Pluribus - January 22, 2026

Out of Many, Comes One

I recently binge-watched the show “Pluribus”, produced by Apple TV+ studios, and created by Vince Gilligan, who also created the hit shows, “Breaking Bad”, and “Better Call Saul”.  As binge-watching would suggest, I was quite enamoured by Pluribus, because of the premise of the show, the storyline, and the excellent portrayal of the lead character, Carol Sturka, by actress Rhea Seehorn.  The cinematography in Pluribus is beautiful and consistent with what Vince Gilligan produced in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.  All three shows have vibrant colours, picturesque Southwest US scenery and segments with opening scenes with no dialogue…they let the pictures do the talking!

Without giving away too much, the show Pluribus is set in Albuquerque, NM and is a science-fiction story about an alien virus that infects the entire human population around the world, with the exception of 13 people, one of which is lead character Carol Sturka.  The impact of this alien infection is to transform nearly all humans on earth into a peaceful hive-mind collective called “The Others”, and the show explores the lives of the infected and non-infected people in this post-apocalyptic world.

Prior to watching the show I didn’t know what “Pluribus” meant, so naturally I looked it up. A pluribus is not a standard standalone term in modern English, so its meaning depends on the context in which it is used. The word comes from Latin, where “Pluribus” means “many” or “several.” We may have encountered the word in this context: 

• Phrase: E pluribus unum; Meaning: “Out of many, one”; Context: Motto of the United States, which refers to one nation formed from many states or peoples.  

In the context of the show, “Pluribus” means one collective being made up of all the humans on earth, The Others, with a connected mind, being formed by this alien virus.  The advantage of being part of The Others is that society now has no crime, no anger or animosity among humans, everyone lives in peace and harmony.  The members of The Others cannot harm each other, cannot hunt and kill animals or harvest crops or plants…the members of The Others cannot harm any other living thing. Humans in the collective are trying to assimilate the remaining thirteen non-infected humans into the Pluribus. The downside is that there is no individuality, no independence, as everyone on earth knows everything past and present about everybody, which is why lead character Carol Sturka doesn’t want to join The Others, and she doesn’t understand why those in the hive-mind collective aren’t clamouring to get out of it. 

As the episodes explore this post-apocalyptic life, I started thinking about which life I would prefer if I was in that situation.  I started to think about why those in The Others love their life so much, as well as why Carol Sturka fights so hard to maintain her independence.  

It seems idyllic to be in a world where everyone gets along; there is no conflict or tension, and there is no danger or crime to worry about. The members of The Others are always at peace and happy in their existence.  The Others are very much a socialist society, where there is a minimum standard of living that everyone enjoys; and, the members of The Others are not seeking a way to reverse the effects of the alien virus, and return to their individuality. The Others are not Communist in that they do not force people to join the collective. In fact, joining The Others must be entirely voluntary. 

On the flipside, there is no longer any individuality; everyone knows everything about everybody; all privacy is gone, there are no more secrets. Within The Others’ society, there is no accumulation of personal wealth, assets or accolades…everything is available to everyone. As a result there is no individual ambition or drive for success.   Carol Sturka realizes what life would be like in The Others and resists all attempts to be assimilated.  By her way of thinking, retaining one’s individuality is of paramount importance. 

While life amongst The Others may seem ideal to some, I would be of the same mind as Carol Sturka - I want my individuality, my privacy, my secrets.  While I see the value in some level of socialism, I am very much a capitalist, and a Darwinist, believing in the survival of the fittest. Humans need challenges, goals, ambition and drive.  Without these things to challenge us we become soft and lose our zest for life.  There has to be a purpose to one’s life.  What would our purpose be if we were all in a pluribus of humanity, with everything handled to us with one phone call.  How would we evaluate our existence if we didn’t have something to measure ourselves against.  I'm not advocating competing against family and friends, but a self-measuring stick is extremely important for our mental and physical health. 

If you haven’t seen season one of Pluribus, I highly recommend it; you have some time though, as season two is not expected to drop until mid-2027.