‘Pluribus’: Carol’s Immunity, Explained

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Before its release on Apple TV, very little was known about Vince Gilligan’s new show, Pluribus. The story centers around Carol Sturka (played by Rhea Seehorn), who appears to be the only person unaffected by a virus that’s causing everyone else to be strangely content. While the first episode was promised to have a major reveal, the show’s promotional teasers were unsettling and mostly silent, leaving audiences puzzled.

With the first two episodes now available, created by the mind behind Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul (and a writer for The X-Files), the show’s direction is becoming clear. It’s both exactly as we predicted, completely different, and surprisingly complex.

The Origins of the Weird, Apocalyptic-Like Situation in ‘Pluribus’


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Let’s get right to the beginning of this highly anticipated show. The story starts with astronomers spotting a strange signal traveling through space. This signal repeats every 78 seconds, and it’s not a simple reflection – it’s far more complex. It seems to be a coded message, a type of wave pattern, originating from a star system 600 light-years away.

The more scientists investigate, the clearer it becomes that the signals, though consistently timed, are actually made up of four distinct frequencies. This isn’t a simple on-off code; it’s more complex. Could this be a sign of intelligent life attempting to reach out? If so, it would require an enormous amount of energy – potentially gigawatts – and a massive antenna, perhaps even continent-sized.

An astronomer suddenly had a breakthrough, realizing what they were observing. Now, a team is working intensely in a lab to reproduce the finding, and two scientists are dedicated to a potentially major discovery. One of them told the security guard during a late-night shift that they think they’ve identified a genetic sequence from a virus that integrates into its host’s DNA and replicates with each cell division. They’ve been testing this on various animals, but so far, none have shown any symptoms, making the research unsuccessful up to this point.

When the scientists return to the lab, suited up and ready to continue their research, they find one of the rats seemingly lifeless. The female scientist checks for a heartbeat, but her thick gloves make it difficult to tell. After removing the outer layer of gloves, she’s shocked to feel a strong pulse. Suddenly, the rat bites her, breaking the skin. Despite frantically trying to wash the wound, she becomes infected.

The virus spreads with alarming speed. Soon, a coworker, the security guard, and even the cleaning crew are infected – all from a simple kiss. They join others in a disturbing routine: working in pairs, one person swabs the inside of a cheek while the other adds the sample to a petri dish, then seals and stacks it in the fridge. A particularly shocking scene shows a scientist deliberately licking every donut in the lobby and returning them to the box for visitors, encouraging them to take one. The clear goal is to spread the infection as widely and rapidly as possible.

What Is Actually Going on in ‘Pluribus’?


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Carol only begins to understand the strange events after she returns home, deeply saddened by the unexpected death of her colleague and friend, Helen. She’s also disturbed by the bizarre behavior of people she met – they seemed to move and think as one. While watching TV, she discovers the only channel broadcasting features a man resembling the president speaking from a podium, and a message scrolling across the screen directly addresses her, offering a phone number for details.

She agreed, though hesitantly. The man, identified as Davis Taffer (played by Peter Bergman), a high-ranking official at the Department of Agriculture, attempted to calm her, explaining that they weren’t facing an alien invasion. Instead, they were benefiting from technology not of this world. Fourteen months earlier, astronomers had detected a radio signal that might have been broadcasting since the beginning of time – its age is unknown, but it has now been found.

Okay, so basically, this thing is built from four key components – think of them as letters in a genetic code, representing guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine. Put them together, and you’ve got the instructions for building RNA. The scientists realized this and started building it themselves in the lab. It’s not technically a virus, but it acts like one. One of the scientists, Davis, describes it to Carol as this incredible force that can connect people, like a “psychic glue.” And, honestly, they’re trying to get her involved, they really want her to be part of it and feel good about it too.

I was really getting into the idea that Carol was the only one making her own choices, like everyone else was just part of a hive mind. But then came a huge twist! It turns out she isn’t the only one with free will, which was a total surprise.

Carol Is Not Alone in ‘Pluribus’


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When Carol wonders if she’s the only one affected by this strange illness, Davis tells her she’s not alone. There are 11 other people experiencing the same confusion, scattered across the globe—none of them are in the United States. Later, they discover a thirteenth person, a man in Paraguay who speaks only Spanish; he wasn’t initially identified.

Carol is struggling to understand everything happening when someone named Zosia is sent to help her – almost like a personal assistant. Zosia strikingly resembles a character from Carol’s popular books. Once Carol realizes Zosia will do anything she asks, she asks for a meeting with other people who are immune to whatever is happening, specifically those who speak English. Five of them agree to meet, and Carol flies to see them. However, she’s surprised to find they aren’t as upset about their situation as she is; most of them seem to have accepted it.

Kumba (also known as Samba Schutte) is enjoying the perks of traveling on Air Force One, surrounded by attention and luxury. The others are content to stay with their close-knit family, wondering if joining them was the right decision – they seem genuinely happy, and everything feels peaceful. However, Carol believes they’ve betrayed humanity, becoming brainwashed followers who’ve sacrificed their individuality to become emotionless automatons.

Carol Has All the Power, for Now


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The biggest mystery is why these thirteen people haven’t gotten sick. No one has the answer yet, but Zosia assured Carol that scientists are working tirelessly to understand their immunity and find a way to help others. It’s unclear how long this will take – weeks or even months. For now, it’s important to understand who Carol and the others are and how they fit into the larger situation.

Whenever Carol gets angry—and it seems this also happens when any of the thirteen immune people do—everyone connected to the hive mind is affected. They essentially freeze up and start shaking, often recovering with disturbingly blank smiles. Sadly, some don’t survive this shock. Carol discovers her initial outburst of anger nearly killed Zosia and likely caused thousands of deaths globally. Since the start of this phenomenon, over 886 million people have died—roughly 10% of the world’s population. The more upset Carol becomes, the greater the danger to others.

Zosia tells Carol they’ll fulfill any request, but admits they can’t protect Carol from the other twelve people remaining in the world – they can’t prevent conflict among them. This brings up the intriguing question of what happens when these are the only people left who are capable of feeling anger or frustration.

Interestingly, there isn’t one central consciousness – everyone shares the same one. However, individuals no longer have their own independent will. They’re all just bodies containing the same mind, meaning a doctor, pilot, chef, and athlete would all have identical knowledge, skills, and life experiences. When someone meets Carol, they preface their introduction with “this individual is…” and state Carol’s name as it was before the outbreak. It’s strange how they know so much about her without reading minds. It seems Helen became part of the collective right before she died, and her thoughts and memories were absorbed into the group consciousness, functioning like a shared brain hard drive.

Honestly, it’s terrifying to think about what’s driving this… whatever it is that’s causing these changes. From what I understand, the aim is to ‘convert’ the last thirteen people on Earth – to create a fresh start, a ‘perfect’ society. They envision a world without crime or conflict, and surprisingly, without any leaders at all. But the cost? It’s everything that makes us us. They wouldn’t have any control over their own lives, no freedom to think for themselves, and no individuality. It’s like they wouldn’t even be themselves anymore.

Carol feels trapped and helpless. The others with powers won’t assist her, and she can’t risk using her abilities because she might hurt innocent people. She’s forced to wait, hoping they’ll find a way to neutralize her immunity and make her join their side. On television, Davis tries to explain why this situation is positive, but Carol quickly interrupts him, unwilling to listen to anything he has to say. She refuses to believe that what’s happening is good in any way.

It all sounds amazing at first, doesn’t it? It’s hard not to wonder how you’d react if you were in that same position. Would you want to be whisked away to a tropical paradise with fancy drinks, delicious food, and relaxing massages? Would you try everything you could to reach out to family and friends who seem distant and unresponsive? Or would you fight back, like Carol did?

It’s likely that once the initial excitement fades, you’ll understand Carol’s perspective. Something is seriously off, and she explains to others who have immunity why she refuses to join, even though she hasn’t asked them about their experiences. She compares it to asking a drug dealer to describe heroin – she simply knows it’s a bad idea. If Carol can figure out why she’s immune, she might be able to find a cure for everyone else before they come after her. We’re eager to see what happens next. Watch Pluribus on Apple TV.

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2025-11-07 20:12