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Vince Gilligan did not foresee that Pluribus would become a cultural phenomenon. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”

With the first season of the popular sci-fi show wrapping up—and a second season greenlit and underway—the creative team reflected on the fan response and whether it will impact the future direction of Pluribus.

On the Overwhelming Viewer Reception

It would be easy to get distracted by the constant speculation and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. The creator is striving to ignore the noise.

“It's like being force fed something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he explains. “It's amazing, but I learn of it from others, and that's intentional. Never in my life Googled myself, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a rabbit hole I know I would disappear down and then I'd be never leaving the house from Home Depot and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”

Despite Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the extremely enthusiastic 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.

“It is not our goal to change the plot,” says Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not changed by audience chatter.”

“Better to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan concludes.

A Pressing Query: Has Vince Gilligan See the Conclusion of Pluribus?

So if the creative staff are not listening by public opinion, does it imply they already know how Pluribus will finally conclude? The answer is yes… in a way.

“There are some interesting ideas about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan reveals. “yet we stand ready to abandon a solid concept for a better idea. That philosophy has guided us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we conceive of something superior and I suspect we'll be doing that.”

On the other hand, if all else fails, executive producer Gordon Smith has a pretty funny idea to use as a backup.

“My recurring proposal is that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll zoom out in the finale and we're in there,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”

Alternatively, why mess with the iconic TV endings?

“I want Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan says with a smile.

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Pluribus can be watched on the streaming service.