The Showrunner Reveals He Has a Plan for How Pluribus Might Finish... Currently.
The creative mastermind never anticipated that Pluribus would emerge as a massive hit. “God bless the fans,” Gilligan says. “It was unexpected the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
As the debut season of the popular series wrapping up—and a second season officially in the works—Gilligan and his team reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will influence the storyline of Pluribus.
On the Incredible Audience Reaction
It would be easy to get sidetracked by the rampant praise and audience predictions surrounding 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 amazing, but I get wind of it anecdotally, and that's intentional. Never in my life searched for my own name online, nor do I ever plan to. Not because I don't care. It's a rabbit hole I know I would get lost in and then I'd be never leaving the house from Home Depot and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
In spite of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no escaping the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to take it in stride and try not to let it dictate the story of the show.
“It is not our goal to tailor anything,” says Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not influenced by audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our heads down and working,” he chimes in.
The Central Mystery: Will the creator Know the Finale of Pluribus?
Considering the creative staff aren’t being guided by public opinion, does that mean they already know how Pluribus will finally conclude? Essentially yes… sort of.
“There are some interesting ideas about the ultimate destination,” Gilligan says. “yet we stand ready to discard a solid concept for a better idea. This approach has served us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we conceive of something superior and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
Then again, if plans fall through, executive producer Gordon Smith has a humorous idea to serve as a last resort.
“I constantly suggest 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,” Smith quips, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Of course, why mess with the classics?
“My dream is Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV+.
