The Showrunner Discloses He Knows How Pluribus Might Finish... At the Moment.
The creative mastermind never anticipated that the Apple TV+ show would become a cultural phenomenon. “God bless the fans,” he states. “It was unexpected the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
With the first season of the acclaimed series reaching its finale—and the next chapter already in development—the writers' room opened up about the fan response and whether it will impact the future direction of Pluribus.
On the Incredible Viewer Reception
It would be easy to get sidetracked by the widespread acclaim and audience predictions about Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is doing his best to ignore the noise.
“It feels like force fed hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's the greatest thing, but I learn of it from others, and that's on purpose. I have never Googled myself, nor do I ever intend to. Not because I don't care. It's a bottomless pit I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd be stuck in my living room.”
In spite of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s it's impossible to ignore the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to take it in stride and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We make no attempt to tailor anything,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The narrative we craft is not influenced by what people are saying.”
“It's wiser to keep our noses to the grindstone,” he chimes in.
The Central Mystery: Has the showrunner Have a Plan for the Ending of Pluribus?
Given that the creative staff aren't taking cues by public opinion, does that mean they have mapped out how Pluribus will finally conclude? The answer is yes… with some caveats.
“We have some compelling concepts about where the show might end up,” Gilligan says. “but we are always ready to discard a good idea 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 get a better idea and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
Alternatively, if all else fails, director and writer 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 pull back at the end and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”
Then again, why mess with the legendary finales?
“My dream is Carol to wake up in bed with Bob Newhart there,” he jokes.
Pluribus can be watched on the streaming service.
