Director Vince Gilligan is known for creating some outstanding television, especially Breaking Bad and its spinoff Better Call Saul (both of which are streaming with a Netflix subscription). He's once again brought a new story to the small screen with the apocalyptic series Pluribus, starring Emmy nominee Rhea Seehorn. The pilot episode is one of the best I've ever seen in my life, which is saying a lot because I'm a bona fide television addict at this point. Let's break it all down.
Pluribus has quickly become one of the best Apple original shows, with the entire first season streaming now with an Apple TV subscription. The series was rightfully nominated for a 2026 Golden Globes, and I am still not over just how good the first episode "We Is Us" was... even after finishing all nine episodes.
Pluribus Episode 1 Is Horrifying And Fascinating
Pluribus' first episode premiered on November 7th and introduced us to a very different take on Albuquerque than Gilligan's previous TV shows. We follow alcoholic novelist Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), who is left dumbfounded in the midst of a sudden apocalyptic event. Upon returning home from a book tour, she sees a stranger convulsing in a car, before seeing her partner, Helen, suffer the same symptom. It turns out to be affecting the entire city, with Carol being the only one immune.
The tension steadily builds throughout the 58-minute episode, as she attempts in vain to find medical assistance for Helen. Things go from scary to downright creepy when the city's surviving residents stop seizing, and speak and act in perfect unison. Carol returns home with Helen's body, and things get even more bizarre.
The entire episode is a masterful study in pacing and tension, leading me to instantly want to binge-watch the entire Apple series. I think that "We Is Us" is up there with the best pilots of all time, in the way that it instantly gripped me and got me invested in the burgeoning new series. A few other examples of shows that nailed this include the famously expensive Lost pilot, the first episodes of Westworld, The Sopranos, and (of course) Breaking Bad. Hey, Vince Gilligan knows how to get audiences invested in TV projects early into their run.
The entire season of Pluribus is great, but I have to give Episode 1 its flowers for instantly capturing my attention. While it takes a few episodes for certain shows to get good, that is certainly not the case with Pluribus. Especially once it becomes clear that Carol is just one of around twelve people in the world who are immune to the hive mind that's occupying the rest of the planet.
We're getting a second season of Pluribus, and it should be fascinating to see where Vince Gilligan takes the narrative when it returns to Apple TV. By the end of Season 1, Carol agrees to work with fellow survivor Manousos to try and set the world right. But given her strong feelings toward Zosia, smart money says it's going to be a complicated sophomore season.
Pluribus is streaming in its entirety on Apple TV now. Season 2 isn't expected to be part of the 2026 TV schedule, so we might be waiting a while. Now excuse me as I re-watch that pilot episode again.
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