Vince Gilligan Shares He Has an Idea of How His Sci-Fi Series Will Conclude... For Now.
Vince Gilligan did not foresee that his new science-fiction series would emerge as a cultural phenomenon. “God bless the fans,” he remarks. “I did not foresee the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
Now that Season 1 of the acclaimed series coming to an end—and a second season already in development—the creative team reflected on the viewer reception and whether it will shape the storyline of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Viewer Reception
One could easily to get distracted by the widespread acclaim and online debates surrounding Pluribus. He is making a conscious effort to ignore the noise.
“It's like being constantly eating hot fudge sundaes and being laughing uncontrollably,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it anecdotally, and that's by design. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever want to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a rabbit hole I know I would fall into and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from the hardware store and I'd never leave my living room.”
Despite Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to take it in stride and try not to let it alter the course of the show.
“We make no attempt to adjust our writing,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not impacted by what people are saying.”
“Better to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan concludes.
The Big Question: Does Vince Gilligan Have a Plan for the Ending of Pluribus?
So if Gilligan and his team are not listening by public opinion, does that mean they already know how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… sort of.
“There are some compelling concepts about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan says. “but we are always ready to abandon a solid concept for a more brilliant plan. That philosophy has guided 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 expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if plans fall through, Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to fall back on.
“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,” Smith jokes, “but no one is buying it.”
Alternatively, why mess with the legendary finales?
“I'd love for Carol to awaken next to Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV+.
