Vince Gilligan Reveals He Has a Plan for How Pluribus Might Finish... At the Moment.
Vince Gilligan never anticipated that Pluribus would become a cultural phenomenon. “God bless the fans,” Gilligan says. “It was unexpected the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
With the first season of the acclaimed series coming to an end—and the next chapter already in development—the creative team reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will shape the future direction of Pluribus.
On the Tremendous Viewer Reception
It would be easy to get sidetracked by the widespread acclaim and online debates regarding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to ignore the noise.
“The experience is akin to constantly eating something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he describes. “It's amazing, but I get wind of it anecdotally, and that's by design. I have never searched for my own name online, nor do I ever want to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a deep trap I know I would fall into and then I'd be never leaving the house from Home Depot and I'd be stuck in my living room.”
Despite his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We make no attempt to tailor anything,” says Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not changed by audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan concludes.
A Pressing Query: Does the showrunner Have a Plan for the Conclusion of Pluribus?
So if the creative staff are not listening by fan response, can we assume they already know how Pluribus will ultimately end? Essentially yes… sort of.
“There are some compelling concepts about the ultimate destination,” Gilligan reveals. “however, we remain prepared to throw out a good idea for a more brilliant plan. This approach has served us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we get a better idea and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if all else fails, executive producer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to use as a backup.
“My recurring proposal is that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and that's where they've been all along,” Smith jokes, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Alternatively, one could always use the iconic TV endings?
“My dream is Carol to awaken beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV+.
