‘Pluribus’ Turned Its Back on the Mystery Box

 

 

"The biggest surprise Pluribus has in store is the way it subverts the viewer’s priors re: the rhythms of serialized streaming TV. “We are all attuned to the ebb and flow of a mystery box type show, or movie,” Gilligan observed to Alan Sepinwall, writing for The Ringer. “We’ve all seen our share of M. Night Shyamalan movies or Twilight Zone episodes where there’s a great twist. We are attuned to that, we expect it. Sometimes, the best twist is no twist.”

Pluribus stubbornly resists the twist. In dystopian thriller Soylent Green, the shocking epiphany that civilization runs on nutrients from human bodies precipitates the end of the film. In Pluribus, it precipitates … the end of Episode 5. And when Carol shares her new knowledge with Koumba in Episode 6, she learns that the Others already told him, and that he essentially accepts their “other other white meat” meal replacement. Nobody’s being murdered, and although the nonviolent cannibalism is disquieting, it follows from what we already know about the Others. The discovery doesn’t dictate Carol’s actions, either; in fact, she grows closer to the Others after finding out about “HDP.”"

read analysis by BEN .LINDBERGH 

‘Pluribus’ Turned Its Back on the Mystery Box - The Ringer