Vince Gilligan Reveals He Has a Plan for How Pluribus Will End... For Now.
The acclaimed writer-producer never anticipated that Pluribus would turn into a cultural phenomenon. “God bless the fans,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
Now that Season 1 of the hit program wrapping up—and a second season greenlit and underway—the writers' room recently discussed the viewer reception and whether it will shape the storyline of Pluribus.
On the Overwhelming Fan Response
One could easily to get sidetracked by the rampant praise and audience predictions regarding Pluribus. The creator is making a conscious effort to steer clear of all that.
“It's like being force fed hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it from others, and that's on purpose. I have never looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. Not because I don't care. It's a bottomless pit I know I would get lost in and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from Home Depot and I'd never leave my living room.”
Regardless of his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The most practical strategy is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“It is not our goal to adjust our writing,” says Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not changed by what people are saying.”
“Better to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan adds.
A Pressing Query: Does the showrunner Know the Ending of Pluribus?
Considering the creative staff are not listening by audience theories, does it imply they have already decided how Pluribus will ultimately end? The answer is yes… with some caveats.
“We've developed some compelling concepts about the ultimate destination,” Gilligan says. “but we are always ready to discard a good idea for a more brilliant plan. That philosophy has guided us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we find a more perfect path and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
Then again, if all else fails, Gordon Smith has a humorous idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll zoom out in the finale and that's where they've been all along,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”
Then again, why not reference the iconic TV endings?
“I'd love for Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan says with a smile.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV.
