Apple TV+'s Pluribus is only a few episodes in, but has already sparked endless discussions thanks to its unique concept. Debuting last week, the latest show from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul's Vince Gilligan sees the human race become a hive mind.
However, thanks to the interplanetary genetic code discovered by scientists, everyone is very content and happy with this situation – that is except for author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), who is immune to the virus alongside a small number of others across the globe. As the hive mind tries to find a way to get Carol to join them via scientific methods, she is less than keen on the idea.
Since last week, theories around Pluribus have spread faster than the virus itself, and we'll no doubt learn so much more as the show progresses.
In the meantime, fans have been taking to Reddit to put forward their best ideas about where the series is going – and we've handily rounded up 5 of the most intriguing and wild ones that have surfaced.
Carol's mass killings may actually be freeing others
As we discover in episode two, every time Carol loses her temper with members of the hive they convulse as a mass, with millions being killed in the process. However, one theory suggests that others are not actually dying but being freed, and that Carol isn't being told the whole truth.
"Maybe every time the hive mind gets an epilepsy from Carol, instead of people 'dying', what it meant was more people escaping from the hive," one Redditor wrote.
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While that seems a bit of a stretch – especially as one of the other immune, Laxmi (Menik Gooneratne), confirms that Carol's actions led to the death of her grandfather – someone else posed something more interesting: that "one person gets released every time" they have a seizure.
After all, Zosia (Karolina Wydra) mentions to Carol that they had discovered another immune person in Paraguay after Carol's first unintentional mass murder. Could this be the key to a more significant discovery down the road?
Carol has a dark past
While she's the audience's eyes, there may be a lot more to Carol than we're being shown so far. In fact, one fan has predicted that we're set to learn something quite dark about her later on in the show, namely a "very, very insidious backstory".
The argument hinges on the fact that Carol is very hostile towards the hive mind, especially when it comes to her late partner Helen (Miriam Shor).
"I predict that a flashback will shockingly reveal a horrific unmoral act that Carol committed with, or to, Helen," they wrote. "This might explain why Carol is taking the hivemind much worse than the other 13. Because, the other 13 are generally good people who do not have dark past."
The theory adds that she is feeling especially vulnerable and "haunted" given the hive mind would know the truth about her past, and the show will provide a twist that demands a second viewing once the secret is out.
The aliens aren't on their way anytime soon (if at all)
Given the source of the genetic sequence is alien, you'd expect that extraterrestrials would arrive at some point during the show's run. However, some fans have suggested that there won't actually be an invasion – at least any time soon.
Sparking from a discussion that Gilligan wouldn't want to "pigeon-hole" himself, having previously tackled aliens in The X-Files, one fan proposed that the aliens may not know about what's going on on Earth for hundreds of years given the distance the signal was broadcast from.
"If they did want to travel to Earth after finding out about the 'Joining', they won't arrive for at least 1200 years, and likely significantly longer than that," they wrote, suggesting that "Carol probably isn't going to meet any aliens, unless Gilligan has something very surprising in store".
"Taking over a planet with a radio signal and the stupidity of the target species is much more efficient than sending an invasion fleet across the galaxy," they added.
Another proposed – and we agree – that the aliens "have no idea what is happening on Earth or that Earth even exists" and that this is "not driven by anything but replication and survival".
Carol is being set up for a higher purpose alongside the other immune
Much like a queen bee, this theory suggests that Carol and the other immune have been purposely selected by the hive for their potential to eventually lead them, with their individual rebellious natures setting up the conditions for an eventual fight to the death and a leader emerging. However, rather than being queen bee, Carol may prove more dangerous than they anticipated.
Comparing her to a wasp – suggested in allegorical form by her wearing a yellow jacket in the first episode (and we could propose, the show's yellow promotional aesthetic as a whole) – the insects have been known to hunt bees, and the comparison is further illuminated by the fact that bees can vibrate to protect themselves, much like the seizures of the hive mind.
"This show may lead to the twist that the immune must fight to the death, but a bigger twist is that Carol’s nature will be a danger to the hive as a whole," a Redditor wrote.
The hive mind really does love Carol
Pluribus does show the hive mind appearing to want the best for Carol – but rather than having a sinister undertone, this theory suggests that they really love Carol.
One Redditor has pointed out numerous points of evidence for this: namely that they picked a woman that she would likely be attracted to, Zosia, as their representative, as well as the fact that Carol is a romance writer.
Her partner Helen's tragic death also "offers a really unique experience that they cannot necessarily absorb from anyone else: dying in your final moments while your lover who desperately tried to save you looks in your eyes begging you not to die".
By absorbing this, they experienced her deep love, with another poster suggesting it could eventually be their undoing.
"What if this (probably ancient and alien) hive mind’s only weakness was love after all?" they wrote. "Imagine surviving decades and decades, jumping from planets to planets, and then mere humans immediately charm you and find your weakness."
Pluribus streams on Apple TV+.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
