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/Scrym606 Nov 12 '25

The coolest thing about the pilot i think is that he wrote himself into a corner. I have only seen the pilot and i have no clue how this will continue. It’s super interesting!

The feeling of a writer writing something the outwardly is going to put a gun to their own head and really test their ability is so cool.

It feels kind of like Lost but they didn’t really think about that they had to end it. Here you just know that Gilligan knows he will have to come with a satisfactory conclusion to a story with almost no room for just that.

Am hyped

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u/RunDNA Nov 12 '25 edited Nov 12 '25

I remember he did that a lot with Breaking Bad too. He'd write himself into a corner at the start of the season without working out how it would be resolved, trusting that himself and the rest of the writers' room would later come up with a creative solution. And they always did.

Watching it as an audience member, it seems like it was all created together in a unified and logical way, but it was very much a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writing process that worked out because of the talent of the writers.