The Showrunner Reveals He Knows How Pluribus Will Conclude... For Now.
The acclaimed writer-producer did not foresee that Pluribus would turn into a cultural phenomenon. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
With the first season of the hit sci-fi show reaching its finale—and Season 2 already in development—the creative team recently discussed the fan response and whether it will impact the storyline of Pluribus.
On the Incredible Viewer Reception
One could easily to get sidetracked by the rampant praise and online debates surrounding Pluribus. He is doing his best to steer clear of all that.
“The experience is akin to an endless supply of hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he explains. “It's wonderful, but I get wind of it through word of mouth, and that's on purpose. Never in my life searched for my own name online, nor do I ever intend to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a bottomless pit I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd be stuck in my living room.”
Regardless of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“It is not our goal to change the plot,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not influenced by online forums.”
“It's wiser to keep our focus on the work,” he chimes in.
The Central Mystery: Will Vince Gilligan Know the Ending of Pluribus?
Given that the writers aren’t being guided by public opinion, does that mean they have mapped out how Pluribus will ultimately end? In short yes… in a way.
“We have some interesting ideas about how the story could conclude,” he states. “but we are always ready to abandon a solid concept for a more brilliant plan. This approach has served us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we find a more perfect path and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
On the other hand, if they hit a wall, Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and the characters are inside it,” Smith quips, “but no one is buying it.”
Then again, why mess with the iconic TV endings?
“I want Carol to awaken next to Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV+.
