The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Shares He Knows How Pluribus Will Conclude... For Now.
The creative mastermind could not have predicted that Pluribus would emerge as a cultural phenomenon. “The viewers have been incredible,” he remarks. “I did not foresee the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
With the first season of the hit program reaching its finale—and a second season greenlit and underway—the writers' room reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will influence the future direction of Pluribus.
About the Incredible Viewer Reception
One could easily to get swayed by the constant speculation and online debates about Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to steer clear of all that.
“It feels like constantly eating hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I learn of it through word of mouth, and that's intentional. Not once have I searched for my own name online, nor do I ever intend to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a bottomless pit I know I would get lost in and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Despite trying to stay away, there’s it's impossible to ignore the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to accept it graciously and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We make no attempt to adjust our writing,” says writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The narrative we craft is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our noses to the grindstone,” he chimes in.
A Pressing Query: Has Vince Gilligan See the Ending of Pluribus?
So if Gilligan and his team aren't taking cues by public opinion, does it imply they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? The answer is yes… in a way.
“There are some potential directions about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan says. “yet we stand ready to abandon a decent plan for a more brilliant plan. This approach has served us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We change course 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 rather amusing idea to use as a backup.
“I constantly suggest that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and we're in there,” Smith quips, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, why mess with the iconic TV endings?
“I'd love for Carol to awaken beside Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV+.
