The Showrunner Discloses He Knows How Pluribus Will Conclude... For Now.
Vince Gilligan could not have predicted that Pluribus would turn into a cultural phenomenon. “The viewers have been incredible,” he states. “I was surprised by the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
Now that Season 1 of the acclaimed program reaching its finale—and Season 2 officially in the works—the writers' room opened up about the viewer reception and whether it will impact the storyline of Pluribus.
On the Incredible Audience Reaction
Anyone might to get swayed by the rampant praise and audience predictions regarding Pluribus. The creator is striving to steer clear of all that.
“The experience is akin to constantly eating something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it through word of mouth, and that's by design. Not once have I looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's quite the opposite. It's a rabbit hole I know I would get lost in and then I'd be living in squalor from Home Depot and I'd never leave my living room.”
In spite of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the immensely favorable response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it alter the course of the show.
“It is not our goal to change the plot,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The narrative we craft is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“It's wiser to keep our heads down and working,” he chimes in.
The Central Mystery: Will the showrunner Have a Plan for the Finale of Pluribus?
So if Gilligan and his team aren't taking cues by audience theories, does it imply they already know how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… sort of.
“We have some potential directions about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan reveals. “yet we stand ready to discard a good idea for a superior concept. This approach has served us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We change course when we conceive of something superior and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if they hit a wall, director and writer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll zoom out in the finale and the characters are inside it,” Smith jokes, “but no one is buying it.”
Of course, why not reference the classics?
“I want Carol to awaken with Bob Newhart there,” he jokes.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV+.
