# Pluribus (New Vince Gilligan show on AppleTV) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, apple\ **Created:** [November 7, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659 "2025-11-07T12:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 58
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1141 "2026-01-18T19:15:40Z")
That is why I suspected the shipping container held radio equipment and not an atomic bomb. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1142 "2026-01-18T19:21:55Z")
But they’ve already said that if Carol asked for an atomic bomb, they’d give it to her after weighing with her the pros and cons. As deranged as that seems. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1143 "2026-01-18T19:22:55Z")
I took that to mean that they would give her what she asked for, even if it was a weapon or something else destructive. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1144 "2026-01-18T19:59:25Z")
But how would Carol know what kind of radio equipment to get? And why would that be a big deal, when presumably they can get whatever they determine they need next season? I think you guys are way over thinking it. They foreshadowed a bomb in an earlier episode. She said it was a bomb. It’s a bomb. This particular plot point is not complicated. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1145 "2026-01-18T20:03:43Z")
It’s not even remotely overthinking to say it may or may not be a literal atom bomb depending on what the writers decide in the future. VG loves to subvert expectations. It’s intentionally vague. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1146 "2026-01-18T20:04:21Z")
Yeah, they can wait to get the Radio Shack delivery for when they have actually figured out what they need. The bomb is just so Carol has the option to off herself before being joined. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1147 "2026-01-18T20:19:10Z")
She doesn’t need a bomb to “off” herself. Indeed, to the extent she is sincere in her representations to care for the fate of humanity and is not just a love scorned, a bomb would be counterproductive because it would take out Manousos as well. So I am going to stick with (1) probably a real bomb and (2) its function in the story is and will be to remind Carol of how utterly alien Pluribus is. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1148 "2026-01-18T20:22:35Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > So I am going to stick with (1) probably a real bomb and (2) its function in the story is and will be to remind Carol of how utterly alien Pluribus is. The Hive agrees ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1149 "2026-01-18T20:22:56Z")
Ah! Inside joke! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1150 "2026-01-18T20:46:25Z")
I don’t think the writers know what’s in the box at this point. Or at least that’s a strong possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1151 "2026-01-18T21:09:55Z")
I am quite confident that VG intends there to be a nuke in the box. I think speculation to the contrary is overthinking things. _However,_ I also think it’s plausible that they kept it inside the box in order to keep their options open. Go back and read interviews with VG about how he regards the machine gun reveal in _Breaking Bad_ as a mistake. He did it as a lark, and then he spent weeks and weeks tearing his hair out, beating his head against the wall, trying to figure out the best way to pay it off. Eventually he did come up with something pretty cool, but he hated the experience. So I think the safest interpretation at the moment is that VG & Co are saying to each other, Yeah it’s probably a nuke and we’ll proceed with the assumption that a nuke is what we’re paying off, _but_ if we absolutely can’t come up with something we like, it’s a closed box and we can do a different reveal. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1152 "2026-01-18T22:34:41Z")
I wonder too: “\*\* Impending Starvation:\*\* Within the show’s storyline, it is established that the majority of humanity (over 7 billion individuals) who have been “joined” into a hive mind will likely starve to death within 10 years due to a severe caloric deficit and food shortages.” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1153 "2026-01-18T22:37:30Z")
The remaining Hivers will then have a food source, right? Can the smaller group survive in perpetuity that way? Do we know if they can reproduce? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1154 "2026-01-18T22:38:32Z")
…. yes? Doesn’t that back up what I was saying? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1155 "2026-01-18T23:10:16Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The remaining Hivers will then have a food source, right? What food source is that? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1156 "2026-01-18T23:12:07Z")
People ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1157 "2026-01-18T23:14:04Z")
How nourishing do you think people who have starved to death would be? And how long the supply would last? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1158 "2026-01-18T23:15:07Z")
I have no idea but there should be an equilibrium at some point. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1159 "2026-01-18T23:15:09Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > What food source is that The dead. If those hive nodes starve to death, they won’t be able to provide too many calories to the surviving nodes. Can the hive harm its own nodes? Can it decide to start winding down at some point, and send otherwise healthy nodes to processing facilities to be converted to powder and saved for the rest? What is the hives opinion on _Logan’s Run_? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659/1160 "2026-01-18T23:18:51Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > What is the hives opinion on _Logan’s Run_? Fun concept, but deeply flawed in execution. Oh, you meant _that_ hive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pluribus-new-vince-gilligan-show-on-appletv/1024659.md?page=59)