The Showrunner Shares He Has a Plan for How His Sci-Fi Series Will End... At the Moment.
The creative mastermind did not foresee that his new science-fiction series would turn into a massive hit. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
As the debut season of the hit series reaching its finale—and a second season greenlit and underway—the writers' room reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will impact the storyline of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Audience Reaction
It would be easy to get distracted by the widespread acclaim and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is making a conscious effort to steer clear of all that.
“It feels like constantly eating hot fudge sundaes and being laughing uncontrollably,” he says. “It's the greatest thing, but I learn of it from others, and that's intentional. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's quite the opposite. It's a bottomless pit I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from Home Depot and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Despite his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the immensely favorable response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it alter the course of the show.
“We make no attempt to tailor anything,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“It's wiser to keep our noses to the grindstone,” he chimes in.
The Big Question: Has the showrunner Know the Conclusion of Pluribus?
Given that Gilligan and his team aren’t being guided by public opinion, does that mean they have already decided how Pluribus will ultimately end? Essentially yes… sort of.
“We've developed some interesting ideas about where the show might end up,” Gilligan reveals. “but we are always ready to abandon a solid concept for a superior concept. That has held us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we conceive of something superior and I imagine we will be doing that.”
Alternatively, if all else fails, Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and that's where they've been all along,” he says humorously, “though the idea hasn't gained traction.”
Then again, why mess with the classics?
“My dream is Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV.
