After the last two episodes of Pluribus — which involved Carol (Rhea Seehorn) dealing with an exploding grenade and an ill-advised truth serum — I couldn’t help but wonder how long the hive mind would tolerate her destructive ways. Well, here we are in episode 5, and I have an answer. “We just need a little space,” Hive tells her in a recorded message.
Welcome to our weekly the verge-Subscriber discussion PluribusNew sci-fi series on Apple TV breaking bad Producer Vince Gilligan. The show features Carol as one of the few “survivors” on Earth when a virus of unknown origin turns the rest of the world into a connected mind, seemingly unable to handle any negative emotions. This creates a huge conflict with Carol who is a very unhappy person. Each week, I present a handful of questions from the latest episode to get things started, so feel free to comment with your thoughts, theories, and questions. obviously, failed Follow along for the first five episodes of Pluribus,
There are two major developments in this episode, referred to as “Got Milk”. The first is that the hive is finally sick and tired of Carol. Her exploits and outbursts have caused much pain and death in the hive, and so while Carol takes a nap in a hospital, they all quietly leave the city of Albuquerque. Carol is alone, although she can still talk to the hive, albeit indirectly. She is able to leave them phone messages so they can deliver her things and take out her trash, which they do via drone to avoid further conflict. This is a passive-aggressive form of defense that all hives seem to be capable of, as they shy away from causing direct harm.
The second big thing that happened was related to Carroll’s continued research on the hive. He discovers that they sustain themselves on a strange yellow liquid, and some spies lead him first to a dairy plant, and later to a dog food factory. In the last moments of the episode she sees… Some? In a refrigerated storage room which completely disorients him.
What are you drinking hive?
The most obvious question this week is what exactly did Carroll see? This obviously bothered him, so it must be something disgusting. But it’s not at all clear what might be hiding under that tarp, especially when you consider we already know that the Hive is incapable of causing any kind of life or harm. It’s certainly an effective cliffhanger.
Are Hive and Carol on vacation?
By isolating themselves from Carol, the hive are doing what they need to in order to continue surviving. But they cannot stay away completely; Part of their biological imperative is to keep her happy. So watching the Hive tiptoe around that balance should be a lot of fun to watch play out. Maybe the Hive are simply planning to keep their distance until they figure out how to “fix” Carol and bring her into their realm. Also interesting: Carol is now able to weaponize her bad moods, and use them as threats to get what she wants.
What other dangers will Carol face alone?
There may be no crime or murder in this new version of Earth, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t dangers for Carol. It appears that as soon as the hive moved out of town, a pack of wolves moved in and immediately targeted the grave they had dug in Carol’s backyard. This is an incredibly scary situation. He’s already completely isolated, and now he has to worry about avoiding dangerous predators. I have to imagine this is just the beginning, and other dangers I never even thought about will arise now that she’s working alone.
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