I went into Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus with hesitation. First off, I am in the very small minority who consider Breaking Bad to be massively overrated. Sorry, but the Mexican cartel and Gustavo Fring kept me going through that show. Then there was the premise itself, that sounded interesting but was also reminiscent of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This made me wary about on the nose metaphors about Communism recycled for the age of “Woke,” especially with the mention of “hive minds,” a latter day rebranding of “pod people.”

I’ve been pleasantly surprised, finding Pluribus as enjoyable as any series I’ve watched in recent years. And though that premise is very much in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers realm, with its alien mind virus subjugating helpless human beings into one mass, it does bring something different. From my reading of the show, this difference is in the potential commentary on generative AI. Though Gilligan’s own words dispel this idea, with the creator disclosing that writing for the show began 8 years ago, well before the roll out of AI products like ChatGPT.

Still, the insistence of the hive mind to pander to the needs of our protagonist, the writer Carol Sturka, and willing to do anything to please her (including meeting a request for a grenade and more), unable, even, to not do, is evocative AI consciousness in human form. The hive mind holds all human knowledge, meaning any single body can fulfil any human task, from cooking a delicious, homemade meal to flying a plane. But despite the hive minds happiness, the benefits of reduced energy demands, and the end of all human suffering (well, almost, there are 13 people, including Sturka, who are immune to the virus), there is something very sinister. Their need to please Sturka, and the rest of the “survivors,” cater to their needs, meet every request, and even the sincere promise of Sturka’s life being her own, are only there because the hive mind wants to incorporate Sturka, and the other 12, into itself. Sturka’s immunity is a problem that the hive mind has to fix, and will work night and day in order to do it.

This incorporation is done out of love and necessity, which is where the AI analogy becomes more problematic. A couple of elements also exist that point to a more old hat form of sci-fi alien virus stories - the fear of collectivism, the eradication of the individual. Private property, for example, no longer exists. There is no need for it, for one. The hive mind lays its bodies down in large indoor spaces, as opposed to seeing them all back to individual homes. This makes perfect sense, of course. Reduced energy dependence and emittance, and all that.

But above it all does linger the existential question of weighing up the pros and cons of collectivism and individualism in the form of satire. The hive mind collection struggles for food, unable as the entity is to kill anything. Not an ant, not a fly, the hive mind collective is even unable to pluck an apple from a tree. Meat and animal products can be consumed, but only if they are already dead and prepared, which renders those supplies severely limited. This means that the real source is a disturbing one - a kind of smoothie product made up in part by dead humans (all explained in the show!).

After coming to terms with events, and refusing to accept the hive mind, Sturka struggles with her isolation. She spends time playing golf off tall buildings, wandering, and drinking, becoming slowly consumed by loneliness. This chimes with the very real crisis of loneliness in the real world, exacerbated by the digital spaces we over indulge in.

This search for a balancing between the collective and the individual feels key. And though no equilibrium is reached, the viewing is an enjoyable one. Overall, there is nothing profound here, but it’s a good watch, and decent satire.