Vince Gilligan did not foresee that Pluribus would emerge as a breakout success. “God bless the fans,” he states. “I did not foresee the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
As the debut season of the hit sci-fi show coming to an end—and the next chapter officially in the works—the writers' room reflected on the viewer reception and whether it will shape the storyline of Pluribus.
One could easily to get sidetracked by the constant speculation and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. He is striving to steer clear of all that.
“It feels like an endless supply of hot fudge sundaes and being laughing uncontrollably,” he says. “It's the greatest thing, but I hear about it through word of mouth, and that's intentional. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever intend to. Not because I don't care. It's a deep trap I know I would disappear down and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from the hardware store and I'd be stuck in my living room.”
Despite trying to stay away, there’s it's impossible to ignore the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to accept it graciously and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We don't try to adjust our writing,” says Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not influenced by audience chatter.”
“It's wiser to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan concludes.
Given that the writers aren’t being guided by fan response, can we assume they have already decided how Pluribus will ultimately end? Essentially yes… sort of.
“We have some potential directions about the ultimate destination,” he states. “yet we stand ready to discard a good idea for a better idea. That philosophy has guided us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we find a more perfect path and I imagine we will be doing that.”
Alternatively, if they hit a wall, director and writer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to use as a backup.
“My recurring proposal is that it's all in a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”
Alternatively, one could always use the iconic TV endings?
“I'd love for Carol to awaken with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is streaming now on the streaming service.
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