TV Series: Pluribus - ep 3

Episode 3, entitled Grenade, essentially sees Carol push the limits of what the Joined can do for her.

Let’s establish some reference words: the infected people are called the Joined and moment 0, as per the countdown in the series, we will call the Event.

After the happenings of the first 2 episodes where Carol got used to the ‘rules’ of this new world and how to survive within them, she continues exploring what she can do, what others are doing and learns where she can stop demanding things. At the same time, this slower-paced episode takes a more introspective angle into Carol’s mind.

The episode starts with a memorable moment in Carol’s life, some 7 years prior to the event, when Carol and Helen stay in an ice hotel in Norway. It’s a funny scene that further shows how much Carol cared for Helen, her best friend who died in the first episode, but also how stubborn Carol is. When she is told that her new book is in the top 20 of the New York Times, she wants to know which place instead of celebrating that she is in the top 20. Or when they get an amazing view of the Aurora Borealis from their bedroom, Carol reacts by saying that it kind of looks like a screensaver.

Back to reality, where we are 3 days after the event, and Carol is returning home, flying by herself in a massive jet where everything she wants can be provided to her, not that she wants much.

Now, as in the second episode, Carol feels trapped in this new world. She doesn’t want to join them or take advantage of her new situation, so she is trying to find solutions to ssave the worlds. She starts asking questions about the other 5 non-infected who don’t speak English and finds out that there is another person from Paraguay who hasn’t communicated with the Joined at all. But when Carol tries to speak with him over the phone, he’s not keen on speaking with anybody and Carol, gives up.

It’s also worth noting that the Joined, represented here by Zosha (played by Karolina Wydra), who is Carol’s chaperone, continue to be naive and dorky and innocent, just because they are so content and don’t see anything wrong with the situation. They are weird in how they refer to themselves as “we/us” in every single sentence, but this innocent, docile weirdness makes us, the audience, somehow not be bothered by them and curious more than angry at the fact that essentially they have erased human individuality. I’m sure this is on purpose and the more the series continues doing this, the more the hero/villain roles are reversed, whereby Carol’s path will lead her to become a villain and the Joined the heroes. Imagine this happening by the end of season 1. I mean, we’ve all seen Breaking Bad, right?

But, back to the episode. Carol tries the obvious: to live her life as she used to, even though that is impossible. The Joined do nothing to help her state of mind. They continuously remind her that they own all of Helen’s memories with her, which is invasive, something they don’t understand. This makes it really hard for Carol not to have another fit of anger at them that can cause a worldwide seizure and cost lives as we’ve seen in episode 2.

Now, Carol decides to go grocery shopping to the local Sprouts and, surprise surprise, the shop is completely empty and cleaned out because the Joined are much more efficient. They are centralising resources from all shops, private homes, businesses, etc.

But this is the twist of the episode. Carol says she just wants her Sprouts back, to which the Joined respond, absolutely, will do, and will be there in a moment.

Within minutes, trucks full of groceries fill the car park, are emptied by the Joined, and all the shelves of the grocery store are filled, making it look like it just reopened. All with military precision and efficiency. It is an impressive scene with careful choreography and typical Gilligan editing style. At the same time, it makes Carol feel uncomfortable, all this effort and waste just because of her whim, just for one person, when she could have just had her groceries delivered.

But this makes her wonder: how much can she ask for?

That evening, the lights are turned off everywhere because the Joined are also all about conservation. Since there’s no crime to prevent and they are not working at night, they don’t need the lights all the time. When Carol contains her anger with sarcasm, saying that the greatest topper of the best week in her life would be a hand grenade, well, you can guess what happens.

Her chaperone, Zosha, knocks at the door and delivers her a hand grenade, with apologies for the delay. They obviously don’t get sarcasm.

What follows is probably one of the best quotes of the series so far. Considering the events so far and what happens after, Carol asks: “Do you maniacs drink?”

Inside the house later on, the dialogue between Carol and Zosia over a drink, and with a hand grenade on the table, is quite revealing. It gives an insight into the way the Joined look at life and an interesting discussion on why they want Carol to be like them. They genuinely feel that Carol is drowning, she is suffering and has no idea how perfect their way of living is and want to save her. Their allegory of seeing a person drown and immediately helping them, without asking permission is brilliant and reflects exactly how they live and feel towards ‘regular’ humans. There is some quite good acting here from both actresses, truly brilliant to see these two bounce off each other with such good writing.

I won’t spoil the rest of the episode, but it is fair to say that Carol finds out the limits of what she can ask for.

This episode is slower paced than the first 2, but it asks some interesting questions. It continues the mystery and adds to the weirdness of the situation, but takes an introspective journey into both Carol’s and the Joined’s state of mind and keeps things fresh and gripping.

And it’s safe to say that the last scene of this episode is both funny and eerily scary. But hey, that’s Vince Gilligan for you.