"Pluribus (Apple TV+)"

For my second media blog, I am choosing to write about a TV show that I just started watching very recently, and in truth, I am only on episode four, so this will be a very naive essay about a show that may or may not be as good or bad as I will describe it. I am choosing to write about it still because I find the premise fascinating, and I think there's something special about writing a piece like this prior to finishing something so I can come back and read it later to either feel nostalgic about when I didn't know it all, or to come back and remember when it was better not to know what happens when I still had hope for this show. I don't know yet, but that's what is fun about this! This show is called "Pluribus." It is a series on Apple TV+ and to avoid spoilers I will not be looking anything up about it beyond what I know. This show came out recently, and I have been told by my friends and my family to watch it because they swore I would like it. Well, so far, they were right. I don't love it like I've loved other shows (the Walking Dead or Foundation as examples), but I can only share so much of my opinion based on what I have seen so far. To give a bit of insight on what it is about, based on what I know so far (to be fair they do lay it all out in the first episode), "Pluribus" is about an RNA code that was transmitted by aliens throughout space intercepted by humanity. This radio transmission was first unknown to be an RNA code, until someone in the show (I don't remember who) figured out it was an RNA code, and they started testing it on lab rats. Okay important thing to note here, I have been watching this show very slowly as I have been busy, so my memory on the beginning is fuzzy, I watched the first episode in the the first week of February and it is now March so it has been a minute. Anyways, this RNA code ended up being transferred to humans, and then the "infected" humans would spread it to each other, and the RNA code apparently merges all of the infecteds' consciousness into one singular mind. This infection is spread via saliva at first, but the infected use their singular mind to outsmart that problem and make it transmissible through the air. Basically within like a few days, the entire planet, except for our main character and ten or so other people are immune to the RNA code. How? I don't know, I haven't gotten to that part yet. They reveal this in I think the first episode, and they even admit to the main character, Carol, a book author, that they don't know why she and the others weren't able to join them. Okay, here's where I get into the stuff I wanted to talk about. Carol, the main character, is described and depicted as being a "miserable person," and the hivemind of humans, which are not controlled by aliens by the way, at least as far as I know, are very friendly, wanting to do anything to make her happy. This human hivemind is super interesting, as there is one specific person they chose to communicate with Carol, and it almost seems like there is an individuality still there, but there isn't. As stated, they are very friendly, constantly use the phrases we and us to describe themselves, never I or me, and Carol, well she hates them. Those in the hivemind describe it as peaceful, as calm, and somewhere along the lines of euphoric, with all shared knowledge between every single human in one mind. Now, Carol has a reason to be mad, because her girlfriend was killed by the infection. The show displays that not all humans received the RNA code without error, and some died, one of these people being Carol's girlfriend, so she harbors resentment for the hivemind population. Where I am at right now in the show, Carol is testing their boundaries, taking notes on their behavior, seeing what they can and can't do, one of these things being unable to lie. The other thing they can't do apparently, at least so far, is harm the humans who were unaffected by the RNA code and still retain their individuality, and even go as far as serving them whatever they desire. They have told Carol multiple times that they are there to make her happy, and that her life is her own, up until they find out how to make her one of them. So far, the extreme friendliness, giving her anything she wants, and then making her one of them seems to be the plot of the show. That's basically all I know so far.

As you can see in the photo above, the woman in the back is the main character Carol, seen with the hivemind human chosen to communicate with her regularly. Also as you can see, the woman in the front who is apart of the hivemind has a big smile on her face, which is normal so far for everyone in the hivemind. The reason I picked this show for my topic despite how little I know is because there is some interesting ethical questions to be explored where I am currently at. One instance would be when the hivemind shut down power grids at night because they weren't necessary, and how they aren't violent toward each other. I found myself wondering, is this really so bad? I hated that I even thought of that, but in this world, the human hivemind are antiviolence, and seem to, so far, want to take care of the planet. There is obviously no need for money between them, and they just perform the tasks necessary to keep the world going. I think what the show is going to get into is whether or not they can do anything new without individuality, which I find fascinating. I asked myself if it was so bad because in almost every alien tv show or movie, the aliens are some sort of hivemind, indicating that hivemind species are more efficient. That was just an observation, and the counterargument to that thought would be that without individuality, there can never be anything new, beyond what already is. I don't really know how this show reflects on society currently, other than that the hivemind clearly saw flaws in the world as it was before them. Once I finish the show I will have a better essay to present on how it relates to current events, but so far, I haven't seen enough, but I am invested! If this sounds interesting to you, give it a shot!