Pluribus 1.03

[selenak]

An episode that felt a bit like it was (stylishly) treading water, but in its last ten minutes did make up for it.



I mean, I didn’t exactly expect Carol to fall into Zosia’s arms after the last episode’s ending, but I did expect more of a change than we got for the first two thirds of the episode given she had bothered to make a stand for her. Otoh, of course it’s to the show’s credit that Carol doesn’t magically forget her big objection to any of the immunes (including herself) getting intimate with anyone controlled by the Hive, i.e. they can’t meaningfully consent but are rather in her eyes like brain damaged people.

That, and Carol also continues to feel violated by the way the Hive continues to use Helen’s most intimate memories to get to her.

(Speaking of the opening flashback to Helen and Carol in the ice hotel - makes the point about Carol’s innate grumpiness and inability to enjoy the moment long before any virus strikes, but also, as we learn later, she was happy then, grumbling not withstanding, and it’s one of the best memories she has from her life with Helen.)

On the social satire front, always the case in a Gilligan production: when Carol refuses a served meal and instead goes out for shopping, only to realise that hive mind controlled humanity has abandoned the idea of supermarkets, with the hive then restocking the entire supermarket just for Carol as part of the making-her-happy mission, the point about (well off) people fancying themselves ever so independent and self sufficient but in reality being utterly dependent in a gigantic supply chain is well made.

Still, I was getting a bit irked and felt we knew all of this already until the hand grenade happened. I mean, last episode’s wannabe Casanova could have joked about the nuclear football, but here we get a drastic demonstration that the hive mind really has an amazing lack of evolutionary protection mechanisms for its host bodies when Carol sarcastically asks for a hand grenade, gets it, pulls it because she can’t believe they’d actually give her a real hand grenade instead of a prop, gets saved by Zosia who gets wounded in the process, tries her best to save Zosia in return and then in the hospital while talking to a hive controlled DHL worker (played by Will from For All Mankind, I believe?) figures out that the Hive would actually provide her with any number of weapons, up to and including a nuclear bomb.

Carol isn’t alone in finding this insane. It furthers my speculation that humanity (or any species replicating the virus) isn’t meant to stay in this stage for long, but that it must be designed as a mere transition period to another state of being, because it really is as capable of self defense as a toddler. Another big, big difference to your usual bodysnatcher trope, of course. Or the Borg.

Now the way Rhea Seahorn plays it, it lookes like Carol now has an idea of what to do other than await the Hive figuring out how to assimilate her after all, and I hope we learn about it next episode. Presumably while meeting the immune from Paraguy she had a telephonic cursing match in this one.

Comments

[applenym]

I started watching this show based on your description of the first two episodes, and my husband and I are hooked. It's giving my brain lots to chew on, and I'm really enjoying speculating about where the plot is going.

Something about the tone of the show means that it doesn't feel to me like horror, even though the premise is absolutely horrific. I avoid most horror, but this seems to be one of my exceptions. (I loved X-Files too.)

Thanks for the rec!

[selenak]

You're very welcome. That's the common denominator of all that Vince Gilligan has created so far, for me; it both entertains and really makes me think.