So What's This Mysterious Apple TV+ Drama from the ‘Breaking Bad' Creator?

Yahoo

5 days ago

Vince Gilligan is breaking away from Breaking Bad. Streaming this November on Apple TV+ is Pluribus, the next—and suddenly highly anticipated—original series by the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator. It's scheduled to hit the streamer November 7. Pluribus will star Emmy-nominated actress Rhea Seehorn, marking a Better Call Saul reunion of sorts with Gilligan. The show's official basic plot synopsis reads simply, "The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness."
So yes, Pluribus is currently shrouded in mystery, save for a few breadcrumbs that establish a deeply ominous yet Gilligan-esque tone. (Also: It might be science fiction?) At the very least, we know that it's going to be far different from the grounded crime epics we've been used to from Gilligan for nearly 15 years. But just what the heck is Pluribus actually about? Settle in as we try to make sense of a show that almost defies description.
What Is Pluribus Actually About?
It's safe to assume Seehorn will play a woman named Carol, who is named in one of the show's mysterious 30-second teasers released July 28. The teaser includes a working phone number, 202-808-3981, which plays a recorded message of an unknown woman talking to "Carol."
While plot details are currently vague, Pluribus is poised to be a psychological thriller of some kind. Tonally, it feels reminiscent of another major Apple TV+ hit, Severance, a sci-fi thriller that turns the corporate workplace into a labyrinth of lies and unanswered questions.
Another teaser for Pluribus establishes a similarly sinister and bitterly sarcastic vibe. In a teaser released July 25, a woman stands alone in what seems to be a government building after-hours; note the American flag and what looks like the Maryland state flag in the far-left side of the frame. The woman stands in front of a front desk, licking doughnuts and putting them back. (Nasty!) As she does this, the camera moves to a close-up of a handwritten sign that reads, "Help yourself."
You can find evidence that the show is taking place in Maryland by noting the brand of doughnuts. They're from Sandy Pony Doughnuts, a real Maryland-based doughnut shop with locations in Annapolis, Chincoteague, and Bethany Beach. On July 26, Sandy Pony confirmed its involvement with the show with a post on Instagram that shows its staff doing a pop-up at San Diego Comic-Con with Pluribus branding.
And if the title Pluribus sounds familiar, it's Latin for "many." "E pluribus unum" ("From many, one") is the unofficial U.S. motto, printed on the Great Seal of the United States. If you check your pockets, you'll find the motto printed on all U.S. dollars, dimes, and quarters.
How Different Is Pluribus from Breaking Bad?
If we had to guess, quite a bit. In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Seehorn commented on Pluribus as "a very challenging show."
"[Vince Gilligan is] vacillating between tones and between genres like he and Peter Gould did on Better Call Saul, but it's even more pronounced now," Seehorn told The Hollywood Reporter. "It is a very challenging role and a very challenging show in the best way. It's everything that an actor would want."
Gilligan himself recently alluded to telling new stories that don't feature the same shade of antihero that shows like Breaking Bad popularized in the early 2010s. During his acceptance speech for an award by the Writers Guild of America back in February, Gilligan invited his fellow writers to "write more good guys."
"For decades we made the villains too hot [and] viewers everywhere, all around the world, pay attention. They say, 'Here's this badass, I want to be that cool.' When that happens, fictional bad guys stop being the precautionary tales they were intended to be. God help us, they've become aspirational." Gilligan is nodding to the phenomenon that Breaking Bad fans saw Bryan Cranston's Walter White as a badass, not as a scumbag who jeopardized his family and their well-being even after he made enough money to set them up for life.
While Rhea Seehorn's Carol (assuming she's Carol) might not be a full-fledged hero like Superman, she probably won't be Walter White or Saul Goodman either. But we'll only know for sure who she is when Pluribus finally hits our streaming queues.
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