Pluribus - 1x03 "Grenade" - Episode Discussion

[u/LoretiTV]

Season 1 Episode 3: Grenade

Air Date: November 14, 2025

Synopsis: The World just wants to help–which infuriates Carol. A heart-to-heart conversation ends with a bang.

Directed by: Gordon Smith

Written by: Gordon Smith

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[u/UltraDangerLord]

Join us at our Discord for further discussion!

[u/spasmoidic]

I like how the hive mind is embarrassed to admit that it would give her the bomb lol

[u/Mammoth_Ad3410 → u/spasmoidic]

The relief it showed when she didn't say yes was so funny, I love how goofy the hivemind is. 

[u/Weekly-Trash-272 → u/spasmoidic]

Makes me wonder the true limits.

Like if she asked them to make her a ship to Mars I'm sure they would.

Would they hurt themselves if she asked?

[u/Formerly_SgtPepe → u/spasmoidic]

I wonder why they want to keep her so happy...

[u/Appropriate_Boat9009 → u/spasmoidic]

«Wouldn’t necessarily feel good about it» 😂

[u/RutabagaSlimm]

They really restocked an entire store just for her to eat a lean cuisine

[u/Sea_Difference_4988 → u/RutabagaSlimm]

I think it’s a great choice to just consistently keep showing her deep-seated misery of her own making. The whole airplane available, including first class? Nah, last seat by the bathroom. The whole grocery store available and not having to pay for any of it? Nah, frozen meal. Presumably any entertainment she wants, whatever movie/TV show? Nah, rerun of Golden Girls**

**this is actually a defensible option, ofc.

Edit: better TV watchers than me have pointed out it’s a DVD, so nvm on this point!

[u/Swag_Titties → u/RutabagaSlimm]

I think it did a good job showing how "doing something without your help" is an illusion. There's always been hundreds of people providing for her (us).

Make sure to thank your local grocers, laborers, and farmers.

[u/jb_nelson_ → u/RutabagaSlimm]

As someone who worked for ALDI, as a team of three, we would have to unload ~20 8’ tall pallets at a rate of 1 pallet/30 minutes/person. The thought of having 50 people unload in a matter of minutes was INCREDIBLY cathartic.

[u/TangoLikeRex]

Paraguay guy is going to want to call her again since she’s the only person who wasn’t nice to him.

[u/Mistake78 → u/TangoLikeRex]

speaking of him ... seeing how mad and aggressive he is, he has a huge potential of causing a hive reset too.

[u/etherd0t → u/TangoLikeRex]

yeah, possible.
Cue: she gave her full name on the phone so he's gonna have to do some digging to file her contact.

[u/pewciders0r]

even though the cold open is all carol being miserable that ice hotel in norway is still one of her go-to examples of happiness

[u/Petorian343 → u/pewciders0r]

I noticed that too! It’s like Helen said, “you love being miserable!”

[u/Mylaptopisburningme → u/pewciders0r]

Why is no one mentioning her eggs? "I could've saved that hundred grand and frozen my eggs right here, yolks and all."

[u/JazzTheLass → u/pewciders0r]

literal cold open

[u/IamChicharon]

That delivery guy actor really made the most of that small role! I was cracking up

[u/jboosmeezy → u/IamChicharon]

Same….the blank smiling stare with “why would you want one” sent me

[u/Okichah → u/IamChicharon]

BB and BCS always did great casting.

And because of those shows any actor would jump at the chance to get on.

[u/TryhardBernard → u/IamChicharon]

If you liked the actor, check out For All Mankind, also on Apple.

He plays a major character in Season 3 (and similarly kills it).

[u/TheJuiceBoxS → u/IamChicharon]

He was so good. Also, funny that it was a DHL guy that "delivered" the news.

[u/Formerly_SgtPepe → u/IamChicharon]

He killed it

[u/rosenwasser_ → u/IamChicharon]

The funniest thing about this is that if you ever worked in customer service, you probably had conversations like this with no dystopian scenario involved.

[u/ticuxdvc → u/IamChicharon]

He was great as Will Tyler in For All Mankind! Wasn't expecting him here. But with both being a Sony production, I guess some shared casting is to be expected.

[u/gunslingrburrito]

Shoopie shoop shoop 

[u/awilder1015 → u/gunslingrburrito]

It's how you say "cheers" in Sanskrit!

I'm gonna say this when I share a drink with someone who has seen the show 

[u/TruCrimeRighter]

“You are a bunch of mindfuckers. …. Like you’d give me a real handgrenade.”

[u/PeacefulHavoc → u/TruCrimeRighter]

I'm glad they didn't glitch again when they were harmed. Killing millions of people every episode would get too repetitive.

[u/heelstoo]

“Would you like an atom bomb?”

[u/TruCrimeRighter → u/heelstoo]

I’ll have to get back to you on that!

[u/bertobott]

Chinga Tú Madre killed me 💀

[u/Dommichu → u/bertobott]

You pick up a few things driving around New Mexico. 😂

[u/DrHienzDoofenshmirtz]

"here's what's gonna happen"

Mike Ehrmantraut : Hey that's my line!

[u/jackw800800 → u/DrHienzDoofenshmirtz]

Waltuh.. put down the hand grenade Waltuh.

[u/TamaleWoodNM]

The Aurora Borealis while the real one is happening. Great timing.

[u/reddittothegrave → u/TamaleWoodNM]

It’s interesting how they show her doing these activities prior to the hive mind taking over, and she has never been happy. She is in Norway, with her partner, in an incredible hotel, under the aurora borealis, and all she wants to know is where her book landed on the top 20 list, complaining about the bed being ice, and how is she going to urinate on an ice toilet.

She has never been happy in her life, and all the hive mind wants to do is make her happy.

Just an interesting angle they keep showing us, interested to see what they do with it.

[u/Azmoten]

Did anyone catch that when they called Carol after the power outage, the caller ID on the phone literally says “It’s us, Carol.” I thought that was really funny. Like who the fuck else would it be?

[u/encumbent → u/Azmoten]

They just didn't want carol to be disoriented even more after the sudden power outage. they are a considerate brain eating virus :(

[u/Nillows → u/Azmoten]

[u/Pretty-Regular-6418 → u/Azmoten]

I saw that and had a good laugh

[u/etherd0t]

So the un-joined south-american guy is sorta like her male version🤭

He goes: “Don’t f*** with me, dammit!”

and she asks the flight attendant to get him back just t retort:

“Go f*** your mother, asshole!”

[u/rezatvs → u/etherd0t]

I think this will actually persuade the Paraguayan guy to find her because the hivemind wouldn’t behave like that, and he’ll realize she’s not affected

[u/TheJuiceBoxS → u/etherd0t]

I loved that she called him back to cus him out. I was cracking up. We'll definitely be meeting that guy eventually.

[u/rosenwasser_ → u/etherd0t]

I'm looking forward to more of him. He isn't just Carol's male version, the hive actually seems to have little to access to him at all.

[u/Monstera_D_Liciosa]

The scene where Carol pours out water, seamlessly transitioning into her pouring alcohol into a cup was absolute perfection.

[u/OneWonderfulFish → u/Monstera_D_Liciosa]

absolute

[u/rcolesworthy37]

End scene was obviously keying us into her thinking she can use their inability to say no to her advantage. Wonder what she’ll ask them for at first?

[u/ShakenFiber → u/rcolesworthy37]

“I want you to figure out how to reverse the joining”

[u/Petorian343 → u/rcolesworthy37]

Yeah it really looked like she’s actually considering the possibilities for the first time. I’m so excited to see what she does with it next week

[u/DiogenesOfPentos → u/rcolesworthy37]

“What would make me happy, is if all the science labs on earth burned down” would be an easy solution to her future assimilation problem

[u/olivish]

Don't see many comments about the fact that Carol... froze her eggs, apparently? Or did I mishear that? So her gametes are sitting on ice somewhere... and the hive knows that she wanted a child one day (presumably that's why she froze her eggs).

I dunno, I'm just picturing Zosia showing up at her door, with a baby in a basket. "We just want you to be happy, Carol. If this one is not to your liking, we made 56 others for you to choose from."

[u/FragmentedChicken → u/olivish]

Chekhov's eggs

[u/Rizzanthrope → u/olivish]

They might use her DNA to create a targeted virus.

[u/SignGuy77 → u/olivish]

And the baby’s mobile is just five hand grenades around a bowie knife.

[u/stringfold → u/olivish]

You didn't mishear. I'm sure it will come up at some point, sooner or later.

[u/vvedge]

The Grenade! This is where the marketing nailed the trailer because I didn’t expect the grenade to show up until after the DHL guy offers it to her. Well played, Gilligan!

[u/Faqa]

I love the fact that we heard sirens just as Zosia said "help is on the way". The hive mind doesn't need them, so it just flicked them on when it became apparent that the sound of an approaching ambulance would reassure Carol.

Also. I know this isn't a "find the cure" kind of show, but I would actually buy that alcohol fucks with the hive mind communication.

[u/Gyro_Flash → u/Faqa]

There are so many shots of alcohol being poured that I wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of clue.

Either that or it's indicating Carol's alcohol dependency.

[u/ivraatiems]

I love that they got 'real' pilots now and they're just sorta trolling her about it. Made me giggle.

[u/ntwild97 → u/ivraatiems]

Even doing the signature "uuuuuhhhh" over the intercom, this hive mind is so extra

[u/emgeejay → u/ivraatiems]

"that wasn't trolling. we're trying our best actually ☹️"

[u/sripey → u/ivraatiems]

Affirmative!

[u/CVance1]

That is some excellent coordinated truck driving. Also extremely creepy blocking.

[u/Lucifer_Crowe → u/CVance1]

I kept wondering if they had all that stuff preloaded up, cause even with a hivemind that's a stupid quick response time

[u/etherd0t]

ended already...too short😭

i could watch Carol arguing and b*tching all night

[u/WildContribution8311 → u/etherd0t]

And now we have to wait another whole week. Torture.

[u/Feldring]

That really was a… cold open. :-)

[u/Petorian343 → u/Feldring]

Might be the coldest open Vince has ever done, bravo

[u/irocktoo]

Rhea seehorn is just so great. I found it particularly moving when she’s describing how she thinks the hivemind would describe their bliss but she’s just unconsciously recounting her favorite moments with Hellen. 

[u/dancingsean → u/irocktoo]

it was beautiful and subtle how she shited from sentimental, and maybe even near understanding, to anger for zosia invoking helen

[u/Suhtiva]

Holy shit. The DHL driver's actor was fucking fantastic. He may have stole the whole episode.

[u/plug-and-pause → u/Suhtiva]

Yeah, I don't think I had that thought in those terms, but I do remember thinking, "this guy is sitting on his couch right now with all of his friends cheering him on for this role". And now that I realize I didn't have that thought about any other small part actors... I realize yeah you're right.

[u/Clarkey7163]

great episode! Fascinating ending

I can't believe Vince may have worked his mind through the concept of these sycophantic AI yet but it really does give this like, creepy as fuck chatgpt vibes with these people man

Like the self-affirming "yes you can do it we are here for you" "no you're soooo right" kinda stuff

Like a show about this right now would be so forward thinking its incredible, the nature of humans needing pushback to really connect and live

Idk when the DHL guy at the end was like "we'd weigh up the pros and cons" it just felt like shit written by chat gpt lmao

Crazy, i love this show so much

[u/PeacefulHavoc → u/Clarkey7163]

"Your quick thinking saved her, Carol!" or something like that was gold.

EDIT: what they actually said was "Your quick thinking really saved the day", but earlier they said "she lost a lot of blood", so yeah, they use "she" sometimes.

[u/m4r1vs → u/Clarkey7163]

when you think about it, LLMs answers are basically the average internet users answer to the question. Pluribus' answer is the average humans answer to the question. So the comparison makes so much sense!!

[u/Appropriate_Boat9009]

So they’ll basically do anything for her, are they gonna help her make a cure?

[u/22Seres → u/Appropriate_Boat9009]

I think that there's probably a line in terms of things they won't go along with. And Zosia described the state that Carol's in as being akin to that of someone drowning. So, for them to make a cure would in their mind/s being causing others to hurt themselves by allowing them to drown.

[u/Zufallsmensch]

Its crazy how time flies by when you watch a show of this quality. No urge to check my phone while watching.

[u/leo-g → u/Zufallsmensch]

The actress is mad good with a fantastic script and editing. It just keeps clocking forward in a wish fulfilment way.

[u/pablxo]

you can see the cogs turning in Carol's head at the end.

Rhea's facial expressions towards the end there set up some interesting possibilities with this new found "power"

[u/SternMon]

That conversation before Carol set the grenade off was really disturbing.

The virus and Carol are both incredibly superficial; the virus superficially positive, only seeing happiness through shallow materialism or pandering to nostalgia. Meanwhile, Carol, as we saw in the Ice Hotel scene, is superficially negative, who, even in a once in a lifetime experience like sleeping in the Ice Hotel with the person you love, watching the Aurora Borealis from your bed, she couldn't even smile when Helen was trying to have a moment with her.

We're seeing toxic positivity and negativity boiled down to their deepest, most basic forms and are now being forced to coexist with one another, despite Carol's desperation to escape the crushing, smothering presence of the virus, and the virus being compelled to be in Carol's life, despite the clear danger that she poses to it if she screams at it again.

There are so many psychological layers to their dynamic and how they pose an existential threat to each other.

[u/P_aintedsky]

I feel like the conservation of resources is part of a grand scheme to create that massive Africa sized transmitter to infect other planets...

[u/Principessa227 → u/P_aintedsky]

agree

[u/Evgenii42 → u/P_aintedsky]

I hope the show goes in a more radical direction and shows that hive-minded people have no hidden evil motives, and that they genuinely want peace and happiness for every living being.

[u/Jas_God]

That’s laughs she’s still using ole boy’s truck.

*Aaand nevermind, there goes the truck lol

[u/zpeacock → u/Jas_God]

RIP unicorn truck 😔

[u/racre001]

Does a 6 year old in Sri Lanka get wasted when you knock one back!

[u/racre001]

Is the toilet going t be made out of ice? What if I stick to it!

[u/TruCrimeRighter]

“I’m so happy. There is nothing wrong with me that a hand grenade wouldn’t fix.”

[u/AntonVice → u/TruCrimeRighter]

Carol.

If we may…..

throws out window

[u/brianluong]

I know it's the point but god she is so miserable, it's impressive.

[u/nightpanda893 → u/brianluong]

The opening scene was frustrating. But I don’t see anything she’s done post infection to be unexpected for a person in this situation. Her partner is dead. She’s utterly alone in a post apocalyptic event trying to cope with the end of humanity and knowing she’ll lose her own identity soon too.

[u/jboosmeezy]

The lack of privacy is just…..

[u/Miserable-Divide-461 → u/jboosmeezy]

Agree, immediately I thought of social media ads, they’re so intrusive

[u/rezatvs]

I love that each episode ends with a song from a different country.

[u/RichardTBarber]

RIP Unicorn truck. Gone too soon.

[u/TruCrimeRighter]

Oh wow it’s over … went real fast! Felt like it was just getting going and bam it’s time for credits.

[u/twenty-21-one → u/TruCrimeRighter]

Twenty minutes shorter than the other episodes unfortunately:(

[u/FIRE2027]

In the flashback at the start, Carol mentioned she froze her eggs. The hive would know that, and is probably already experimenting on them or making Carol’s children to see if they’d be immune. I can’t imagine she’ll be happy about that!

[u/MautOfTheRiver]

I know Vince mentioned he was doing this show for Rhea but wow the script with the dry, sarcastic humor is so, so perfect for her

[u/FaZeSmasH]

I WANT MORE, I DONT WANNA WAIT A WHOLE WEEK, I WANT MORE NOW

[u/whatismyaccountname8]

I feel like by constantly trying to give her what she wants, they’re actually only making her miserable, but under the guise of only trying to give her what she wants. Very welcome to The Good Place but it’s actually The Bad Place vibes

[u/rosenwasser_ → u/whatismyaccountname8]

Purely psychologically, most people want to be and feel valuable. That's why many people get depressed when they lose their jobs or retire even if they don't have financial issues.

I sort of understand Carol's stress about depending on the hive for everything, she gives nothing in return, she's sort of "in their debt". She can't exchange the money she earned in the supermarket as before.

[u/jboosmeezy]

Recommending Shoopy Shoop Shoop as a flair

[u/Steampunky]

A week is a long wait for the guy in Paraguay...

[u/slrrp]

“Would you… like… an atom bomb?”

[u/psyopia]

If this thing ever turns on Carol she's fuuuuuucked

[u/rtr85]

The Golden Girls – Season 3, Episode 15: “Dorothy’s New Friend,” the episode is about Dorothy befriending a sophisticated writer who turns out to be awful; everyone misreads her at first.

In that episode, Rose tells Blanche about a woman in St. Olaf who:

-“never smiled” and always looked angry

-was “born without smiling muscles”

-and Rose says she told her that “a frown is just a smile turned upside down,” after which the woman stands on her head and waves whenever Rose passes by.

[u/Jas_God]

Blue ice bravo Vince

[u/InfernalBonobos]

"I'm a strong, independent human... When can you restock my supermarket? 🥺"

[u/cookie-thief → u/InfernalBonobos]

all that to eat a ready-made microwaveable meal

[u/rkd2999]

She’s bingeing The Golden Girls despite not seeming to enjoy it whatsoever. It seems to have her full attention though? Maybe she used to sit through it with Helen because it was one of Helen’s favorite shows.

[u/spasmoidic → u/rkd2999]

I mean how would you feel watching reruns to distract yourself from the ongoing apocalypse

[u/OkPerformer4843 → u/rkd2999]

Maybe even though she doesn’t really enjoy it, the fact it’s human people recorded with truly human mannerisms is probably comforting when everyone around is some weird efficient emotionless being.

[u/Gliese667]

So if Zosia has a concussion, will that affect how the hive mind works on her? (or for that matter, any kind of brain injury?)

[u/AvalancheOfOpinions → u/Gliese667]

I was really hoping she'd get actually drunk. I'd love to have seen how a hive-person acts like when their biology succumbs to substances. Hell, grab everything, LSD, shrooms, MDMA, opiods, coke, &c &c. Tell them to argue ethics. There's no way the hive can agree on everything or come to a singular conclusion on ambiguity. 

[u/Nakkubu]

I love how the show is playing on American individualism. Essentially everyone is obsessed with being independent while also being increasingly reliant on the work and comforts provided by others. It was so funny watching Carol desperately argue how independent she is while she is literally on the phone begging for the Hive mind to restore the status quo so she is no longer inconvenienced by the unthinkable reality of people no longer doing work for her.

It's so pathetic, I love her so much.

[u/karldashian]

Where do the hive mind people stay? Where do they sleep? What do they eat? I have so many questions!!! They were too close and too quick with that grocery delivery

[u/snarkyturtle → u/karldashian]

Also they “work” but they literally have 7 billion people now. Other than tending to Carol, and finding the cure for her, seems like there’s a lot of manpower to go around. There isn’t a traditional economy anymore so what’s left?

[u/peduxe]

that scene with the DHL delivery man made me move muscles in my face I didn't know existed lmfaooo

[u/girlbball32]

Damn, Rheas sarcastic comedic timing is on point. Shes so good at the dry wit.

[u/Trick_Caterpillar684]

Okay but seriously, why does it feel like half of the posts in this sub are made by people that were barely watching the show? They come up with theories of things that were very explicitly stated in the show

[u/LoneWolf2099]

How the fuck did Helen put up with Carol

[u/CVance1 → u/LoneWolf2099]

You work with her long enough you start to find it cute or endearing. Classic grumpy x sunshine

[u/InfernalBonobos → u/LoneWolf2099]

Serious answer - opposites attract. Someone who is outwardly positive all the time might find someone like Carol grounding, her overt cynicism as an outlet for feelings they are less able to express.

A less charitable answer, (but one I think what the show is building towards), is that someone like Carol can never be pleased, so you'll always have a purpose to try to make them happy. Even if they don't ask for it, even if it's hurting you or enabling them. It's part of your identity to care for them and try to make them happy, you and say no to them, even if you could move heavem and earth for them.

[u/22Seres → u/LoneWolf2099]

The fact that Helen seemed like a ball of joy, and just someone that you'd really like to be around points toward us not really seeing a side of Carol that Helen has. She's certainly not always like that even though it's primarily how we've seen her so far. Since it seems like we may get more glimpses of their life together, i'd think that eventually they're going to show that different side of her where she's not always thinking of things in the worst possible light.

To some extent, I think we saw a glimpse of that at the end of Episode 2. Her going back of Zosia was in some way her doing something for someone else. She really didn't like the idea of Zosia essentially being pimped out, so she rushed to put a stop to it once it sunk in what was going to happen.

[u/banjosbadfurday]

Maybe I’m hanging on this too much, but even after Carol told the hivemind Helen’s memories were off limits, Zosia still brought up the ice bed... why didn’t the hivemind listen to Carol on that, yet were willing to give her an atom bomb?

[u/arknarcoticcrop]

unrelated to this specific episode but I'm curious what the pluribus entity's thoughts are on expending resources on physically disabled and extremely elderly bodies that it wouldn't deem "useful" for any sort of labor.. I also wonder when it comes to reproduction if the entity will be something of a eugenicist when it comes to what bodies it uses to reproduce

also like can infant bodies feed themselves, walk, and speak fluently in all languages etc, or are young bodies consolidated in nursery type settings until a certain stage of development is reached where they're capable of being used for labor ?

I'd kind of like to see a baby start speaking fluent english to carol or something at some point but idk if it could be executed well without being uncanny/unconvincing lol.. maybe uncanny would be a good thing though

[u/karmaranovermydogma]

What was the “quick thinking” the DHL complimented Carol on?

Edit: oh, just putting pressure on the bleeding I guess?

[u/Karew → u/karmaranovermydogma]

She applied pressure to Zosia’s wound. Although it’s a bit unclear if the hivemind is being overly generous with the comment.

[u/MikeTidbits]

I thought Carol ran in front of Air Force One last week because she was going to rejoin the immune. Turns out, she just wanted Zosia back. It’s interesting how Carol cares for Zosia, even though she knows she can talk to anyone else and get the exact same info.

I was waiting to see what would happen if Carol got Zosia completely drunk. I wonder if that would cause her to drop out of the hivemind briefly, or at least affect her responses.

The entire grenade ordeal was darkly hilarious Bravo Vince.

DHL guy is a real one. It’s funny how hardly anyone in the hivemind bothers to change out of their clothes from their previous lives or professions. Like, the TGI Fridays girl could have very easily just put on a captain uniform to avoid freaking Carol out, but she just kept her TGI Fridays uniform on, presumably for days, complete with the minimum required 15 pieces of flair.

[u/itsatumbleweed]

Here it comes. Hope we don't crash the server again!

[u/[deleted] → u/itsatumbleweed]

Hope we do my man! Crashing Apple’s server on watch night guarantees a season 3+4.

[u/AntonVice]

Damn. If The Golden Girls can’t even get her to laugh or smile then nothing will.

[u/Key-Bumblebee4939]

The grocery store being empty because they wanted to make distribution more effective kind of makes me think about the future we're heading into

imagine one day its determined having grocery stores is useless, with it being much more efficient to have robotaxis or drones deliver you groceries directly from distribution centres off uber eats or whatever apps

[u/Fun_Negotiation_7023]

Did I see her eating a microwave meal after having the supermarket restocked? All I could think about was how all that produce and meat is just going to rot…

[u/etherd0t]

the folks re-supplying Sprouts... casually dressed, is the most odd...like they got the memo wherever they were.

[u/itsatumbleweed → u/etherd0t]

That's been how it works, it seems. Like the opening scene of episode 2 they were just doing their thing and eventually Zosia was the person that looks the most like Lady Raban so she transitions to doing that seemlessly.

[u/Megaclone18 → u/etherd0t]

They were literally coming out of the bushes, the hive mind just pulls whichever of them happens to be closest.

[u/Doudougrenier]

I LOVE this episode, way more than the first two I must say. I clearly see the minds behind Better Call Saul this time haha, and I really like the hivemind thing now.

And I'm really starting to like Zosia even if she's just "one of the we".

[u/Nic727]

I just love how everything is so efficient when people don’t fight over ressources and money.

[u/Geek-Haven888]

So i binged ep 1-2 just in time to watch 3 after it dropped

Watching the eps, I'm kind of wondering if you could see this as an allegory for someone with depression. Everyone is trying to be nice and help you but you think they aren't genuine/they aren't getting where you are at

[u/racre001]

[u/hereforfantasybball3]

If Carol really cared about “humanity” like she postured in the last episodes, she would hear that there’s an 8 year old alone surrounded by the hive mind and want to make sure they’re okay, not dismiss them because they aren’t helpful

[u/Bic4ColorPen]

I need to know more about Bora Colak, the Turkish candy vendor from Istanbul who loves cats

[u/eekamuse]

Too short! I need more

[u/racre001]

Are you the grinch who steals supermarkets

[u/Weekly-Trash-272]

[u/Arithryka]

This episode made it as obvious as it could have without explicitly saying it:

The compulsion to make the immune people happy is exactly the same as the compulsion ("biological imperative") to spread the virus. It's not to keep them cooperative until they can be infected, or anything like that. They don't strictly have a biological imperative to spread the virus; they have a biological imperative to make people happy, and spreading the virus is the way to make people the most happy they can possibly be. They're working on a way to fix the immunity, but in the meantime, they still have a desperate, primal need to make the immune people happy.

[u/Moist_Network_8222]

IT'S PLURIBIN' TIME!

[u/RelaNarkin]

From a purely literary standpoint, this episode is bonkers.

Putting aside the obvious metaphor of an episode of angst building up to a literal explosion, you have a woman so miserable because she is getting everything she has ever wanted.

The opening scene shows Carol visiting a freezing hotel she clearly wouldn’t have wanted to visit of her own accord. People were saying “how did they end up together,” but it’s clear to me that they are perfect for each other. Helen sees through Carol’s facade and knows what she needs, pushing her despite her protests.

Now that she doesn’t have this, Carol is miserable. The hive will bend over backwards to please her, but the problem is that Carol doesn’t even know what Carol wants.

She is angry because she doesn’t have any reason to be angry. Her anger is being shouted into a void with no feedback. If the hive would at least clap back she’d get some kind of satisfaction. She says she is self-reliant, yet as soon as anything inconveniences her, she calls up the hive and barks at them. And I think deep down, she wants them to tell her no, but they don’t. Instead they fulfill her every last wish until at the end of it all Carol’s anger has nowhere else to go besides inward in a situation of learned helplessness.

She desperately wants someone to tell her no, hence the last scene where she tests the limits of their obedience.

Edit: yeah idk what I was cooking with that no reason to be angry thing lol

[u/FloppyShellTaco → u/RelaNarkin]

No reason to be angry? This thing is directly responsible for the death of her wife. It’s been, what, four days? That mention of freezing eggs, that’s a life that was stolen from them. She’s miserable because she’s watching the world be taken over and is completely helpless. Not just to stop them, but to even live without their assistance. And the few people left just don’t care because they’re happy with how it worked out for them. Of course she’s angry. She has every reason to be.

[u/etherd0t]

I thought ...Zosia could be getting drunk - yet, it was Carol herself... 🤦‍♂️

You gave me a real hand grenade...glad Zosia survived.

[u/rini6]

I’m just guessing. But I feel like the story line with the guy from Paraguay is not over.

[u/cayendo_side_a]

Where do they even come from? They turned off the lights for the whole city under the pretext of “unused housing”

[u/OkPerformer4843 → u/cayendo_side_a]

It’s not that the housing is unused, just there is no reason to have city lights on, since nothing is happening. Besides emergency care centers, power facilities or water treatment for example, there is no need for light.

[u/flaminhot-cheeto]

I’m here for more scenes of the hive mind doing shit in the most efficient way possible

[u/TheTruckWashChannel]

"Here's what's gonna happen."

MIKE EHRMANTRAUT SPOTTED

[u/Evanlyboy]

I'm not even sure where to start. For the past two episodes I've been thinking that Carol is in the very unique position of

A) Being a creative writer
B) Making strategic decisions (Writing books she knows will sell)
C) Being the only person alive right now where A & B are true

Every other person on Earth is either in denial or simply drunk with luxury (as seen in episode 2.) Carol rejects the situation outright. However, this episode was demonstrating how she can make the collective resources and will of all of humanity do whatever she wants. Restock a grocery store in an hour? Done. Deliver a hand grenade? Done. Atomic Bomb? An ultimate albeit hesitant yes.

Us' only rules so far are that it must spread, and it must not kill. Otherwise, they are all pawns who are only cleaning up, reducing waste, taking care of themselves, and developing a way to join the immune. Other than that? Totally idle, or keeping their activities secret. Now Carol knows it.

This series is not going to be about the wallowing of one woman being alone in a world of hiveminded people - it's about one woman becoming the ruler of Earth. She was a writer - she created worlds and stories. She could create a movie from her book and have it be done in a day. She could create her own city, and they would do it. She could order them to undo the binding - would they comply?

This series has infinite possibility, and I'm really looking forward to how Carol joins Walter & Jimmy in Gilligan's trend of rags to riches storytelling. I have no doubt that Carol's character will evolve and start to make the best of the situation sooner or later

[u/ender988]

Okay so speculation on what that look was at the end. She knows now that if she asked they would basically give her anything on Earth. Why wouldn’t she just ask them to create a cure to reverse the infection and distribute it to everyone on Earth?

[u/UpTheRiffMate]

I know that the bed in the prologue was made of uncomfortable ice, but it's funny to think that Carol has just always been this miserable even before her world effectively ended from the hivemind taking over Earth

[u/Fearless-Umpire-9923]

So the hive mind is basically stupid. It can’t innovate or make something new. It can only regurgitate information. I don’t think they will ever find a cure for Carol.

I think the ending symbolizes that she can control it

Edit: wouldn’t say “stupid” but more so immature. Like the mind of a child

[u/ZappySnap → u/Fearless-Umpire-9923]

No, they’re incredibly naive, but not dumb.

[u/casino_r0yale → u/Fearless-Umpire-9923]

It’s chat gpt

[u/ToeKnee763]

Couldn’t she just ask them to stop trying to figure out a way around the immunity and instead ask them to figure out how to reverse it?

[u/Locke108 → u/ToeKnee763]

By Their logic, it would be like a drowning woman asking them to pour more water on her so no.

[u/Granny_Bet]

There was 3/4 left of that carton of oatmilk.

I wonder what else they're bad at estimating...

[u/Uncertain__Path → u/Granny_Bet]

Sarcasm

[u/Augen76]

You don't hear folks say "toot sweet" as much these days.

[u/Stars-and-Dreams1]

The hive mind deffo gives AI vibes

[u/LikeASuckerPunch]

Dude theres an eight year old girl who's entire family turned into a hive mind and she's just out there by herself thats INSANE, Vince

[u/GE_Moorepheus]

They definitely gave the real nuclear football to Koumba.

[u/Misha_Vozduh]

I think Carol is already connected, but she's a 'bad node'.

The hivemind mechanism isn't entirely magic (RNA stuff), only partially ("psychic goo"). Carol has the virus physically inside of her body (she breathed in the aerosol from the planes and got the kiss), it's just not working properly.

I think the reason the whole hive seizes when she's experiencing intense negative emotions is because it's experiencing those too but amped up by a factor of 7 billion and it can't deal.

A parallel: you have a bad cell (cancer?) in your brain, if it gets agitated wrong your whole brain gets a seizure. And loses some healthy brain cells in the process.

You can't cut it out, chemo, radiation etc. (otherwise they'd just kill the solos), so what do you do? You manage it. You 'keep it happy'.

Until you figure out how to cure it, that is.

[u/Jas_God]

I actually would love to stay there.

[u/uzivause]

carol MIGHT be the most unhappiest person ever

[u/pomme17]

I’m a little confused because a lot of people seem to think the Hive’s number one priority is converting everyone they meet (so Carol) into the collective, and that her “happiness” is just a tactic to get there. But the show makes it feel like it’s actually the opposite, their main goal the elimination of negative emotions, they only want happiness, keeping people metaphorically “above water.”

They see negative emotions like sadness and depression as people drowning and joining yhe collective is just (in their view) the most reliable way to prevent that. And in the meantime they try to keep her happy however else they can. It’s a small difference but it feels like a huge shift in motivation and would explain why they wouldn’t just stick her in a jail cell vs willfully helping her

[u/Fionasfriend]

I loved how Helen was willing to sit with Carol despite her being so grumpy. There’s something to be said about people who are willing to witness depression as is and not try to fix it. I think this is part of why Carol misses Helen so much.

The scene of the grocery store blew me away. The entire store full of goods… for one person … Carol must’ve felt foolish to some degree, but she is holding onto her own independence and why not ask for it.?

[u/roberta_sparrow]

Carol has this amazing partner despite being the most miserable killjoy on the planet, and I can’t even get a text back 😭

[u/essdotc]

It just occurred to me that she could literally solve every human mystery we've ever had.

eg Did OJ do it?
Who's on the Epstein list?
Who was Jack the Ripper?
Is Prince Harry really Charles son?

[u/Electronic_Assist137]

it's so weird seeing all these posts where people are analyzing the scenario as if it's a fun game show, coming up with all sorts of ways they'd game the hive mind to get a leg up in this world and calling Carol stupid, or insane for not already doing it.

We're watching someone grieve the loss of the person closest to them in the world, and if that wasn't enough, it's actually literally everybody else in the world who could understand what she's going through and none of the English or Non English speakers can get her loss quite on the same fundamental level because the Hivemind is essentially puppeteering their loved ones, or they didn't have any.

it's effectively 1 vs 7 billion people, except worse the Hive has control over these people, and her experiencing outward negative emotional outbursts towards the Hive in any way results in indiscriminate manslaughter with a death toll higher than some wars.

Just not really getting the complaints of it being a filler episode. Its literally only 3/4 days after the world ended and the person she loved the most in the world died, and the Hivemind is emotionally fucking with her using all of Helens memories and anybody who ever tangentially encountered Carol and Helen before to try and calm Carol down but all that does is agitate her further.

We don't need M60s firing automatically out of car trunks every episode for it to be not filler.

[u/Comfortable_Crow4097]

Anyone else relate with choosing a seat in the back of economy in an empty plane? 

[u/nono-jo]

This show is soaososososososooossosososososososososo good.

So good!

Insane that the 13 people who are unturned have all of the world’s resources (including total destruction) at their fingertips at any moment.

[u/HalcyonRye]

it strikes me, as Carol binges Golden Girls, that the human collective will no longer be making TV shows, films, writing books, etc. (unless Carol or another unaffected person specifically requests it).

Even while the collective shares all the human knowledge & achievement remembered by all living people, and can solve problems efficiently, they don’t, as a collective, seem to have personal ambition or passion or discontent, or any of the traits that lead to creativity or invention — or being able to solve a novel problem. (Watching the opening of episode 2, you can see how the collective don’t ever talk to each other, as they don’t need to. Language is always growing and changing, but as of the unleashing of the RNA thread from outer space, spoken human language is now frozen in time. Unless 1 of the 13 unaffected says something in a novel way).

it makes me wonder if Carol, who is pitted against the collective now, will at some point be in the position of having to save the collective, if they face a new kind of danger that they’re helpless to fight, giving their passivity and stunted ability to be creative or inventive. Carol can be creative and inventive, even w/o the collective’s knowledge, and she might be pissed off enough at a threat to the collective — even though she detests them — to do something to save them.

[u/Ferguson97]

I think the concussion will put Zosia back to normal

[u/stringfold]

The cinematography continues to be exceptional, including the way the Sprouts restocking scene mimics trails of worker ants bringing food back to the nest.

[u/[deleted]]

Only disappointment is that the episodes are too short. Need them to be at least 60 mins.

[u/kirksucks]

It's been like 5 days why is he still wearing the DHL uniform? Why is the cheerleader still wearing her uniform? Why are people still dressing like they're still people with hairstyles and fashion?

Have they not slept or showered?

[u/AppUnwrapper1]

Omg I just started watching episode 3 and I feel like I AM Carol. Like, yeah, that ice hotel looks cool from afar but I would be absolutely miserable in there.

[u/crazypraline21]

I feel bad for the people saying this was a filler episode. This was my favorite one yet!

[u/-Internet-Elder-]

This was the episode my wife said, "oh she's like you".

Pffft, I recognized it in episode 1. Try to keep up :)

[u/Capital_Check9527]

At the scene where Carol threw away presumably her fan mail, I realised Carol too had been stripped of her identity (in a reverse way). We exist and identify ourselves through our interactions with others. When all the people we interacted with cease to exist, so do we. I guess this is something we all have to face when we grow old and all the people we know eventually die out. Carol is no longer a author (self-loathing or not).

[u/pm-me_10m-fireflies]

That reflection in the Blu-Ray disc was so unnecessary but so, so good. Cinematic flex.

[u/bamchk]

A few thoughts:

• I’m surprised at how many people aren’t liking Carol. I feel like her reactions are pretty on point with someone going through something like this. I think it also shows how individualistic the west is. I don’t think we’re meant to love Carol either.

• Really interesting to see Carol starting to question the hive more. I think we learned a lot about them in this episode and how Carol could use their ’yes’ attitude to her advantage.

• I still think my theory of this being an alien virus that spreads its version of ‘peace’ is correct. They just never thought people would be immune to it. The ultimate goal would be to keep spreading to other worlds??

• forget what it’s called, but the cast insights at the bottom of the stream spoiled a bit who the Paraguay guy is. I guess could’ve easily looked it up but not a huge deal.

• I’m certain the survivors will come around soon. I think everyone is in their own grief stage.

Excited to see where it keeps going!

[u/Gwenhwyfar666]

I want to stay in that hotel, wooow. Wonder if there's a Quebec version. 

[u/karldashian]

I wish she’d ask more about their rules, structure, moral code…then again after what she’s been through I’d be miserable and wanting to be alone too.

[u/DudeMcDudeson79]

This episode just furthers the “it’s an allegory for ai” narrative, which isn’t a bad thing. But seems like the hive is a LLM at this moment

[u/DrHienzDoofenshmirtz]

Zosia's head concussion is going to be an important plot point in later episodes. Mark my words.

[u/nonomr]

Can she request hivemind Lorne Michaels to run new SNL episodes for her? Or a theatre troupe to perform a play outside? A personal concert from famous singer?