If a mysterious man starts talking to you directly through your television — calling you by name — and you’re not dreaming or hallucinating, it’s safe to assume the world has changed. That’s the unsettling premise behind this brilliant new series Pluribus from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan.
In Vince Gilligan’s fascinating new series Pluribus, Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn plays an eccentric woman living in a world where people suddenly become happy all the time. The result feels like a mix between George Orwell and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Pluribus carries Gilligan:
Like Orwell’s dystopian storytelling and Body Snatchers’ eerie paranoia, Pluribus carries Gilligan’s distinctive touch — blending reality with absurdity. After all, how ridiculous was it that a high school chemistry teacher became a drug lord in Breaking Bad? Or that a sleazy lawyer like Saul Goodman turned into a hero we rooted for?
Here, Gilligan weaves timely social commentary into a sci-fi metaphor, building the story around a sharp, grounded, yet deeply empathetic heroine — making Pluribus one of the most clever and entertaining shows of the year. At times, the show’s humor recalls The Good Place, while its emotional strangeness brings to mind HBO’s The Leftovers.
The lead character, Carol Sturka, is played by Rhea Seehorn — known as Kim from Better Call Saul, though this time without Kim’s tightly pulled ponytail. Seehorn perfectly captures Gilligan’s mix of raw emotion and wild imagination.
After a catastrophic event, Carol finds herself surrounded by people who are always happy. Ironically, she’s one of the least cheerful people on Earth — detached, cynical, and unimpressed by everything around her. A bestselling romance novelist, she privately calls her readers “a bunch of idiots” who devour her books with melodramatic titles like Bloodsong of Vaquero.
Cynical and sharp-tongued, Carol’s dry humor stands out brilliantly in a world full of eerily smiling faces. “No sane person is this happy,” she insists. The series puts us directly in her shoes, and Seehorn’s empathetic, layered performance — both funny and dramatic — grounds this science-fiction story with emotional realism.
Although the premise places it in a Twilight Zone-style world — one inspired by Body Snatchers (both confirmed influences, according to Gilligan) — Carol’s setting feels distinctly familiar. She lives in a luxurious home on a quiet street in Albuquerque, New Mexico — the same city where Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul unfolded.
While Pluribus doesn’t overlap with those shows, Gilligan uses the setting to sprinkle in a few Easter eggs for fans. The sci-fi elements nod to his early career as a writer for The X-Files, but here he uses genre tropes in a knowing, almost meta way.
“We’ve all seen this movie, and we know it doesn’t end well,” Carol remarks at one point. Yet, despite the genre trappings, the show never loses sight of its human core. Carol’s biting wit and Seehorn’s razor-sharp delivery make it consistently hilarious — sometimes evoking the comedic spirit of The Good Place, other times channeling the surreal melancholy of The Leftovers.
The idea of “happy faces” is only the beginning of the story, which takes several unpredictable turns that are best discovered firsthand. Apple’s trailer already hints at the Orwellian nightmare Carol is trapped in: half a dozen people in her driveway greet her in eerie unison, “Hey, Carol,” their smiles just a little too wide.
On her television, a calm, well-dressed man — possibly speaking from the White House — delivers a chilling message in a tone reminiscent of Orwell’s Big Brother:
“Don’t worry, Carol. We’ll figure out what makes you special… so you can join us.”
Even the show’s logo gives away a clue — the title Pluribus replaces the letter “i” with the number “1,” referencing the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum — “out of many, one.”
Though Carol often feels isolated in her new, unnervingly cheerful world, the series gradually expands its scope, taking viewers across the globe. Key supporting characters include Helen (Miriam Shor) — Carol’s manager and beloved partner — and Zosia (Karolina Wydra), a stranger hired to fulfill Carol’s every wish and make her happy. But as Carol soon learns, getting everything you want might not be a blessing after all.
“This show was made by humans.” It’s a playful jab at the idea of AI-generated content — and a fitting statement for a series that celebrates both humanity and the freedom to think. The result is a show that’s not only thought-provoking and emotionally rich but also an absolute joy to watch.