\u201cI wanted the audience to think: \u2018Is this good or bad?\u2019\u201d showrunner Vince Gilligan<\/a> tells me. \u201cThere have been so many post-apocalyptic stories in the past 20 years, and I wonder if that\u2019s because there\u2019s something in the air. Not to get political, but it does feel like the end times are coming. It scares me. So I thought, \u2018If I\u2019m going to do a post-apocalyptic tale, how could I put a spin on it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n One person who falls firmly into the \u201capocalypse = bad\u201d camp is Carol Sturka, played by Rhea Seehorn, best known as Kim Wexler from Gilligan\u2019s brilliant Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul<\/a>. Carol is disillusioned by her success as an author of fantasy fiction, slurping martinis in between stops on a book tour she doesn\u2019t want to be on. Then the world effectively ends. But Carol, the one person who could do with smiling more, finds she\u2019s the only one unaffected by the virus. It\u2019s an ironic twist worthy of an Alanis Morissette lyric. <\/p>\n Carol becomes civilisation\u2019s de facto saviour \u2013 tough work considering her foes aren\u2019t rabid zombies but pleasant-as-heck individuals who want to improve her life. Carol\u2019s tussle is best encapsulated by a line spoken midway through the series: \u201cDo you seriously think the world\u2019s a better place now just because it\u2019s peaceful?\u201d This intriguing debate positions Pluribus (a Latin phrase meaning \u201cout of many, one\u201d) as the thinking person\u2019s post-apocalyptic show. Think less The Walking Dead, more The Leftovers.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to think I would be team Carol and fight for individuality,\u201d Seehorn says, sitting alongside her Pluribus posse, Gilligan and co-star Karolina Wydra. \u201cVince does such a great job of making reasonable arguments for characters\u2019 viewpoints depending on the scene. It raises questions of topics you thought were a black-and-white issue, which is one of the things you can do with psychological sci-fi.\u201d<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n ‘Pluribus’ introduces an apocalypse like no other (Apple TV+)<\/p>\n Wydra, who plays the happy horde\u2019s kindly \u201cspokesperson\u201d Zosia, offers an opposing view. \u201cThey believe in their cause,\u201d she says matter-of-factly. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018We know what it\u2019s like to be you, but you don\u2019t know what it\u2019s like to be us… the serenity we feel is worth experiencing.\u2019 One might feel like they\u2019re villains for wanting Carol to experience it. But then, individuality is worth fighting for, so that could make them the villains. We had all those conversations non-stop on set.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s this debate that fuels Pluribus and not, as you might imagine, the mystery behind what actually caused the outbreak. The opening episode does hint at its origin, but according to Gilligan, that\u2019s all fans are getting. Those wanting a thorough explanation need not apply.<\/p>\n I wanted the audience to think: \u2018Is this apocalypse good or bad?\u2019<\/p>\n Vince Gilligan<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s pretty much all you need to know. I hope people who are really into mystery-box storytelling stick with this one, but I don\u2019t know that this is going to be a twisty-turny-type show. But we will endeavour, as always, to keep things interesting.\u201d A second season has already been confirmed, with Gilligan envisioning four in total.<\/p>\n It was in the latter stages of making Better Call Saul that Gilligan dreamt up Pluribus. He originally envisioned the show having a male lead, but after seeing a ponytailed Seehorn in full swing as Wexler (a role for which she received two Emmy nominations), he decided to change tack.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew from the early days that I wanted to work with Rhea again,\u201d he says. \u201cI could have gone off and made a TV show with all of the wonderful actors in Saul, but something about Rhea spoke to me. I just had a feeling it would be great to create a show for her.\u201d<\/p>\n For Seehorn, reuniting with Gilligan in Albuquerque \u2013 the sun-soaked setting of Better Call Saul \u2013 was the easiest yes of her career, but she admits to finding the prospect \u201cdaunting\u201d, and it\u2019s no wonder. In Saul, she had several hardy scene partners \u2013 Bob Odenkirk, Patrick Fabian, Michael McKean \u2013 but much of her time filming the early stages of Pluribus was spent alone. One memorable episode, in which Carol necks vodka and binges boxsets of The Golden Girls, unfolds like a one-woman play.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n Carol (Rhea Seehorn) and Zosia (Karolina Wydra) represent two opposing views on the apocalypse (Apple TV+)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the challenge you would hope for,\u201d she says. \u201cKnowing Vince wrote this for me was a dream come true. There is so much love in his fanbase, and it\u2019s terrifying to follow it up. You never know how people are gonna respond. And we hope this show brings in another group of fans. It was fun doing Comic-Con in San Diego and meeting people who were so excited by the sci-fi element.\u201d<\/p>\n Pluribus also provided Gilligan with a creative departure: the series is led by a force for good. It\u2019s been a while since the man behind Breaking Bad’s meth-creating tyrant Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and crooked lawyer Saul Goodman (Odenkirk) created a protagonist you could say that about. \u201cThe thing that got me most excited about Pluribus was writing a hero again,\u201d he says. \u201cI realised it had been 23 years since I wrote hero characters \u2013 Agent Mulder and Agent Scully [Gilligan wrote 30 episodes of The X-Files<\/a>]. After a while of that, I thought it\u2019d be kinda fun to do an anti-hero, and then Walter White comes along, and then Walter begets Jimmy McGill [Goodman\u2019s real name]. And I\u2019ve been doing that for 20 years now! I love those characters and those actors, but then I realised the real world isn\u2019t getting any nicer and I was ready to write a hero again.\u201d<\/p>\n I knew from the early days of \u2018Better Call Saul\u2019 that I wanted to work with Rhea Seehorn again<\/p>\n![\"'Pluribus'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-20-at-14-00-21.png\")
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