The Showrunner Shares He Has a Plan for How Pluribus Will Conclude... For Now.
The creative mastermind never anticipated that Pluribus would turn into a cultural phenomenon. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “It was unexpected the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
Now that Season 1 of the popular sci-fi show wrapping up—and a second season greenlit and underway—the creative team recently discussed the fan response and whether it will impact the storyline of Pluribus.
On the Overwhelming Fan Response
One could easily to get distracted by the constant speculation and fan theories about Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to avoid both.
“It feels like force fed hot fudge sundaes and being in a state of bliss,” he explains. “It's wonderful, but I get wind of it from others, and that's intentional. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever intend to. It's quite the opposite. It's a rabbit hole I know I would disappear down and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from Home Depot and I'd never leave my living room.”
In spite of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to accept it graciously and try not to let it dictate the story of the show.
“It is not our goal to adjust our writing,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not impacted by what people are saying.”
“We prefer to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan concludes.
The Central Mystery: Does the creator See the Conclusion of Pluribus?
Considering the creative staff aren’t being guided by public opinion, does that mean they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… with some caveats.
“We've developed some interesting ideas about where the show might end up,” Gilligan reveals. “however, we remain prepared to discard a solid concept for a superior concept. This approach has served us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We change course when we conceive of something superior and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
Then again, if plans fall through, executive producer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“I keep pitching that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, why mess with the iconic TV endings?
“I'd love for Carol to open her eyes with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan says with a smile.
Pluribus can be watched on Apple TV.
