The Showrunner Reveals He Knows How Pluribus Might Finish... At the Moment.
The acclaimed writer-producer could not have predicted that the Apple TV+ show would emerge as a breakout success. “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.”
As the debut season of the hit program reaching its finale—and a second season greenlit and underway—Gilligan and his team recently discussed the fan response and whether it will influence the future direction of Pluribus.
About the Tremendous Audience Reaction
Anyone might to get sidetracked by the rampant praise and audience predictions about Pluribus. The creator is striving to avoid both.
“The experience is akin to constantly eating your favorite dessert and being tickled to death,” he describes. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it from others, and that's intentional. I have never looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a rabbit hole I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Regardless of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s it's impossible to ignore the immensely favorable 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 don't try to change the plot,” says writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not changed by online forums.”
“Better to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan adds.
The Central Mystery: Does the creator See the Conclusion of Pluribus?
So if the creative staff aren’t being guided by audience theories, does it imply they already know how Pluribus will ultimately end? In short yes… sort of.
“There are some interesting ideas about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan reveals. “yet we stand ready to discard a solid concept 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 scrap ideas when we conceive of something superior and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
On the other hand, if they hit a wall, Gordon Smith has a humorous idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that it's all in a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and the characters are inside it,” Smith jokes, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, one could always use the legendary finales?
“I want Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV.
