The Showrunner Reveals He Has an Idea of How His Sci-Fi Series Will Conclude... For Now.
The acclaimed writer-producer could not have predicted that his new science-fiction series would become a massive hit. “The viewers have been incredible,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
As the debut season of the popular program coming to an end—and a second season greenlit and underway—the creative team recently discussed the audience reaction and whether it will influence the storyline of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Viewer Reception
It would be easy to get distracted by the rampant praise and audience predictions regarding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to avoid both.
“The experience is akin to constantly eating something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it through word of mouth, and that's intentional. I have never searched for my own name online, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a deep trap I know I would fall into and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from Home Depot and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Regardless of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it dictate the story of the show.
“We make no attempt to tailor anything,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“It's wiser to keep our focus on the work,” he chimes in.
The Big Question: Does Vince Gilligan Know the Finale of Pluribus?
Considering the writers are not listening by audience theories, does that mean they have already decided how Pluribus will ultimately end? Essentially yes… sort of.
“There are some interesting ideas about where the show might end up,” he states. “but we are always ready to discard a solid concept for a better idea. This approach has served us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we find a more perfect path and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if they hit a wall, executive producer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“I constantly suggest that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Of course, why mess with the legendary finales?
“My dream is Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV.