I'm 4 episodes into Pluribus (Apple) and it's thrilling me immensely. It's feels a long time since something genuinely original and compelling has come along. I won't give any plot details except I guess you'd call the genre grounded sci-fi (before Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, creator Vince Gilligan worked on the X-Files). The first episode is a rollercoaster ride of "oh we're doing this, are we? Oh no, actually we're not..." until by the end it all comes into direct focus.
It's such a joy to watch - the writing, direction, cinematography, editing, production design, sound design and score (from Dave Porter, relatively conventional from him) are all stellar. Performances uniformly perfect, with the worship-worthy Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul) in the lead as the misanthrope Carol who is always relatable. And it's nice to be back in Albuquerque.
I don't really know where it is going but I have that familiar and comforting Vince Gilligan Productions feeling that I'm in the hands of exemplary storytellers - simply enjoy the ride. Tonally there's a lot of off-kilter comedy, which chimes with me. I guess it feels satirical overall, there's a lot of meaty stuff to chew on either directly or in metaphor (religion, politics, sexuality, technology and society).
It falls into the best tradition of sci-fi which is full of ideas that illuminate our world today. I wish there were more shows that were prepared to take risks and get us out of endless re-treads of the same old thing.
I am so looking forward to watch Pluribus and first decided to wait till it's completely available, but I think I might re-sub again to Apple to give it a go this week.
