Inner spirit this, human resilience that, I think it all just ends up boiling down to every single living organism’s desperate dive to survive. And I’m gonna tell you exactly how that’s really all there is to the thematic undercurrent of the penultimate episode of AppleTV’s Pluribus, other than Carol and Manousos’ still-disconnected revolt against the all-consuming alien RNA, of course. I can tell you one thing for certain though. In the 8th episode of Pluribus, there are moments that are bound to make you wonder if Carol’s rethinking her stance on the whole thing. But the fact that you hear it from the horse’s mouth at least once in the entire episode should tell you that Carol’s not confused about what she’s fighting for, at all. She’s not signing away her rights to be a human anytime soon. Don’t believe me? Let’s talk about it then.
Spoiler Alert
Is Carol still trying to beat the hive-mind?
I know, I know. A whole lot of mixed signals there. From the ending of the 7th episode to the first act of the 8th, Carol’s done only about everything to win the hive-mind’s affection back. That doesn’t mean it was a lot of work. All Zosia and the rest of the billions of the “infected” worldwide really needed to hear from Carol is that she wants them back. Next thing you know, Carol and Zosia are in each other’s arms right next to that “just married” car. And as a sensible next step to rebuilding their relationship, Zosia’s back the next day for a drink and a chat. Well, the chat part is a bit of a problem. What the hell do they even talk about? Their exchange about the O’Keeffe Carol has “rescued” could only fill the silence for so long. So it’s a good thing that Zosia doesn’t necessarily expect Carol to entertain her at all. She’s just happy to be around Carol. And Carol’s just glad that she still remembers the rules to the card game she used to play with her cousin when they were little. You see the awkwardness I’m trying to bring to your attention here? How does Carol just hang out with a “new” friend who knows what game Carol used to play as a kid and how her Nana used to make her put away the cards? What new information about herself can she share when Zosia is “everyone” and knows “everything?” What anecdote of her life can make Carol sound fun or cute when Zosia already knows everything about Carol that every infected person has ever known? Tricky terrain! So it’s kinda nice that Zosia isn’t as quick at Spits as Carol. And it’s also kind of reassuring that the hive-mind still doesn’t know who named it Spits. They don’t know EVERYTHING after all. Zosia does win a few hands. But Carol’s win is much grander when Albuquerque is repopulated by the hive-mind. Peaceful coexistence? It sure looks like that when Carol and Zosia take a step forward in their friendship, and Carol asks her where she lives. That’s how Carol gets to see the communal sleeping situation Zosia and the rest of the hive-mind have got going on. Carol gives in oddly quickly when Zosia asks her to stay the night and sleep with all of them in the stadium. But I don’t think even Carol expected to find herself cuddling Zosia. Getting harder and harder to keep believing that Carol’s still got some fight left in her, huh? Your cynicism makes sense. But if Carol isn’t still going forward with her mission to save the world, how do you explain the notes she continues to put down on her whiteboard? They eat people. They’re not Carol’s friends. It might look like Carol’s only agenda is to get to know them better. But there’s a very active, primary agenda behind Carol’s increasing closeness with Zosia. You see, tough love isn’t something the hive-mind can handle. So Carol’s trying to befriend them so that when she speaks her mind, they don’t go into a cardiac arrest this time. This is also the only way she can actually continue to find out new information about these freaks she’s kind of started to like. You can understand that, right?
Where Did The Alien RNA Come From?
The fact that Carol can conduct her research on the hive-mind and have a nice time with Zosia so organically may just be proof that interrogation doesn’t always have to be hostile. Sure, Carol’s mainly spending so much time with Zosia to learn as much about them as possible. But at the same time, she actually enjoys herself when Zosia takes her to a scenic view. If the least that comes from Carol’s efforts is her realization that this is the first time she’s told anyone how she feels about train horns, it’s still a tiny win. Zosia’s sweet to get the hive mind to make the whistle go off for a smile on Carol’s face. But you know what’s not cool, though? That train, the one that Zosia says is for “food transportation,” is essentially carrying human bodies. This situation does make it pretty convenient for Carol to slip in a very important question. How does the hive-mind communicate? A natural question to pop up considering Zosia just connected with the people on the train. I know a lot of you guys have been really clutching that radio transmission theory. But I’m kinda relieved that Pluribus hasn’t gone that route after all. Turns out, the hive-mind’s communication is much less deliberate than that. Instead, it’s got something to do with the electromagnetic waves of their human bodies. It’s organic, and certainly not numbers and codes. Which brings us to another awesome thing about how the hive-mind finds the balance between awareness and emotions. When Carol and Zosia are getting massages, how is Zosia even enjoying it if she is basically the same person as all the masseuses? That’s when Zosia lets Carol in on their secret recipe to contentment. The hive-mind is aware of everything that each of them are experiencing, but they’re not necessarily experiencing it themselves. So while Zosia knows about all the terrible and wonderful things happening all across the world, the only thing she is feeling is how good the massage is. The hive-mind is able to focus on the present so well that even though their collective present is connected in their awareness, each individual can make the most of what they’re doing or having done to them in the moment. Since the hive-mind has shared so much about themselves with Carol already, it makes sense for Zosia to go ahead and show her where their “gift” came from. Only Carol gets to keep her eye on the telescope and see the Kepler-22 star. We don’t. But we’re doing fine just getting to know that the alien RNA that was sent to Earth from over 600 lightyears away came from Kepler-22b. Well, most of us are fine. Because some of us, and by that I mean a whole lot of astronomers, exobiologists, and “hobbyists” out there, have been trying to figure out if there’s life on Kepler-22b. The little details about Kepler-22b that Carol gets to know from Zosia more or less line up with real life facts. With a sun that’s not as strong or warm as ours, a radius twice the size of the Earth, Kepler-22b is one of the likeliest candidates to be a bearer of life. Why? Because they could have water over there on Kepler-22b. Most scientists really do believe what Zosia has to say about this mystery planet–that it’s just one massive ocean. So whatever intelligent lifeform Pluribus has imagined on Kepler-22b aren’t land-dwellers, because there is no land. But these oceanic or pelagic beings are intelligent enough to have launched a largely peaceful takeover of Earth. And if that’s not alarming enough, Zosia and the hive-mind are so thankful for all “they” have done for the people of Earth that they mean to pass this “gift” forward to the intelligent lifeforms on other planets. If you’re leaning toward a cynical view of the alien takeover, you’re right to wonder if the aliens from Kepler-22b are trying to enslave all intelligent life across the galaxy. Maybe humans were the easiest first targets. Or maybe humans were chosen because only their capacity for emotions would make them vulnerable to a complete psychological corruption. But this is only if you want to believe that they’re that diabolical. And you’ve got plenty of reasons to think so. Because if Carol’s whiteboard after her night with Zosia is any indication, these freaks aren’t saving up all this energy to heal the Earth. They’re planning to build a massive antenna to send the radio signal with the alien RNA recipe to other planets with life. Or, you could totally believe that this is all cool. But I don’t think Pluribus is sitting on the fence anymore.
Is the hive-mind trying to manipulate Carol?
As long as Carol’s acceptance of the hive-mind includes moments like the one where Carol asks Zosia to deliver a whiteboard marker to her doorstep, I don’t think we got a whole lot to worry about. Carol’s eyes are on the prize. And now that Zosia knows about the marker, and she’s assumed that Carol’s writing the 5th book in her Wycaro “trilogy,” Carol doesn’t need to come up with an excuse anymore. But then again, do you think the hive-mind is so thrilled to hear that Carol’s writing again merely because they’re her biggest fans? Don’t you think there’s a touch of relief there for them to find out that Carol’s focusing on something other than “fixing” them? Because if you ask me, I think Zosia’s made deliberate efforts to distract Carol from her fight in the 8th episode of Pluribus. I know what you’re gonna say. Isn’t Zosia only trying to keep Carol happy because that’s what the hive-mind wants more than anything else? Well. Sure. But things only seem that simple until Carol and Zosia play croquet, and Zosia summons the muscle memory of all the best croquet players in the world to beat Carol at the game. Carol’s right to be struck by the fact that the hive-mind can even absorb muscle memory. It’s textbook manipulation when the hive-mind turns it into a lighthearted joke to avoid explaining themselves to Carol. So we’re all kind of left freaked out and hanging over here. Wondering how these people can share muscle memory. It’s not super reassuring that the very next thing the hive-mind does for Carol is this huge gesture that borders on lovebombing. What else do you call it when Zosia takes Carol back to the diner where she first started writing? It isn’t totally random. Zosia did ask Carol about her favorite day writing. But to rebuild a diner that burned down, and to bring the old waitress back to give Carol a special experience in the special place where her career and new life started, a bit much, don’t you think? Oh, by the way, keep your eyes and ears closed to all the things that you think connect Pluribus to the Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul universe. They’re distractions, and only that. I know the diner looks a lot like Loyola’s, and Carol’s mention of the legal pads from her old temp job makes you think of Saul right away, but these aren’t Easter eggs. Pluribus is toying with you. If you’re anything like Carol, you should definitely storm out just to make a scene. But Carol’s frustration is very real. And that’s because she’s really tried to give the hive-mind a chance to make their case. That’s why she can’t hold it in anymore when Zosia comes to her place to smooth things over. It’s all out in the open now. Carol’s still fighting for humanity. And the hive-mind is aware of her fight. So if you want to be optimistic, you could see the hive-mind’s efforts to distract Carol from all of their glaring issues as their way to show her that they really do love her. But what kind of love distracts you from the problems instead of asking you what’s on your mind? The unsustainable kind. It’s the kind of love that’s got to make someone sane like Carol burst out once in a while. Because what do you mean you want to save a grain and a fruit over your own life? That’s suicidal. That’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder if the alien RNA even has humanity’s best interests at heart. Because so far, it looks like the infected people will only survive for as long as it takes them to build the antenna and spread the infection beyond our planet. Carol really means it when she tells Zosia that she likes her, and by that, she means she likes them. And I guess Zosia likes Carol too. But I can’t help but think that a part of her totally means to bowl over Carol when she kisses her. Because though it’s great and everything that Carol and Zosia are into each other, Zosia might’ve seduced Carol to keep her away from her very real worries about the planet and humanity. Ah, inspiration. So much inspiration that Carol is unbelievably quick with the first chapter of the new book on her Wycaro series. But no. She isn’t distracted. She’s still got her heart set on her goal of bringing people back to their usual state. And that’s reflected in her writing. When Zosia and Carol go over the first chapter together, there are certain things that stand out as hints of Carol’s continued research on the alien RNA. It’s not surprising that Raban is a woman now. Carol’s always wanted Raban to be a woman. She only had to go the hetero way because that’s what her fans wanted. But that’s not how the world works anymore. So Raban can walk right into the Caverns of Aevalor and come out a woman. Now, if the Caverns of Aevalor have anything to do with the Crystal Caverns of Disney’s “Elena of Avalor,” I think we need to look at the Cave of the Crystals in Mexico. The very real and very fascinating cave of giant crystals in Chihuahua, Mexico, is known to harbor ancient life forms that are very much alive. No kidding. You can look it up. There are even legitimate theories about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life having been preserved in the mineral-rich crystal cave in Mexico, something that Carol’s writing might’ve been inspired by. If you do a little digging, you might even find curious similarities between the theories about the Cave of Crystals and Kepler-22b, especially in regards to their relative environments and what kind of life form can survive in them. So the fact that Carol might’ve thought about all this too makes me hopeful. She’s still searching for the answers. She’s only doing so quietly. Her style couldn’t be more different from that of Manousos, who, true-to-form, rejected the help of the hive-mind as soon as he gained consciousness. He was airlifted to a hospital in Panama and saved from near-death. But Manousos still doesn’t want a single thing from them. He even goes ahead and gets them to write down a thorough bill for the treatment, even though money is now obsolete. This is his desperate way to convince himself that things will be back to normal. The hive-mind won’t stop Manousos from doing anything or going anywhere. So his suffering is really only about his principles and politics. But isn’t this kind of similar to the insanity that Carol’s trying to call out? If Manousos would just stop and listen for a second, he would see that there’s no need for him to drive an ambulance in his condition. He could let the hive-mind aid him in his fight and keep himself alive and thriving. Instead, he has to take the hard road of pouring disinfectant on his back and bear that pain, because, for some reason, that’s the only way it works for him.
So, tell me how Manousos is so different from the imperative-driven hive-mind? So far, Carol seems to be the only sane one–still on her mission to extract information from Zosia. Does Zosia like omelettes? Not the hive-mind. Zosia, specifically. Turns out, the Polish woman formerly known as Zosia does like omelettes, though for most of her pre-joining-day life, she’s been too poor to be able to afford eggs. Zosia’s life now couldn’t be more detached from the experience of the little girl in Gdansk whose eyes glowed at the sight of the large ships. That little Polish girl loved mango ice cream over the new exciting flavors the ice cream man brought in after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Does that mean that girl is still alive in Zosia somewhere? Does she still long for the familiar favorites over all the bling of her new existence as a part of the hive? We’ll know if Carol ever manages to pull her out. For now, Carol needs to get ready for a very important meeting. She’s about to meet the only other person in the world who believes that there’s nothing good about what’s happened to the world. But I don’t think things are gonna be simple between the two of them. Remember, Carol actually does like a lot of things about the hive-mind. She may even be a little protective of their well-being. But Manousos couldn’t be more put-off by these ever-smiling weirdos. How are Carol and Manousos even going to see eye-to-eye?
