Streaming Pluribus

[Cookie]

The thing is. Given his track record of multiple series, am I going to live long enough to see it out?
Shaping up to be a classic.

 

[happy_eagle]

People complaining how it moves slowly forget that people said the same thing about Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

That is just how Vince Gilligan tells his stories I guess. Season 1 was very good, interested to see where they take it in Season 2, and how many seasons they have in mind.

 

[rumply]

People complaining how it moves slowly forget that people said the same thing about Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

That is just how Vince Gilligan tells his stories I guess. Season 1 was very good, interested to see where they take it in Season 2, and how many seasons they have in mind.

Into the 3rd season of my BCS rewatch & while I enjoyed it the first time around when it aired, so far it's been much better than I remember, brilliant TV.

 

[happy_eagle]

Into the 3rd season of my BCS rewatch & while I enjoyed it the first time around when it aired, so far it's been much better than I remember, brilliant TV.

I think Vince Gilligan shows are a better watch without a weekly/season wait. I found this to be the case with Pluribus, as I smashed through S1 in a few days once it had already aired. I think there is more tolerance of slower moving episodes (like episode 7) when you know you have the next episode queued up right away.

I don't know what the stats are, but I feel like a lot of people discovered Breaking Bad, and it really developed a cult status once it went to streaming and people could watch it all at once.

 

[rumply]

I think Vince Gilligan shows are a better watch without a weekly/season wait. I found this to be the case with Pluribus, as I smashed through S1 in a few days once it had already aired. I think there is more tolerance of slower moving episodes (like episode 7) when you know you have the next episode queued up right away.

I don't know what the stats are, but I feel like a lot of people discovered Breaking Bad, and it really developed a cult status once it went to streaming and people could watch it all at once.

Yeah the 1 or 2 episodes a night is heaven. I am literally looking forward to them every day, living life on the wild side as I do

 

[Gasometer]

Yeah the 1 or 2 episodes a night is heaven. I am literally looking forward to them every day, living life on the wild side as I do

…Carol concurs

 

[AFDogs]

Loved it. Late to the party but finished it in 2 days.

Just wish this season was longer than 9 episodes and season 2 wasn’t so far away. I felt like much more could’ve happened.

The only issue I have is it seems Carol and Minousos were the only people to have normal reactions to the hivemind. But I guess that’s the point.

 

[Beerfish]

Finished last night. Definitely worth waiting and then binging. Was a bit frustrated with how slow it was at first but by the time it finished i was all in. Thank goodness I wasn't trying to watch it week by week.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Finished last night. Definitely worth waiting and then binging. Was a bit frustrated with how slow it was at first but by the time it finished i was all in. Thank goodness I wasn't trying to watch it week by week.

I liked the week by week episode release. We got some good discussion and speculation about what was going on.

 

[Beerfish]

I liked the week by week episode release. We got some good discussion and speculation about what was going on.

Yep. That's the thing I'm missing out on by avoiding this thread for sure but I think i prefer the binge.

 

[jackn]

.The only issue I have is it seems Carol and Minousos were the only people to have normal reactions to the hivemind. But I guess that’s the point.

Were they the only 2 without loved ones in the hive? Also don't think there's anything overly abnormal about the French guys reaction. I think I'd go the carol route in this situation but his way does seem more fun and I'm pretty sure there'd be a not insignificant number that would choose his path.

 

[Father Jack]

i started this late and watched it weekly so I've only just finished, but I don't know that I've ever watched a show where the final credits took me by surprise so consistently, as in 'that was never 50 minutes'. Oddly enough it ended up being the case for the series itself, as I didn't know I'd watched the final ep until I read a recap of it.

And yeah, after all that grenade foreshadowing, that definitely has to be an atom bomb. Too bad I won't find out next week like I originally thought

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Just a few points:

• There were 13 Immune individuals who remained outside the Hive on the date everyone else was converted. Only six of those Immune individuals could speak English.
• Kusimayu expressed a desire to join the Hive when they met on Airforce One, and eventually the Hive found a way of completing the conversion.
• Laxmi was openly hostile towards Carol Sturka when they met on Airforce One and seems to be the one leading the opposition to Carol joining the group video conferences of the Immune (it is heavily implied that only Diabate was in favour of allowing Carol to join the group conferences). Even when her son was telling things that he could only have acquired after joining, she remained in denial about his true nature.
• Diabate seems to be ambivalent towards the Hive. He's enjoyed taking advantage of their pliant nature, but is not keen on joining the Hive.
• Manousos has adopted a hostile attitude towards the Hive and is actively working to try to undo the process.
• Carol started out hostile towards the Hive and blamed them for the death of her partner. But she allowed herself to be seduced by Zosia and her feelings towards the Hive softened to a certain extent, until it became clear that the Hive's overriding prerogative is the conversion of Carol and the other Immune individuals to the Hive.

Diabate's past before the Joining is not entirely made clear, but it appears that he did not have any significant others or family members that were converted by the Joining or did not survive the process. Carol lost her partner. There's also little to indicate that Manousos had any significant others or family members survive the Joining (the Pluribus Wiki suggests that he had a mother prior to the Joining, and that she was converted, based on dialogue between Carol and Manousos in the "Grenade" episode).

 

[Dixie Flatline]

I'm almost certain that Carol does have a nuclear device/atomic bomb in the crate at the end of season 1. You'll recall that in Grenade, she spoke to a Plurb and asked (initially sarcastically) that if she had asked for an atomic bomb, would they give it to her, and she was shocked when the Plurb confirmed that they would give her one.

 

[Frank Bunn]

There's also little to indicate that Manousos had any significant others or family members survive the Joining (the Pluribus Wiki suggests that he had a mother prior to the Joining, and that she was converted, based on dialogue between Carol and Manousos in the "Grenade" episode).

It's in the show. As Manousos is about to set off in his MG a woman comes to talk to him. "Hello son. What can we do for you". He glares at her and says "Don't call me son. You're not my mother. My mother's a bitch". She's physically his mother but he knows she's part of the hive because she is being nice.

 

[Kirby]

It's in the show. As Manousos is about to set off in his MG a woman comes to talk to him. "Hello son. What can we do for you". He glares at her and says "Don't call me son. You're not my mother. My mother's a bitch". She's physically his mother but he knows she's part of the hive because she is being nice.

Oh ok. At the time of watching I thought that he was talking metaphorically but it makes sense that it is/was his actual mother.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

We’ve just finished the first season of Pluribus, and I really enjoyed it. I’m still not entirely sure how an atomic bomb is supposed to help Carol, but it certainly sets up an intriguing second season. The tension between Carol’s fierce desire to maintain her individuality and her innate need for human connection—forcing her to engage with “them”—was a compelling through-line. It’s a sharp reflection of a basic human truth: we’re all individuals, but none of us can exist without connection.

What would any of us do in that situation—endure it, exploit it for our own gratification, or finally give in and dissolve ourselves into the hive mind?

There’s also a stark survival dimension. We learn that millions within the Hive will die of starvation because they’re incapable of farming, believing it’s morally wrong to kill any living thing. Giving in and joining the Hive, then, isn’t just a loss of self—it could be a death sentence. Remaining outside the Hive becomes the only way to survive, especially given the Hive’s compulsion to protect and sustain the uninfected.

 

[Beerfish]

I’m still not entirely sure how an atomic bomb is supposed to help Carol

I think she intends to use it if they try to forcibly infect her since they revealed they already got genetic material from her frozen eggs. She thought she'd be safe forever because they needed her permission.

So not really 'help' but it's definitely a pretty big way to say **** you i won't do what you tell me.

 

[SM]

I think she intends to use it if they try to forcibly infect her since they revealed they already got genetic material from her frozen eggs. She thought she'd be safe forever because they needed her permission.

So not really 'help' but it's definitely a pretty big way to say **** you i won't do what you tell me.

Hey that's a good line, they should use that in a song.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

She thought she'd be safe forever because they needed her permission.

I do think they'd never forcibly infect Carol, even though they have her eggs, unless she consented to it. But I could see them making the required serum just in case Carol changed her mind.

 

[Frank Bunn]

We’ve just finished the first season of Pluribus, and I really enjoyed it. I’m still not entirely sure how an atomic bomb is supposed to help Carol, but it certainly sets up an intriguing second season. The tension between Carol’s fierce desire to maintain her individuality and her innate need for human connection—forcing her to engage with “them”—was a compelling through-line. It’s a sharp reflection of a basic human truth: we’re all individuals, but none of us can exist without connection.

What would any of us do in that situation—endure it, exploit it for our own gratification, or finally give in and dissolve ourselves into the hive mind?

There’s also a stark survival dimension. We learn that millions within the Hive will die of starvation because they’re incapable of farming, believing it’s morally wrong to kill any living thing. Giving in and joining the Hive, then, isn’t just a loss of self—it could be a death sentence. Remaining outside the Hive becomes the only way to survive, especially given the Hive’s compulsion to protect and sustain the uninfected.

The atom bomb night not be important. Perhaps just a cheap trick to create some intrigue at the end of the season.

The choice has to be between resisting the hive and exploiting it. Once you are part of it you are nothing. Carol's instincts are to fight back but could not handle the loneliness. She will have an ally in Manousos. It must be very tempting to live Diabate's fantasy life.

The hive is essentially infected by a virus. A virus doesn't care about its host. It just needs the host to survive long enough to continue the spread of the virus. Humanity could develop the technology to send the signal to other planets before going extinct.

 

[Kirby]

I do think they'd never forcibly infect Carol, even though they have her eggs, unless she consented to it. But I could see them making the required serum just in case Carol changed her mind.

They've infected the entire planet against their will.

They'd never hurt her i.e. force the surgery on her, but I think it's clear that a a non painful and non intrusive infection by gas is something that they will absolutely do.

 

[kickazz]

So many parallels with AI.

Convenience vs loss of agency.

Plurbs can't grow food themselves, but feed by processing existing human produced food (and humans). Gen AI doesn't produce original work so much as regurgitates existing human work.

Hasn't really hallucinated yet though. We did have that little exchange over the Gatorade which had parallels with trying to train an AI that just doesn't quite get it.

Collective hive knowledge = scraping of entire web.

It doesn't know things that didn't get captured by the "big scrape" of minds. Carol's thoughts about train horns, and her newest book, are completely unknown to the hive. Similar to OpenAI having an 'end date of knowledge' when it first launched ChatGPT.

It seems more inclined to say what Carol wants to hear or at least provide plausible conversation parts, rather than take the lead and explain its strategy like something agentic might.

Is amoral, behaving within some clearly assigned parameters (don't lie, don't kill) but without having an innate concept right and wrong. (Every time Zosia says "we won't do that" it sounds like following a script)

The hedonist = those dazzled by AI but unconcerned with Agency or bigger picture.

And Carol's new book. Something new for the hive finally to ingest. Without humans, will the hive get any smarter or better? If AI stops people being creative, will it run out of ideas to make itself better because of this?

 

[kickazz]

The nature motif is also pertinent, reminding us of what is real and what isn't. "Touch some grass" as it were.


Some really beautiful shots of nature in this show.