Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Pluribus Episode 8.
As Pluribus approaches the end of its first season, its endgame seems to be getting clearer by the episode. Each week, new details about how the Others operate and their main objective are revealed, but no episode has revealed as much as “Charm Offensive.” While it may not seem so on the surface, it is actually all about Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) trying to understand the Others by earning information from Zosia (Karolina Wydra). Truth be told, most episodes of Pluribus have been about that, really, but “Charm Offensive” is the first time that different and seemingly unrelated pieces of the Others’ puzzle start coming together.
Moments like the massage scene, the telescope scene, and the cooking scene are certainly important in terms of establishing that there is some degree of individuality left in each member of the hivemind, but the most crucial piece of information emerges when Carol and Zosia are watching a train move across New Mexico. As the two of them talk and reminisce about Carol’s past, Zosia casually drops something that may be key to reversing the Joining, and it’s directly related to Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) and his findings.
‘Pluribus’ Episode 8 Finally Reveals How the Others Communicate
Rhea Seehorn and Karolina Wydra in Pluribus Episode 8Image via Apple TV
As interesting as it is, the concept of hiveminds is also puzzling. A massive group of individuals linked together and operating under a single consciousness has appeared a few times on sci-fi television, like the Borg in Star Trek or Unity in Rick and Morty, but the Others in Pluribus are truly unique in the sense that how they function is actually a big part of the story, and it even makes some biological sense.
It all begins with Carol telling Zosia about how train horns are her favorite sound (which is surprising in itself, because it’s information the Others didn’t previously have), prompting Zosia to have the train in the distance blow its horn for Carol. As Zosia explains to Carol, their method of communication comes from the human body’s natural electromagnetic field; Carol has one, too, but it’s unused. It doesn’t work like a radio, though, since “radio transmission is like talking” and something conscious, Zosia says. “Our communication is unconscious. Homeostatic. Like breathing.”
What Zosia is saying, then, is that the Others don’t consciously send information from one body to another; this communication happens naturally and automatically. The human body does have its own magnetic field, which is why excessive use of certain technologies can be harmful, for example, so this form of communication makes more sense than any method of telepathy. It’s not instantaneous and may even take longer depending on the distance and the amount of information being transferred. The train takes a moment to blow its horn, and, when Manousos crosses the border into the U.S., it takes a few seconds for Zosia to both perceive the news and relay it to Carol.
Another episode that offers a hugely important reveal is “HDP,” although we’re not talking about the Others ingesting “human-derived protein.” When Manousos is at home in Asunción, listening to every possible radio frequency, he returns to frequency 8613.0 MHz, which is clearly different. Instead of static, this one transmits constant beating and clicking sounds that feel almost industrial, but can’t really be discerned. This, along with Carol’s first video message, is what ultimately prompts Manousos to get in his car and drive from Paraguay to the U.S. to meet her.
What Zosia tells Carol about the human body’s electromagnetic field in “Charm Offensive” could be directly connected to the radio signal Manousos discovered. She explains that a radio is an intentional form of communication, but, as a device, it’s still designed to capture electromagnetic frequencies anyway. Even if it’s not the Others’ intention, or even if they aren’t aware of it, there’s now a good chance that these electromagnetic charges used by the Others to relay information are registered on radio waves, possibly giving the survivors a look into what the Others are really planning. With billions of bodies using these waves simultaneously with the same intent, it could very well show up on a radio device.
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Carol’s solitary trip to an iconic New Mexico location holds deeper meaning.
Other theories claim that there could be something much more sinister behind this frequency, and the number itself could be a hint: “86” is a term in the hospitality industry for unavailable items or getting rid of unwanted guests, and “13” is the number of people who weren’t assimilated by the Others during the Joining. This signal could be the Others working in the background to assimilate the 13 survivors. While the Others have kept some information from the survivors and are clear on their intent to assimilate them, right now, the signal feels more like something unintentional that they haven’t noticed yet.
Manousos Cracking the Radio Frequency Could Be the Key To Reversing the Joining in ‘Pluribus’
Pluribus Season 1 reaches its conclusion with this week’s Episode 9, “La Chica o El Mundo” (“the girl or the world,” translated from Spanish). The title is a clear hint that Carol and Manousos will finally meet, and that a dilemma will likely arise from that — will Carol be able to reverse the Joining now that she and Zosia are close? If she and Manousos really turn out to be on the same page after all, his findings on the 8613.0 frequency will almost certainly be a talking point, since he ventured across two countries to meet her. With his knowledge of what’s happening on the radio and her whiteboard notes, they can surely start to concoct a plan, making for a great hook for Season 2.
Right now, cracking what Manousos’ radio frequency is all about seems to be the series’ potential endgame. Pluribus has given us plenty of information to consider concerning the Others’ individuality and their plans, but Zosia’s reveal about the electromagnetic signals is the first glimpse into how they actually work. They already plan to build a giant antenna to transmit the virus into outer space via radio signal, but that could be Carol and Manousos’ best chance of reversing the Joining. Understanding the signal, reverse-engineering, and hijacking the antenna could not only free people on Earth, but also on other planets. It also means that Carol Sturka, a grumpy antisocial writer from Earth, could end up an interplanetary hero. Imagine that.