The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Discloses He Knows How His Sci-Fi Series Will End... For Now.
Vince Gilligan could not have predicted that Pluribus would turn into a massive hit. “I am so grateful to the audience,” Gilligan says. “I did not foresee the show being as passionately debated as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
With the first season of the hit series wrapping up—and the next chapter officially in the works—the writers' room reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will impact the storyline of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Audience Reaction
One could easily to get swayed by the constant speculation and fan theories regarding Pluribus. He is striving to avoid both.
“It feels like an endless supply of your favorite dessert and being tickled to death,” he describes. “It's amazing, but I get wind of it through word of mouth, and that's by design. I have never searched for my own name online, nor do I ever intend to. Not because I don't care. It's a bottomless pit I know I would fall into and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
In spite 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 take it in stride and try not to let it alter the course 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 audience chatter.”
“We prefer to keep our heads down and working,” he chimes in.
The Big Question: Does the creator Have a Plan for the Conclusion of Pluribus?
Considering the writers are not listening by audience theories, does that mean they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? In short yes… with some caveats.
“There are some compelling concepts about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan reveals. “yet we stand ready to throw out a solid concept for a more brilliant plan. That philosophy has guided us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we get a better idea and I suspect we'll be doing that.”
Alternatively, if all else fails, Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Of course, one could always use the iconic TV endings?
“I want Carol to awaken with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan says with a smile.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV+.
