Spoilers for Pluribus.
Pluribus’s first season wrapped up on Christmas Eve – AppleTV gave us the Season 1 finale a few days early as a Christmas present. The finale was divisive, right? Especially since the penultimate episode had Carol becoming romantically involved with the Hive, via Zosia. Carol seemed to believe that she has a special connection with Zosia, and there was a much-needed rude awakening in the final episode – regardless of the Hive’s “love” for Carol, they are still going to impose their virus on her in some way. Carol and Manousos finally met face-to-face and it was just as epic as expected. I actually thought that Carol would be more open to Manousos and his ideas, but she abandoned him for weeks to live out some kind of idealized honeymoon with Zosia. Then her rude awakening happened, and she returned to Manousos with an A-bomb. The set for the second season is, hopefully, Manousos and Carol really start to figure out what to do.
Variety had a great piece post-finale about what was really going on and how they decided to leave the story on that note, with Carol leaving Zosia and coming back with the A-bomb. Apparently, AppleTV wanted something more dramatic for the finale, which is how they came up with that. Rhea Seehorn has also been chatting to various outlets about her experience leading her first show. Some highlights from her Guardian interview:
She loves crossword puzzles: “You gotta tell me how to crack the code. I’m an avid crossword puzzler, but I cannot beat the Guardian crossword. I cannot crack it, and I need to figure out what the problem is.”
She loves working on Pluribus: “I love making the show. It has been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and the most rewarding. People are coming up to me and they want to talk about what the show is bringing up in them, and the thoughts it’s making them have. That’s been absolutely beyond satisfying.”
But she doesn’t look online: “I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to look online. My friends tell me, even on social media, to never scroll down. I know eventually there’s going to be a comment that’s just like, ‘She is an ugly idiot who should never be on screen again,’ and then I’m just going to want to go do Lego sets for a week.”
She hopes Carol never gives in to the Hive: “When I think about happiness and joy, it always comes down to surprise. Being surprised by others’ accomplishments. But in that world, there are no new books. There is no new art. There’s never going to be a belly laugh, because no one can surprise you. I’ll never get to do a crossword puzzle again, because I already know all the answers, because I made the crossword.”
Bob Odenkirk on Rhea: “I watch Pluribus and my heart hurts for how long Rhea must have spent in physically and emotionally challenging states. When we did [Better Call] Saul, we lived together with Patrick Fabian, and we all helped each other through the show. I wonder how she is doing with decompressing.”
Rhea on Odenkirk & how well he knows her. “It’s so funny that he posed that question, because he called to check on me after he saw a couple of episodes. He probably just wanted me to make fun of myself, because Bob has seen how my little squirrelly brain decompresses. There are art projects all over the house. There’s a Lego set, a jigsaw puzzle, embroidery, painting, hundreds of almost-finished crossword puzzles.” Does she miss living with co-stars? “People thought it was weird. Bob started it. He called Patrick and I after season one and was like, ‘Do you guys think we should just live together?’ And I was like, actually, yes. All of our partners and spouses know each other and are friends, and none of us are skeezy. And it can be mentally taxing to come home by yourself.”
For Pluribus, she moved in with Trish Almeida, the head of the show’s hair department, during production. “This one took longer to shoot, and it was challenging. A lot of explosions of anger, or suppression of anger in the moments when Carol is not allowed to show those feelings. A lot of time by myself, too. Sometimes even just seeing somebody for a cup of coffee can make your week.”
When is Season 2 coming? “They’re in the writers’ room right now. But I don’t have a timeline of when they’ll complete that process. I don’t think anybody is sitting around going, ‘Let’s just make them wait.’ I know my writers. They take such great care. Plus, the scope of this show is huge. Think about the episodes where everybody disappears. We’re in a working city. There were cars driving by all the time. They all have to be erased. I know the same as I did on Better Call Saul – one script at a time. I never have any idea where it’s going. I haven’t a clue what happens next season. A couple of big things happen in the finale. And I gotta tell you, I haven’t a clue in the world where they’re going.”
Every story I hear about Bob Odenkirk, he sounds like one of the loveliest men on earth. There’s a reason why he has such a good reputation in Hollywood, and it’s so sweet that he’s still worried about Rhea and what she’s going through on Pluribus! Rhea seems so cool and arty too – she knits, paints, does puzzles and a million other things to occupy her mind. As for the second season… I’m not getting Severance vibes from this, I doubt we’ll have to wait YEARS for a second season. Right??
Photos courtesy of AppleTV+.
