Pluribus: Joy & Dread in the Benevolent Machine

Pluribus, the new Apple TV science fiction series by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad, The X-Files), takes us into strange new psychological and philosophical territory - a landscape of quiet horror in which an alien virus takes away all of humankind’s troubles and suffering, leaving only joy, happiness, and total cooperation. Romance writer Carol Sturka, a chronically miserable woman who can’t even enjoy her great success, is unaffected by the virus - and makes it her mission to reverse the benign change that has given the world the peace it has always been seeking.

Pluribus is provocative, thought-provoking, disturbing - a broad palette of mind-tingling ideas that leave viewers deep in thought after each episode ends. It’s also an homage to the best science fiction that came before it, recalling films from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to I Am Legend. And in the process, it comments candidly on our societal predicament in the here and now.

Summarizing the show’s award-winning first season, following up with a collection of essays focusing on its many layers of meaning, Pluribus: Joy & Dread in the Benevolent Machine makes a thoughtful companion to the series for its serious fans.