{"id":368161,"date":"2025-12-24T20:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T20:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/368161\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T20:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T20:46:13","slug":"the-pluribus-finales-big-twist-is-the-perfect-set-up-for-its-next-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/368161\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Pluribus\u2019 Finale\u2019s Big Twist Is the Perfect Set-Up for Its Next Chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is it, Carol: the season one finale<\/a> of Pluribus. Vince Gilligan\u2019s sci-fi standout<\/a> got a two-season order from Apple TV right off the bat, so fans knew a tidy conclusion wouldn\u2019t be coming.<\/p>\n

However, while a cliffhanger ending was to be expected, the climb we took to get there<\/a> was packed with Pluribus\u2019 trademark blend of careful pacing, high-wire tension, and observations about humanity that are both hilarious and heartbreaking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Io9<\/p>\n

First, a deeply unsettling prologue kicks off \u201cLa Chica o El Mundo\u201d: it\u2019s now 71 days after the Joining, and we\u2019re in a remote village in Peru, home of Kusimayu\u2014one of the survivors who attended Carol\u2019s disastrous summit back in episode two. She\u2019s decided to join the hive mind.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re spared the part of the procedure that extracts her stem cells; we see what comes after. All she has to do is inhale vapors and endure a brief seizure, and when she opens her eyes again, she\u2019s on the team. With that familiar bland smile now fixed to her face, Kusimayu opens the pen containing all her animals, including the most poignant baby goat this side of Severance.<\/p>\n

In Albuquerque, Carol and Zosia watch satellite footage of Manousos getting closer. Carol is nervous about this intrusion; she\u2019s just gotten comfortably settled into her newfound happiness (or the illusion of happiness, anyway) with Zosia, and his arrival is absolutely going to disrupt the fantasy. \u201cI\u2019ll just hear him out and send him on his way,\u201d Carol declares.<\/p>\n

(By the way, this is 60 days post-joining, so we\u2019ve rewound to before Kusimayu\u2019s transformation.)<\/p>\n

\"Pluribus\u00a9 Apple TV <\/p>\n

Zosia makes herself scarce, and Carol receives Manousos alone, in a scene about a million times more awkward than we could have imagined. Their previous interactions consisted of screaming back and forth at each other over the phone\u2014frustrating, but also a hopeful sign that someone, anyone capable of even having a screaming argument still exists. And as we\u2019ve seen, Manousos was so intrigued by Carol\u2019s video he made an agonizingly long trek to find her, learning English (sort of) and suffering grievous injuries along the way.<\/p>\n

But upon meeting face-to-face, the two immediately clash. She\u2019s leery of the machete he carries. He\u2019s leery of entering her home, convinced the Others (he calls them \u201cthe weirdos\u201d) have installed surveillance equipment without her knowledge. When they finally talk outside, he insists on holding an umbrella to prevent prying eyes from drones overhead. (Considering we saw how closely he was being watched on his approach to Albuquerque, his fears feel legitimate in this case, though his overall vibe is very paranoid.)<\/p>\n

But even when they finally compromise on where they should converse, things are still very prickly between them. Carol insists she doesn\u2019t want to \u201cdestroy\u201d the Others; Manousos maintains, \u201cThese weirdos are evil\u201d because \u201cthey have stolen everyone\u2019s soul.\u201d Carol argues that they\u2019re still human; Manousos argues that they are not.<\/p>\n

Then, Carol\u2014who has just underlined the fact that the Others cannot lie\u2014tells a whopper to Manousos, saying she doesn\u2019t know why they returned to Albuquerque after abandoning her for 40 days. (Good thing she asked Zosia to have that giant \u201ccome back\u201d plea she\u2019d painted onto the street removed before Manousos\u2019 arrival.)<\/p>\n

Eventually, they move their chat\u2014aided by the monotone of Google Translate, though Manousos\u2019 English is by now far better than Carol\u2019s very rudimentary Spanish\u2014into Carol\u2019s house. He won\u2019t engage until he does a thorough search for listening devices and finds something very odd hidden in Carol\u2019s liquor cabinet.<\/p>\n

When Carol calls Zosia demanding answers, she finds out it\u2019s a sensor that\u2019s been there for years. Like, since 2011, when she was freezing her eggs. It seems Helen hid it there to keep discreet tabs on her boozy spouse, and it\u2019s been hanging out ever since. Detail-obsessed Pluribus fans will remember that Carol has referenced freezing her eggs before, making a joke about it during that flashback to Carol and Helen\u2019s stay in the Norwegian ice hotel.<\/p>\n

\"Pluribus\u00a9 Apple TV <\/p>\n

So that\u2019s two mentions of Carol\u2019s eggs across Pluribus season one, and series creator Vince Gilligan isn\u2019t dropping that information in vain. But before we get to that, we still have more Carol-Manousos drama to get through. Needing some time away from her new frenemy, Carol gets him to move into the empty house next door, something he\u2019s very reluctant to do. This reaction is very much in keeping with his desire to pay for everything he takes, or at least sign an IOU for it. This guy has a moral code that\u2019s remained firmly in place, even as the world has dramatically shifted around him.<\/p>\n

At any rate, while Carol is getting drunk and falling asleep to Golden Girls, Manousos is prying into her activities by talking to Zosia. He could really talk to any of the Others\u2014it would truly make no difference\u2014but summoning Zosia in particular is designed to get a rise out of Carol, and it works. She\u2019s furious. She drags Zosia away, but Manousos quickly requests another Other come talk to him instead.<\/p>\n

While Carol is fumbling through Zosia\u2019s gentle insistence that \u201cWe love him the same as we love you\u201d\u2014logically, Carol knows that\u2019s how the hive mind works, but emotionally, she can\u2019t comprehend that; Zosia is her special, uh, \u201cchaperone,\u201d after all\u2014Manousos takes a page from Carol\u2019s own playbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething\u2019s about to happen,\u201d Zosia announces, and calmly lies on the floor before she begins to shake. Carol, frantic, races next door and sees that Manousos has caused the mass seizure event this time. He\u2019s been deliberately agitating the Other sent to replace Zosia to try and pull him out of his hive-mind stupor.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t work, and to Carol\u2019s horror, the Others decide it\u2019s Manousos\u2019 turn to be put in isolation\u2014and since he\u2019s now in Albuquerque, that means another mass exodus from Carol\u2019s hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a way to put things back in their place,\u201d Manousos insists to Carol. \u201cNow the work begins!\u201d<\/p>\n

When she hesitates, he goes for the kill, and here we learn why the episode is titled \u201cLa Chica o El Mundo\u201d: \u201cDo you want to save the world or get the girl?\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment, Pluribus makes us think that Carol has chosen Zosia. There\u2019s a blissful montage of the pair on various luxurious vacations (Carol\u2019s beach read of choice: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin). It\u2019s peaceful. It\u2019s idyllic.<\/p>\n

But a fireside conversation on their ski trip brings all that to a screeching halt. Carol is happy, and she\u2019s startled by how good it feels. \u201cIt only gets better,\u201d Zosia beams.<\/p>\n

\"Pluribus\u00a9 Apple TV <\/p>\n

Slowly Carol realizes she means\u2026 the Joining. It\u2019s the thing Carol has vehemently resisted from the start. Though this newfound happiness has been blissful, she\u2019d rather be miserable forever with her individuality intact.<\/p>\n

And besides, back in Las Vegas, didn\u2019t Mr. Diabat\u00e9 assure her that the survivors could not be converted without their express consent? The stem-cell extraction process is invasive, and without getting permission to perform the procedure, the Others wouldn\u2019t have the necessary material to bring a holdout into the hive mind.<\/p>\n

That information was liberating. It put Carol in an actual good mood. But now, she has a horrible realization: her eggs. The Others have her frozen eggs. They don\u2019t need to stick a giant needle into her hip. They\u2019ve already got the goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long do I have?\u201d she asks Zosia.<\/p>\n

\u201cA month,\u201d Zosia replies. She\u2019s thrilled that Carol will soon be forced into receiving this marvelous gift. \u201cHopefully not more than two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, this changes everything.<\/p>\n

\"Pluribus\u00a9 Apple TV <\/p>\n

It\u2019s now 74 days post-joining. Manousos is still alone in Albuquerque, and he hears a helicopter approaching. It\u2019s toting a large box, which it sets down outside Carol\u2019s place. We see that Zosia is the pilot, and Carol\u2019s sitting beside her.\u00a0 They share a very loaded look as Carol climbs out. It\u2019s a sad moment. But they\u2019re sad for different reasons.<\/p>\n

When a baffled Manousos approaches, Carol tells him, \u201cYou win. We save the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the box? Why, an atom bomb, of course!<\/p>\n

The Others sure hoped she wouldn\u2019t ask for one after her semi-serious inquiry following the grenade incident. But they\u2019re obligated to give Carol whatever she wants. Bringing a giant bomb into the story is bang-up way to set up the events of season two, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

You can watch all nine episodes of Pluribus season one on Apple TV. A second season has already been greenlit, but so far there\u2019s no word on when new episodes might arrive.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is it, Carol: the season one finale of Pluribus. Vince Gilligan\u2019s sci-fi standout got a two-season order…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[5896,88,57704,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-368161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-apple-tv","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-pluribus","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}