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Vince Gilligan did not foresee that his new science-fiction series would turn into a breakout success. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he states. “It was unexpected the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”

As the debut season of the acclaimed series reaching its finale—and the next chapter greenlit and underway—the creative team opened up about the viewer reception and whether it will impact the future direction of Pluribus.

Regarding the Tremendous Audience Reaction

It would be easy to get swayed by the rampant praise and audience predictions surrounding Pluribus. The creator is doing his best to ignore the noise.

“The experience is akin to force fed your favorite dessert and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's amazing, but I get wind of it from others, and that's by design. Never in my life Googled myself, nor do I ever plan to. It's quite the opposite. It's a deep trap I know I would get lost in and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd be stuck in my living room.”

In spite of his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the immensely favorable response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.

“We don't try to adjust our writing,” says writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The narrative we craft is not changed by what people are saying.”

“We prefer to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan adds.

A Pressing Query: Does the showrunner Have a Plan for the Conclusion of Pluribus?

So if the creative staff aren’t being guided by audience theories, can we assume they already know how Pluribus will finally conclude? The answer is yes… sort of.

“There are some compelling concepts about how the story could conclude,” he states. “yet we stand ready to throw out a decent plan for a better idea. That has held us in good stead 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.”

Then again, if they hit a wall, executive producer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to fall back on.

“I keep pitching that everything takes place within 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 not reference the classics?

“I want Carol to awaken with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan says with a smile.

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Pluribus can be watched on Apple TV+.