The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Discloses He Has an Idea of How Pluribus Will End... Currently.
The acclaimed writer-producer did not foresee that the Apple TV+ show would emerge as a massive hit. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
Now that Season 1 of the popular series coming to an end—and the next chapter already in development—the creative team opened up about the audience reaction and whether it will shape the narrative path of Pluribus.
Regarding the Tremendous Audience Reaction
One could easily to get swayed by the constant speculation and online debates regarding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is doing his best to steer clear of all that.
“It feels like constantly eating hot fudge sundaes and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's amazing, but I get wind of it from others, and that's on purpose. I have never searched for my own name online, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a rabbit hole I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
Regardless of 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 acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it alter the course of the show.
“We don't try to tailor anything,” says writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not influenced by audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our heads down and working,” Gilligan adds.
The Big Question: Will the showrunner See the Conclusion of Pluribus?
Considering the creative staff are not listening by audience theories, does that mean they have already decided how Pluribus will finally conclude? The answer is yes… with some caveats.
“We've developed some compelling concepts about how the story could conclude,” he states. “however, we remain prepared to discard a solid concept for a superior concept. This approach has served us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we find a more perfect path and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
On the other hand, if they hit a wall, Gordon Smith has a rather amusing idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and that's where they've been all along,” Smith jokes, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Alternatively, why not reference the classics?
“I'd love for Carol to open her eyes with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV.
