The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Reveals He Has an Idea of How Pluribus Might Finish... Currently.
The creative mastermind did not foresee that Pluribus would become a massive hit. “The viewers have been incredible,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
As the debut season of the acclaimed sci-fi show reaching its finale—and a second season already in development—Gilligan and his team reflected on the viewer reception and whether it will influence the future direction of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Audience Reaction
Anyone might to get distracted by the widespread acclaim and audience predictions regarding Pluribus. He is striving to steer clear of all that.
“It's like being force fed your favorite dessert and being laughing uncontrollably,” he explains. “It's the greatest thing, but I hear about it from others, and that's on purpose. I have never looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a rabbit hole I know I would get lost in and then I'd be never leaving the house from Home Depot and I'd be stuck in my living room.”
In spite of his concerted efforts, there’s no way to avoid 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.
“We make no attempt to tailor anything,” says Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan adds.
The Big Question: Does the showrunner Have a Plan for the Ending of Pluribus?
Given that the writers aren’t being guided by audience theories, does it imply they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… with some caveats.
“There are some interesting ideas about where the show might end up,” Gilligan says. “yet we stand ready to discard a solid concept for a better idea. That philosophy has guided us in excellent shape on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we conceive of something superior and I imagine we will be doing that.”
Then again, if all else fails, Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to use as a backup.
“I keep pitching that it's all in a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and we're in there,” Smith quips, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, why not reference the classics?
“I'd love for Carol to awaken with Bob Newhart there,” he jokes.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV.
