Will you succumb to the group mind or not?
In “Pluribus,” the book’s author, Carol (Rhea Seehorn), and 11 other strangers are the only people left on Earth after everyone else mysteriously merges into what is called the hive mind, a collective union of consciousness.
Six months after the critically acclaimed first season ended on Apple TV, cast members Seehorn, Carolina Wydra, Carlos Manuel Vesuga, and Samba Schutte are still debating their views on life in a world where nearly everyone is part of the same collective consciousness, and the choices their characters make.
“I like that[Diabaté]presents a valid rebuttal of Carroll’s claims,” Schutte told Variety’s TV editor-in-chief Michael Schneider during a recent Variety x Apple TV screening of “Pluribus” and a conversation. “That’s true. He may be annoying, but he has a valid counterargument. There’s no racism in the world, no discrimination, no war, no crime. We can have anything we want, and we can be anything we want. Isn’t this the world we all wanted?”
“I don’t agree, that’s okay,” Seehorn added with a laugh.
Executive producer Gordon Smith, who also worked with show creator Vince Gilligan on Better Call Saul, touched on the disconnect between Carol and the remaining survivors, saying, “Put 11 people from the world you know right now in a room and see if you can get them to agree on something.” “It’s a challenge, and I feel that’s one of the themes of this show: how far away it is from me to you.” It’s almost an unfathomable distance to step outside of yourself and see the world from their perspective. ”
The cast delved into how they approached playing their characters and what drew them to the show. “I loved playing with the idea that this woman’s anger has terrible consequences for the world, and I thought it was really interesting, but it’s also a bit of a superpower,” Seehorn said.
Vesuga said of playing the stubborn survivor Manusos (who is Colombian but lives in Paraguay), “I keep coming back to the fact that he lost his world once. He had to leave his homeland and go to another country, his identity was left behind once before. So this time he doesn’t want it to happen again. He’s not going to negotiate.”
Schneider then asked the cast to dig deeper into their burning questions. “Didn’t Carol lose her child first and foremost?” Vesga said, much to Seehorn’s shock. “Maybe that’s why Helen has put up with her in the first place.”
The good news for “Pluribus” fans is that season 2 is in the works. This means some hot questions will be answered right away.
“We’re working as hard as we can, as fast as we can. It’s not that fast, but it’s the best we can do,” Smith said. “We’re writing and we’re about halfway through Season 2. We’re doing everything we can and hopefully get back to filming by the end of this year or early next year.”
