The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Shares He Knows How His Sci-Fi Series Will End... At the Moment.
The creative mastermind did not foresee that the Apple TV+ show would turn into a cultural phenomenon. “God bless the fans,” he states. “I was surprised by the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me overjoyed.”
As the debut season of the popular series coming to an end—and a second season greenlit and underway—the writers' room reflected on the audience reaction and whether it will influence the future direction of Pluribus.
Regarding the Overwhelming Audience Reaction
One could easily to get swayed by the rampant praise and audience predictions surrounding Pluribus. He is doing his best to avoid both.
“It's like being constantly eating hot fudge sundaes and being laughing uncontrollably,” he says. “It's the greatest thing, but I get wind of it from others, and that's by design. Never in my life searched for my own name online, nor do I ever want to. Not because I don't care. It's a bottomless pit I know I would fall into and then I'd be pooping in a five gallon bucket from Home Depot and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”
In spite of his concerted efforts, there’s it's impossible to ignore the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The best he and his team can do is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We don't try to change the plot,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not impacted by audience chatter.”
“Better to keep our heads down and working,” Gilligan adds.
A Pressing Query: Has Vince Gilligan See the Ending of Pluribus?
So if the creative staff aren’t being guided by audience theories, can we assume they have mapped out how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… sort of.
“We have some interesting ideas about how the story could conclude,” Gilligan reveals. “however, we remain prepared to discard a good idea for a better idea. That has held us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we get a better idea and I imagine we will be doing that.”
Alternatively, if they hit a wall, Gordon Smith has a humorous idea to fall back on.
“I constantly suggest that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and we're in there,” Smith quips, “but no one is buying it.”
Alternatively, why mess with the legendary finales?
“My dream is Carol to open her eyes beside Bob Newhart,” he jokes.
Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV+.
