Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus Is Already Amazing, And I Think It Stands Out From Breaking Bad And Better Call Saul In A Big Way

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A quick heads-up: the following contains minor spoilers for the first two episodes of Pluribus, available on Apple TV+. If you haven’t watched them yet, proceed with caution!

Everyone excited about high-quality TV was eagerly awaiting the streaming debut of Pluribus, the new series from acclaimed creator Vince Gilligan. Even before it premiered, the sci-fi show sparked a lot of speculation and fan theories, and the first two episodes haven’t satisfied viewers’ curiosity – they still want to know more!

Vince Gilligan, the creator of the hugely popular and critically acclaimed Breaking Bad and its fantastic spin-off Better Call Saul, is now behind Pluribus. Both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are among my all-time favorite shows, and I predict Pluribus will join them. It’s already achieving something those earlier shows couldn’t.

Breaking Bad And Better Call Saul, While Often Mysterious, Weren’t Impossible To Predict

Like many stories grounded in reality, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul generally follow predictable genre patterns, limiting the possible endings. While it was hard to know exactly how much trouble Walter White would cause after his cancer diagnosis, it wasn’t surprising to anticipate a major downfall. Nor would it have been a shock if he hadn’t survived.

The finale of Better Call Saul faced a tough challenge. As both a prequel and sequel to Breaking Bad, it seemed inevitable that Gene, Saul’s alias, would eventually face consequences for his actions. While it wasn’t always certain what would happen with Rhea Seehorn’s character, Kim Wexler, those who thought she’d leave him were ultimately proven wrong.

I’m not saying any of this critically – I don’t need crime shows to be completely unpredictable to enjoy them. I genuinely like both of these shows, even if they weren’t shocking. However, that’s part of why I’m finding Pluribus particularly enjoyable.

Pluribus Kicks Off With An Incomprehensible Event, And I Can’t Begin To Imagine Where It’s Going

I don’t have any experience with making drugs or law, but I could still connect with the stories of Walt and Saul. However, the series Pluribus starts with a huge, devastating event that’s almost too big to comprehend. Even Carol Sturka, a writer who specializes in fantasy, struggles to understand what’s happening, even though she’s seeing clues all around her.

The first episode introduces Carol as she’s thrown into a worldwide crisis: almost everyone on Earth has had their mind taken over by aliens who are overly positive and eager to help. This is especially jarring for Carol, as she’s just lost her partner, her job feels pointless, and she’s one of the few people who still thinks for herself.

Unlike characters like Saul Goodman and Walter White, who were almost certainly headed for death or prison, Carol’s future is much more open-ended. While she could still face those outcomes, they wouldn’t be expected, especially given the current storyline where imprisonment doesn’t seem to be a common fate.

Luckily, Pluribus appears intentionally designed to be unpredictable, avoiding a feeling of simply random events. However, because it’s planned for three full seasons, there’s so much story being developed that it’s hard to follow everything.

If I absolutely HAD to predict something, though, it would be this: Magnets, bitch!

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2025-11-16 23:10