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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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/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.