Vince Gilligan Reveals He Has an Idea of How Pluribus Will End... Currently.
Vince Gilligan never anticipated that Pluribus would become a breakout success. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I did not foresee the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
As the debut season of the acclaimed program wrapping up—and Season 2 officially in the works—Gilligan and his team reflected on the fan response and whether it will shape the future direction of Pluribus.
On the Tremendous Viewer Reception
It would be easy to get swayed by the constant speculation and online debates regarding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to ignore the noise.
“The experience is akin to an endless supply of hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he explains. “It's the greatest thing, but I learn of it anecdotally, and that's on purpose. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a deep trap I know I would get lost in and then I'd be living in squalor from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Despite Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no escaping the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to accept it graciously and try not to let it dictate the story of the show.
“It is not our goal to change the plot,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not impacted by what people are saying.”
“We prefer to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan concludes.
The Big Question: Does the creator Know the Conclusion of Pluribus?
Given that the writers are not listening by audience theories, does it imply they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? In short yes… with some caveats.
“We've developed some compelling concepts about where the show might end up,” Gilligan says. “yet we stand ready to discard a decent plan for a better idea. This approach has served us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we conceive of something superior and I imagine we will be doing that.”
On the other hand, if plans fall through, director and writer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to use as a backup.
“My recurring proposal is that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and that's where they've been all along,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”
Of course, why not reference the legendary finales?
“I want Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV.
