Vince Gilligan Shares He Has an Idea of How His Sci-Fi Series Might Finish... At the Moment.
The creative mastermind could not have predicted that Pluribus would emerge as a massive hit. “God bless the fans,” Gilligan says. “It was unexpected the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
As the debut season of the hit program reaching its finale—and Season 2 officially in the works—the writers' room opened up about the viewer reception and whether it will shape the future direction of Pluribus.
On the Overwhelming Viewer Reception
Anyone might to get distracted by the rampant praise and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is striving to steer clear of all that.
“It's like being an endless supply of something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it anecdotally, and that's by design. Not once have I searched for my own name online, nor do I ever want to. Not because I don't care. It's a deep trap I know I would get lost in and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from Home Depot and I'd never leave my living room.”
In spite of trying to stay away, there’s no escaping the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“It is not our goal to change the plot,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not impacted by what people are saying.”
“It's wiser to keep our heads down and working,” Gilligan adds.
The Big Question: Will Vince Gilligan See the Finale of Pluribus?
Considering Gilligan and his team are not listening by fan response, does that mean they already know how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? The answer is yes… sort of.
“We've developed some potential directions about where the show might end up,” he states. “yet we stand ready to throw out a solid concept for a more brilliant plan. That philosophy has guided us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we conceive of something superior and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if they hit a wall, executive producer Gordon Smith has a rather amusing idea to serve as a last resort.
“I keep pitching 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 nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, why mess with the classics?
“I'd love for Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is currently available on the streaming service.
