Nice, answers that question

Great episode. The moment where she broke down because the realized she truly was alone in the world was heart wrenching.

At least Koumba is sympathetic, so I think there's a lot more to come from him eventually. And we're rushing towards a meetup with Manousos. (these names!) The way this show is going, it could happen as soon as next week, and Carol will finally have an ally.

This is a top 3 show for me because I think Vince is exploring humanity's need for connection and the want to be loved. Carol is searching for that deep connection and love. I don't believe she had that with Helen. Her parents were horrible to her because of her sexuality. Manousos, I believe is the male equivalent to Carol. It sounds like he had a horrible childhood. I think cracks are showing in the hive because Koumba specifically mentions that Zoisa misses Carol.
The fact that the other 11 are farther along in their dealings with the hive are going to come into play. I don't think Carol is horrible, she just wants to find love and is not good at expressing her feelings.

Questions:

1. If you were in their situation, would you be a Koumba or Carol? I hope I would want to be a bit of both.
2. If Zoisa leaves the hive does she get to keep the knowledge of the hive.

This is a show you have to almost watch each episode 2-3 times to get all the easter eggs

So the virus is the product of an alien life form that sent the blueprint for replicating itself to earth?

If these aliens operate under the same constraints about not harming life, etc., how do they survive themselves in the world they come from?

Not sure this is where the show is going, but it would make it for a very easily conquered planet. Population decimated by food constraints, and then no risk of violence in return.

The fact that they won't build robots that will farm is concerning. They will die out in 10 years

I don't have a well-developed theory on this, but I think there's an argument that the "don't harm anything" thing is a criticism of anti-natalist or extreme green movements. Probably not, but maybe.

It's people

For anyone who has an hour to kill and likes Mina Kimes.

PLURIBUS is my favorite show of the year

Really enjoyed chatting about it with @DavidDTSS on the pod…

🎧: https://t.co/pdwuVt8orW

📺: https://t.co/oQIWoOGwyK pic.twitter.com/1bsIBYxqDl

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) December 5, 2025

If rats are part of the hive mind, and the hive cannot enact violence on anybody, then how did the rat bite that lady to start the whole thing? Maybe the DNA was 100% about creating an initial "infector"? That the DNA in the rat has nothing to do with whatever infects humans afterwards?

Because if all animals are part of the hive mind, then it would take a month or so for them all to starve to death and there is no hope for life on Earth at all.

Depending on the above, it seems clear now that the "goal" of the transmission is to either wipe out all of humanity or wipe out all animal (and possibly plant) life. 10 years is a blink of an eye in cosmic scales.

Spot on. I think each of the remaining non-hive humans is an example of the emotional extremes of humanity.

Koumba is hedonism.

The Indian lady is the maternal instinct.

The Quechua group is about family.

Not sure about the Mongolian (I think they were Mongolian?)

The South American man seems like extreme anger, or some type of extremism.

Carol represents independence.

I think the rest of the season explores Carols isolation and how she comes to terms with realizing that she not only wants human connection, she needs it. I wouldn't be surprised if the season finale is her reconciling with the other non-hive humans and season 2 is the group helping the hive mind figure out a way to sustain themselves long term.

I also think a chekov's gun moment was dropped on stage when she made the comment about being a writer and able to come up with ideas to help. Watch the idea come from one of her books, or her unpublished book that she really believes in.

I honestly thought the show viewership would drop significantly when folks realized it wasn't a camp sci fi (since that was the initial episode) but happy to see people get it for what it is and are hanging in.

Pluribus is the current #1 TV show online by overall audience engagement. It's spent 18 days at #1.#Pluribus #AppleTV #TV #television

Dive into the details: https://t.co/c7q82PAa1D pic.twitter.com/agghpK4BjL

— Television Stats (@televisionstats) December 7, 2025

AJ02 said:

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Gaius Rufus said:

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The primary goal of the virus is to survive and expand, not wipe out species. Zosia mentions this in the grenade episode. Also, IMO, ultimately the virus is just a macguffin to drive Carol's character growth. The show isn't really about the virus, it's about Carol and how she changes as a person after her world is turned upside down.

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IS that the primary goal though? They transmitted the "blueprints" from somewhere out in the universe. They didn't actually send their own species (whoever they are) down to earth. It's entirely plausible this is their way of completely wiping out all humans on earth, in a relatively short time (10 years). The whole "we can do no harm, we love everybody and just want peace" could just be some weird programming code to avoid humans nuking earth and making it uninhabitable before they completely die out. This way, everyone dies peacefully, leaves the earth in relatively good shape, and then the aliens can move in and take over. And it's also entirely plausible/likely that they've transmitted these same blueprints to other planets with possible intelligent life."

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking.


We really don't know if it's actually an RNA "virus" or not. That was just one of several guesses of some humans who didn't really know either.

Maybe, but to me that doesn't make much sense and assumes a lot. Specifically that whatever alien species this is, is compatible with the protein sources on Earth. Also, if they have the technology to build a radio dish the size of Africa and transmit a virus over multiple light years, it would follow that their technology completely overshadows anything currently existing on Earth. Finally, why create a hive mind when they could have just created a virus that masked as something harmless and just killed off all humans in a much shorter time span?

Based on everything the hive mind has demonstrated, the most plausible explanation (to me at least) is that this is a benevolent species that may not have any other procreation options. It also would go against their, "do no harm" morals. If they won't kill any living being (to include vegetation), why would they condemn an entire world full of sentient beings to a drawn-out, atrocious death by starvation?

But again, who knows. To me, that idea just doesn't seem to fit the overarching themes of the show, but it certainly can't be ruled out conpletely. Like Carol mentioned in the second episode, asking a drug dealer about how good their high is doesn't mean much.

aTmAg said:

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AJ02 said:

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Gaius Rufus said:

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The primary goal of the virus is to survive and expand, not wipe out species. Zosia mentions this in the grenade episode. Also, IMO, ultimately the virus is just a macguffin to drive Carol's character growth. The show isn't really about the virus, it's about Carol and how she changes as a person after her world is turned upside down.

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IS that the primary goal though? They transmitted the "blueprints" from somewhere out in the universe. They didn't actually send their own species (whoever they are) down to earth. It's entirely plausible this is their way of completely wiping out all humans on earth, in a relatively short time (10 years). The whole "we can do no harm, we love everybody and just want peace" could just be some weird programming code to avoid humans nuking earth and making it uninhabitable before they completely die out. This way, everyone dies peacefully, leaves the earth in relatively good shape, and then the aliens can move in and take over. And it's also entirely plausible/likely that they've transmitted these same blueprints to other planets with possible intelligent life."

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Yeah, that's what I was thinking.


We really don't know if it's actually an RNA "virus" or not. That was just one of several guesses of some humans who didn't really know either.

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Good point about the human analysis. I thought the whiteboard at the beginning of episode 1 mentioned that, but I could be wrong and it could just be a hypothesis.

tk for tu juan said:

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I got about 15 minutes into the video and my biggest issue is the claim that the hive mind tricked Diabete into going to Vegas and has "trapped" him there.

Going back to the second episode, he made it clear that he wanted to go to Vegas and stay in the Westgate because that's where Elvis lived. The poker game is him continuing to live out his fantasy in Vegas and the hive mind is only doing it because he asked them to do it. This is emphasized by the fact that as soon as he leaves the room, they immediately get out of character and start cleaning things up.

Additionally, I believe they explained the HDP scheme to him before Carol arrived.

As far as the virus being some type of invasion vanguard, it still doesn't make sense to me. I'm not saying it should be ruled out completely, but here are a few reasons I don't think it is:

1.) Occams Razor. There are much easier ways a space virus can kill off humanity.

2.) It becomes a rube goldbergesque explanation and takes away from the core themes of the show.

3.) Gilligan said he came up with the show idea first, then added the virus idea much later in the process (see link)

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/pluribus-explained-vince-gilligan-rhea-seehorn-1236571666/

Quote:

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He imagined a show that started with an Earth-shattering event, and in the aftermath, the entire population suddenly became "unfailingly nice" to the protagonist, "so much so that they basically give their lives for this guy."

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https://www.polygon.com/pluribus-episode-1-2-explained-spoilers/

Quote:

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Pluribus doesn't offer easy answers. It's unclear whether Carol is a hero or just a killjoy. (Everyone in the hivemind seems blissfully happy at all times.) And if you're suspicious about the alien origins of the "psychic glue" formula, well, the show's creator says not to worry about it.

"I don't know that we need to be concerned about it so much," Gilligan tells Polygon, "but I was tickled when I came up with that."

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Maybe he's lying? But it really seems like he's trying to tell a different story than an alien invasion that kills off humanity.

Edit: To point out (only because it's one of my favorite shows), his analysis of John Cena's Peacemaker character is incorrect/outdated. In Peacemaker season 2, most of his character arc centers on the guilt/repercussions of all the killing he has done. By the end of the series, he isn't indiscriminately killing people anymore and has seemingly vowed to be a traditional hero.

He has errors in every video and posts clarifications in a pinned comment in the comment section. He clarifies what he meant by "trapped" in this week's video. I do not worry if everything in a reaction or theory video is 100% perfect or not. They are just an extension to the entertainment of the show.

Instead of an alien invasion, there is the possibility that the human race is being used as lab rats to see how long they willingly starve themselves following a rule set before breaking from the hive mind control.

I am interested if the frequency 8.613.0 is running the background communication for the hive mind and what happens if you block the radio freq from reaching one of the bodies

tk for tu juan said:

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He has errors in every video and posts clarifications in a pinned comment in the comment section. He clarifies what he meant by "trapped" in this week's video. I do not worry if everything in a reaction or theory video is 100% perfect or not. They are just an extension to the entertainment of the show.

Instead of an alien invasion, there is the possibility that the human race is being used as lab rats to see how long they willingly starve themselves following a rule set before breaking from the hive mind control.

I am interested if the frequency 8.613.0 is running the background communication for the hive mind and what happens if you block the radio freq from reaching one of the bodies

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Maybe, but as Gilligan has said (as referenced by the links I posted and Gigem's comment), this show isn't really about an alien invasion. It's about human connection and what that means.

It's very possible that the frequency is important to the hive mind and blocking it causes issues. But I imagine the choice will be a setup for Carol to make a decision on if sending things back to how they were really is a better decision for all of humanity.

We already see signs that she is missing human connection and it's only been, what, 17 days in the story?

She won't find out about it until season 2 at the earliest, unless there is a large time jump because he won't get to her via car anytime soon (at least not through the Darien gap).

Either way, it's not like the 2 of them could realistically set up a jamming signal that impacts enough people to make a difference to the hive mind. Plus, the hive mind has shown that while it will go to extreme lengths to keep the non-hive humans happy, they do have a survival instinct and will protect themselves. So even if Carol sets up a jammer, the hive mind will just move somewhere else.

Regardless, I just don't think that's what the show is really about. If you look at the 7 stages of grief, Carol is working her way through those.

Shock: She went through that

Denial: She went through that too

Anger: She's at, I think, the tail end of this, but it's still there

Bargaining: We saw this in Vegas where she made the hive mind agree not to turn her and suggesting she could help come up with ideas to save the hive-mind. She could come back to this too if the radio signal has any meaning

Depression: Seems like she's headed here, especially after finding out that the other non-hive humans are excluding her. I would be willing to bet we spend a lot of time bouncing in and out of this stage as her journey progresses.

Acceptance & hope: Not there yet

Processing grief: What I think this show is actually about. Her journey from losing Susan to processing her grief in a meaningful way and accepting herself as part of the larger whole

Love the show. Reading this thread mostly to see other responses (favorable/unfavorable) admittedly probably looking for affirmation that "this thing I like is seen as good by others, too."

Instead of reflections of the show's quality or lack thereof, this thread is [edit - largely] full of theories about what's what in the show's universe. That's fine, but I really don't care to foresee show events/revelations - I'll just take them as they come.

I gotta say, though, I bet a psycho-analyst could have a field day with the theories in here, and what they say about their respective posters!

Ok, I will leave y'all to discuss "character development" instead of sci-fi theories

Carol's frozen eggs are a possible dropped apple loophole for the hive

tk for tu juan said:

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Ok, I will leave y'all to discuss "character development" instead of sci-fi theories

Carol's frozen eggs are a possible dropped apple loophole for the hive

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Maybe, but they have shown they require consent from the non-hive humans to do things to them. Just because Carol froze her eggs doesn't mean she loses control over them. It would still require her consent to fertilize them or do anything else to them.

The hive mind can't lie and hasn't violated Carols right to consent in any way (up to this point).

If anything, I would be willing to bet that the frozen embryo angle will be brought up as something that creates division between Carol and Susan. Maybe the tried to have a baby any had a miscarriage (which led to Carols drinking) or one or the other decided they didn't want kids (which led to Carols drinking).

What could the hive mind do with Carols eggs? They don't have stem cells. Is the idea that they would steal the eggs and fertilize them?

I believe you can create stem cells from an egg. Seems like it would pretty neatly align with their guidelines about being able to eat an apple if it falls off a tree.

Gotcha. I feel like that would be a pretty big violation of the morals they have established so far. They would essentially be stealing something that belongs to Carol then modifying it to create something that they would then use to turn her against her explicit wishes.

I suppose it can't be ruled out, but I would be pretty disappointed if that's the route they go (not that how I feel matters).

Edit: I'm not sure frozen embryos count as "dropped fruit". When you freeze your eggs you don't lose control over them. They are just frozen. You still own them. Not sure how the hive could explain that decision.

I immediately said to my wife that I bet she has eggs frozen somewhere and that is how they'll get to her. Similarly they'll collect Diabete's sperm from banging all the hivemind ladies.

Her line about lawyer speak was a tell also. She only forbade them from "touching her body".

Yeah, whatever it is, there's no way that Gilligan got rid of such a great tension/ticking clock so easily. My guess is it's meant as a narrative device to lull Carol and Diabete (along with the audience) into a false sense of security/victory, then, in a couple episodes or so, the hive mind will spring whatever work-around on them, possibly right as things are finally starting to look up for Carol and Manousos/they've found a "cure" of sorts. Maybe something along those lines.

The Sun said:

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I immediately said to my wife that I bet she has eggs frozen somewhere and that is how they'll get to her. Similarly they'll collect Diabete's sperm from banging all the hivemind ladies.

Her line about lawyer speak was a tell also. She only forbade them from "touching her body".

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And they only confirmed back they wouldn't take stem cells "from her body". I picked up on that right away. Told my husband there has to be other ways to get stem cells, but I had forgotten about the frozen eggs.

AJ02 said:

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The Sun said:

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I immediately said to my wife that I bet she has eggs frozen somewhere and that is how they'll get to her. Similarly they'll collect Diabete's sperm from banging all the hivemind ladies.

Her line about lawyer speak was a tell also. She only forbade them from "touching her body".

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And they only confirmed back they wouldn't take stem cells "from her body". I picked up on that right away. Told my husband there has to be other ways to get stem cells, but I had forgotten about the frozen eggs.

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Why do you think the hivemind would allow themselves to take Carols frozen eggs without her consent? Are you saying that she no longer owns them?

Also, just to point out…the line about the frozen eggs happened, what, 7 years before the hivemind took over? Why is the first assumption that they are still around?

Based on everything we have seen, there was an inciting event that made Carol start drinking and get to the point where she got a DUI. Why is the assumption not that the frozen eggs have something to do with that?

Finally, I will need to go back and watch, but didn't Carol explicitly say they were not allowed to inject anything in her body? So the hive mind answering the way they did would make sense, wouldn't it?

I don't think the "virus" has to be injected. I thought at first it was being spread by kissing, and then when they did it worldwide....I don't recall what the method was. In the food supply, maybe?

AJ02 said:

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I don't think the "virus" has to be injected. I thought at first it was being spread by kissing, and then when they did it worldwide....I don't recall what the method was. In the food supply, maybe?

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Didn't they show "chemtrails" in the sky? I thought that was a hilarious faux-affirmation to the conspiracy nuts.

Great catch on the sperm and egg but I'm pretty sure they can create compatible stems without this or invasive procedure like the hip. Either way they're clearly not safe