from light years away stuns scientists and is interspersed with an ominous countdown, we meet Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn, Better Caul Saul’s Kim Waxler). She’s an acerbic best-selling author who has made a name for herself writing “speculative historical romance literature” - or what some may disparagingly refer to as ‘Clit Lit’.

Carol considers it “mindless crap” and she doesn’t have much regard for the "bunch of dummies” who buy her books and pay for her luxury pad in New Mexico.

Her professional funk is replaced by an almighty existential tizzy when people around her start convulsing – including her manager and partner Helen (Miriam Shor). Panic supersedes cynicism before transforming into confusion as Carol realises that she seems to be immune to the viral outbreak.

Thankfully, the seizures don’t last but they still end in tragedy for Carol. Heartbroken, she discovers that the virus doesn’t turn its victims into a zombie horde but makes everyone happy.

Not that it’s a virus, per se. Nor is it a bona fide alien invasion. As her television informs her, it’s a gift from outer space. The Undersecretary of Agriculture speaks to her directly from the White House, informing her that the signal was a alien recipe for a nucleotide sequence that binds everyone together through a “psychic glue”. Everyone now shares the same memories, thoughts and emotions.

Everyone, except 13 inexplicably immune people in the world.

So, it’s the end of the world as we know it – and almost everyone feels fine.

From the hive mind’s perspective, it’s blissful enlightenment that represents the "greatest day in the history of humanity." But from Carol’s standpoint, she’s the resistance and needs to save humanity from this overnight utopia.

Just when you thought that you'd seen every conceivable iteration of the apocalypse, Gilligan provides a 'cozy' fallout with his take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But because it’s a Gilligan joint, it’s gently meta (“We’ve all seen this movie and we know it doesn’t end well”) and not that clear cut.

The series creator, writer and director of the first two episodes deftly threads the line between sci-fi dread and dark comedy, with plenty of food for thought. Everyone may seem suddenly content and relentlessly obliging, leading to some humorous sight gags, but some bodies couldn’t handle the transition. Peace at last, maybe, but no one gave consent to this tranquil transition. When the politician speaks to our anti-hero through her screen, his eerie lines “You are safe” and “Your life is your own” can’t help but recall the subliminal messages in John Carpenter’s They Live. And when Carol’s lack of anger management makes genocidal murderers’ body counts pale in comparison, there are enough reminders that a palpable darkness permeates throughout the rather ingenious concept of suddden widespread optimism.

Thankfully, it simmers there, never overwhelming the comedy nor cheapening the potent human story. In essence, Pluribus manages to exist in the Venn diagram centre where George Orwell, The Twilight Zone and The Good Place intersect.

Moreover, and to the show’s great credit, at no point does its themes or their parable potential feel force-fed.

There is a lot to digest in Pluribus: it’s about grief, pandemics, individualism, conformity, free will, Communism and the precious value of embracing a healthy dose of critical pessimism when faced with an echo chamber or something that seems too good to be true. The title is also far from anodyne, as it echoes the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum (One Out of Many), which serves as America’s motto, suggesting that Pluribus could be a stealth political missile.

Then there’s the delightful Easter egg in the shape of a disclaimer during the credits for each episode: "This show was made by humans."

Beyond the timely bird-flip in the direction of artificial intelligence and its alarming encroachment into the arts, this seemingly throwaway line resonates. The Pluribus “virus” promises advancement by merge-dumping of all human intelligence and experience into one hive mind... Beware the lure of both a single-minded collective and a singular “intelligence”-generating entity.

“I do not care for AI,” Gilligan recently told Deadline. “But I’ll try to be magnanimous and say that anytime a new technology is created, I have to believe that the central impetus of it is to make the world a better place. It’s just that, as this technology progresses, I don’t see how it will make the world a better place, but maybe it will, because I’m wrong more than I’m right. It depends on what the heck you’re creating a technology for, but more and more, it just seems to be clear, either explicitly or implicitly, that this technology is being designed to take work away, creativity away, creative endeavor away from human beings."

He added: "You’re losing a part of yourself. You’re losing an agency, to use a word from Pluribus, that you would otherwise possess, that you no longer have at your disposal.”

Fertile terrain for a potent allegory... However, never does the potential for a topical and satirical warning get in the way of the fun.

As with all promising sci-fi premises and tantalising high concepts, there’s always going to be a sneaking unease regarding a series roadmap and whether audiences will be treated to a satisfying payoff. People felt burned by Lost, and the lingering worry still persists when it comes to Severance.

While this concern is more than warranted, the fact that it exists after only two episodes should go some way to telling you how promising the start of Pluribus is. And considering Gilligan’s track record on The X Files, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, there’s merit in remaining optimistic.

Not too optimistic, mind you. Pluribus is a fun watch, but we’ve been paying attention... And suffice to say, it’s far from bullshit.

The first two episodes of Pluribus are currently streaming on Apple TV, with further episodes arriving on a weekly basis until the finale on 26 December. A second season has already been greenlit.