The Showrunner Discloses He Has a Plan for How The Apple TV+ Show Will Conclude... Currently.
The creative mastermind did not foresee that his new science-fiction series would become a massive hit. “God bless the fans,” he remarks. “I did not foresee the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
As the debut season of the acclaimed program coming to an end—and a second season greenlit and underway—Gilligan and his team reflected on the viewer reception and whether it will impact the future direction of Pluribus.
About the Overwhelming Fan Response
One could easily to get swayed by the constant speculation and audience predictions about Pluribus. He is making a conscious effort to steer clear of all that.
“It feels like constantly eating your favorite dessert and being laughing uncontrollably,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I get wind of it through word of mouth, and that's intentional. Not once have I Googled myself, 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 Home Depot and I'd never leave my living room.”
Despite Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no escaping the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to accept it graciously and try not to let it dictate the story of the show.
“It is not our goal to tailor anything,” says Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not impacted by what people are saying.”
“It's wiser to keep our focus on the work,” Gilligan concludes.
The Central Mystery: Does the showrunner Know the Ending of Pluribus?
Considering Gilligan and his team aren’t being guided by audience theories, can we assume they already know how Pluribus will ultimately end? Essentially yes… with some caveats.
“We have some potential directions about where the show might end up,” Gilligan says. “but we are always ready to abandon a solid concept for a superior concept. That philosophy has guided us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We change course when we find a more perfect path and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
On the other hand, if plans fall through, director and writer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to fall back on.
“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and the characters are inside it,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”
Alternatively, why mess with the classics?
“I want Carol to wake up in bed beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is currently available on the streaming service.