We were just processing everything that happened on Episode 6 of Pluribus last week, in regard to how the hive mind functions. And suddenly, a week later, on the latest episode of the ongoing Apple TV+ show, it forces us to the same question to the surface by splitting its survivors into two emotional camps.
We see Carol, who is played by Rhea Seehorn, remains steadfast in her refusal to accept that the alien virus is liquifying dead humans and consuming them for sustenance. At the same time, the rest of the “immune” group quietly meets behind her back to debate the coexistence. We eventually realize that Carol believes that humanity has already lost in front of these aliens, and no matter how soothing the hive mind’s messaging becomes, they never truly belonged there.
When efficiency replaces choice
In the latest episode of Pluribus, Carol’s investigation has stalled completely, as we see how the hive mind scooped her story before she could even frame it, and no one seems interested in resisting anymore.
It is now reduced to a requesting trivial, as she met with the so-called efficiency made by the drones that deliver her demands without question. Fans and audiences have grown frustrated with Carol’s abrasiveness, especially when she complains about a drink not being ice cold, but Pluribus seems uninterested in likable heroes.
With time, eventually her doubts briefly soften when she reflects on Koumba Diabaté’s seemingly perfect life in Las Vegas. Everyone likes him because he knows how to adapt and how to thrive.
We see Carol wondering if embracing that same selfish comfort might make the end of the world easier to swallow, or if she is simply admitting something unpleasant about herself.
But that is not all, because at the same time, we see Manousos Oviedo becoming the episode’s moral counterweight. He is learning English as he travels toward Nevada, and prepares a simple introduction for Carol, that he is not one of them, and he wants to save the world.
Every choice feels fragile now
Manousos’s first face-to-face confrontation with the hive mind is quite satisfying. He tells them nothing they offer is truly theirs to give, and then walks away without any ounce of hesitation.
His journey grows eventually grows brutal when he is injured crossing the jungle, cauterizing his own wound before eventually being rescued by the very beings he despises. Honestly, at this point, even we know that the irony is unsettling, but also very effective given the circumstances.
By the end of the episode, we see Carol abandoning her denial and slipping into despair, painting “Come back” across an empty cul-de-sac and collapsing into Zosia’s arms. With almost no dialogue, in the end, Pluribus captures a very haunting ideation of how to portray loneliness.
There may not be any solution waiting ahead, apart from the grief that is shaped by their survival. We eventually get a notion by the end of how hope is flickering faintly, as every choice now feels compromised, fragile, and temporary.
As humanity is trying to negotiate their meaning under alien rule, unsure whether resistance, acceptance, or silence will define whatever future remains at all for them. Until then, do let us know what you think of the latest developments in the life of Carol and everyone around her in the latest episode.
