Pluribus Review - We Are Us, We are So Back
TELEVISION!
We're BACK!
Reader, despite my current branding as “movie person” TV was probably my first love, in part due to shows from “the golden age of television.” I love when TV embraces its strengths as a medium and lets us get to know characters week by week, whilst gradually building a whole new world. I love when a show gets to take its time and lets the audience languish in the universe. With the gradual enshittfication of everything, plus the demotion of TV to be a place for shit long movies, it's been a rough few years. For every Succession there's an All's Fair . For every Andor, there’s a Book of Boba Fett. For every Season 1 of The Bear, there’s a Season 4 of The Bear.
Which is why I, like so many TV fans, am thrilled about Pluribus. Created by Vince Gilligan (creator of Breaking Bad + Better Call Saul aka Bob Odenkirk fancam fodder) and starring Rhea Seahorn (breakout star of Better Call Saul), Pluribus is about…. no, hold that thought…. go WATCH IT. It was an actual treat having gone in without knowing anything, and I don't want to deprive you of such a delight. You're already clicked the page, we've already got the numbers. Seriously, stop reading and go watch. It's on Apple TV plus, go get a free trial. This article will be waiting when you're done.
Okay you're back. WASN'T THAT AMAZING!
Pluribus tells the story of Carol, a romantasy writer, whose world falls apart when everyone is infected with some sort of virus that leads to the formation of an overbearing, subservient hivemind. “We are us” says Secretary of Agriculture and current hivemind spokesperson though the TV directly to Carol. Every other person in the word, bar Carol and a random few others, now share the same mind; everyone's knowledge has been uploaded and the world is populated with Pod People. They have all the information and resources in the world, but they're not real people anymore. Sure, there are some benefits, as highlighted by fellow leftover and hedonist Koumba Diabaté (who is simply having a blast on screen) - there's no more crime, racism is no longer an issue, world peace has been achieved – but the cost is the death of individuality. People lack real thoughts and opinions. Sure, the Pod People can do advanced maths and fly planes, but they can't choose to do anything purely for themselves. Yes, they’re intelligent, but it’s almost artificial.
Vince Gilligan came up with the concept for the show during the pandemic- before the current boom of learned language models. He came to prominence, as a writer for The X-Files, so as a Sci-Fi Guy it makes sense that he understands the future landscape and how we react to faux-friendly and subservience AI Of the remaining leftovers that we meet, somehow they're all fine with this. They have access to all the world's knowledge and are surrounded by “people” who just want to make them happy. They can go to the Guggenheim whenever they want, they can get the perfect meal made for them at any point. To them, their family members aren't AI abominations. they're still them- just with a pod like sheen.
Pluribus nails the feeling of being made to feel like an insane person for Not using ChatGPT.
In the show, the hivemind scrapes across the assimilated humanity to find the perfect companion for Carol. It’s algorithmically decided.
Your AI girlfriend isn't real, it’s Al. Your deceased family member is not talking to you from the grave, it’s a robot telling you what you want to hear. And to Carol, things can’t just go on the way it did - she's disgusted by the human versions of ChatGPT. Everyone is the living manifestation of slop.
Above all else, Carol is lonely. Her partner and business manager passed away in “the uploading,” and she’s struggling to process her grief all whilst coming to terms with exactly what is going on. Gilligan shoots the Albuquerque desert and suburbs as though Carol is the only person in the world with a pulse. The sense of isolation is palpable in every shot - even when the Pod People are present. Everyone in the world knows what she has gone through, everyone just wants to make her happy, but no one understands. As we delve further into ChatGPT and reliance on AI, we lose one of the things that makes us human: basic empathy.
I have no idea where Pluribus is going and I'm thrilled about it. So far, it's a Scifi Mystery box show, but it's also an exploration on grief, and a condemnation of Al. It's an excuse to show how beautiful Albuquerque is, it's a showcase for Rhea Seahorn to finally get an Emmy (justice for S6E12 of Better Call Saul). Above all that, it's damn good television (and excellent Rhea Seahorn fancam fodder).
