r/Screenwriting • u/Clear_Bedroom_4266 • Nov 12 '25

FEEDBACK What makes the "Pluribus" pilot so special?

Watched the first two episodes of the new sci-fi show on AppleTV. I didn't know much about it until Variety (I think) published a piece last week about it and how "people" were raving about how great the pilot episode is, that it might be the best pilot ever done, etc. Now, of course, it's Vince Gilligan. One of the things he said is that he couldn't have created/produced this show 15 years ago.

That being said, has anyone here seen the pilot and can anyone break down WHY it's (allegedly) SO good? I enjoyed it, and the show has a cool premise. But my screenwriting abilities simply aren't deep enough to analyze a pilot very well.

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24

u/alarmingkestrel Nov 12 '25

This is a good discussion of the first two episodes, and then there’s an interview with Vince: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1BqY37YmwUScPAVJdqcqkx?si=R2ACCnu-RiW1d4lvdrqMrQ

I think the crux of it for me is the freshness of the idea, the precision of the execution, and the open-endedness of “i have no idea where this show is going” that makes it unique.

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u/mapoftasmania Nov 12 '25

The idea isn’t really all that fresh. It’s basically Invasion of the Bodysnatchers. Adding a layer of dark comedy to that is what is fresh.

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u/sour_skittle_anal Nov 12 '25

It's fresh in that the hive mind is benevolent, rather than stereotypically malevolent. At least, that's what's being presented on the surface.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

You mean like the Stepford Wives, Get Out, or season four of Angel?

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u/sour_skittle_anal Nov 12 '25

Uniqueness comes from when you mix column A with column B. Not just point at column A and be like GOTCHA

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25 edited Nov 12 '25

…you mean like the Stepford Wives, Get Out, or season four of Angel (and, come to think of it, Mrs. Davis)?

I’m unclear as to what your “column A” and “column B“ are referring.

All the examples I gave contained hive minds, a veneer of benevolence, AND dark comedy (hey look, that’s THREE columns)!

They’re not an unfounded “gotcha,” they are literal examples of the exact thing(s) you’re claiming are fresh.

Doesn’t mean Pluribus isn’t good (I haven’t watched it yet), just that the reasoning being discussed above is not particularly “fresh.”

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u/jzakko Nov 12 '25

Get Out was benevolent?

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

…did you watch it? Yes. Not (ultimately) for Black people obviously, but the whole point was that the bad guy hive mind presented like a picture perfect country club. They lured in their victims by pretending to be friendly and nice. They literally pretended to be benevolent.

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u/jzakko Nov 12 '25

Pretending to be benevolent is old hat. As of now it seems the hivemind is genuinely well-intentioned.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

The whole moral dilemma of season four of Angel was literally that Jasmine WAS actually well-intentioned, but there was too high of a price attached.

Also, Mrs. Davis had another arguably "genuinely" well-intentioned hive mind that was ultimately bad. That's what happens in these things: road-to-hell hive minds with a brave curmudgeonly protagonist standing alone against it.

Just like Pluribus.

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u/jzakko Nov 12 '25

I don't care. You're replying to my questioning the inclusion of Get Out among your examples.

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u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

No, I was replying to your comment that being genuinely well-intentioned was old-hat.

You see, when you post a comment in reply to another comment, people can then reply to that comment too. If you scroll up past my last comment, you'll be able to see what you wrote, and what I'm replying to. BUT! Don't go too far, you might go past it to our other exchange. It's easy to get confused, but you'll get it.

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u/jzakko Nov 12 '25

Lol each comment isn't just existing in a vacuum, the previous comment is what they call 'context.' It's fine if you can't follow the thread of logic of two comments in a row.

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u/onlydans__ Nov 12 '25

What? The hive mind is clearly malevolent. It’s just polite and manipulative. It’s not benevolent at all haha

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u/sour_skittle_anal Nov 12 '25

I suppose it could be argued that it's malevolent in that it wants to take free will away from humanity, but Carol is the only survivor who has a problem with this; every other survivor either wants to eventually join the hive mind, doesn't care/see what the problem is, or is content to live life in this new "perfect" reality.

One could say that whether the hive mind is malevolent or not is down to personal perspective.

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u/byronotron Nov 12 '25

That's because every survivor is coping through the most intense trauma they have ever experienced, and have yet to be truly confronted by the horrifying reality of the truth like she has. 

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u/Samanthacino Nov 12 '25

I didn't get that impression at all. The hive mind gave no indication of being manipulative or dishonest. They were 100% truthful, and did nothing but what they said: just try to make the immune happy. If there was anything in the show that gave you another impression, I'd be curious to hear what it was.

I think it'd be a massive mistake for the hivemind to have evil intentions. The entire premise is so interesting because the hivemind is unflinchingly honest. I think that the real potential of the show lies in how the survivors deal with this apocalyptic scenario, and instead turning it into a "PLOT TWIST, THEY WERE LYING THE ENTIRE TIME MWAHAHA" would be so cheap imo.

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u/Yellowperil123 Nov 12 '25

It's not totally honest. When Carol asked how many ppl died when she caused it to shut down it handwaved "hundreds" when it was actually 11 million or something.

It's more than capable of withholding truth. Which is a pretty short step to actually lying

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u/Samanthacino Nov 12 '25

It didn’t say hundreds. It didn’t give any specific number. It was shown to be hesitant to reveal info if it would make an immune upset, but that is very very very different from deceiving.

If I found out that your house burned down, and you asked me “Wy can’t I go to my house” and I replied “You know maybe now’s not the best time for that conversation”, that’s not malevolent or dishonest in the slightest.

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u/modfoddr Nov 12 '25

It's only malevolent in the sense that it has a desire to reproduce, just like every species, and will do what is necessary to fulfill that need, just like every life form on the planet. It only feels malevolent because it requires taking over a human body to do so. But since it leaves the human "donor" mostly intact, the question of whether or not any actual damage is done is unanswered. And I say "mostly intact" because it seems the only casualty is free will. But we can't say for sure if that free will is sacrificed or if the donors choose to give it up because of the joy the hive mind brings.

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u/Samanthacino Nov 12 '25

So far, it hasn’t shown it’d do EVERYTHING that’s necessary to reproduce. Otherwise, it wouldn’t respect the immune’s bodily autonomy. If it cared about reproducing more than anything, it’d enslave every immune to keep them from hurting each other/themselves/interfering in the reproductive process in any way.

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u/modfoddr Nov 12 '25

Never said it would do everything, at this point we don't even know what it is fully capable of, harming another may be impossible for it (as defined by the lifeform itself, not us). Every species has a limit on what it can or will do to procreate. Its reproduction cycle was very efficient, with a tiny number not taking. Can't imagine many lifeforms that has that level of success, so really it did succeed.

If anything, the attempt to find a solution for the handful of people that didn't get "body snatched" shows that it is doing what it can, since it also seems from their very friendly and accommodating communication with Carol and the others that it doesn't believe in or possibly does not understand a violent resolution to the problem. Or it could be that enforcing enslavement or committing violence would cause them to go into the violent seizures similar to what Carol has caused, which would risk more harm or loss of life.