Apologies if someone’s already mentioned this, but I just noticed that if you google Pluribus, the Google search results will say ‘What are you searching for, Carol?’ at the top. Thought that was neat 
Just binged the first four episodes. Personally I’m rather glad they fast-forwarded through the usual “Outbreak” tropes, the bad lab protocols notwithstanding. Apologies if any of the following is addressed or contradicted in the new episode drop.
“NO PRESSURE”
The other thing that got me in that scene was “And he was wearing a suit”.
Carol? Unlikely. But Helen? Quite possibly.
I was thinking about that. Carol should have asked her why Lakshmi was upset about her son hearing curse words. Her son is now one with all the streetwalkers and pimps and porn stars and child molesters and worse of the world. He literally knows the vilest obscenities in every language on Earth. And he is privy to the past and present experiences of everyone having sex, including the current AF1 ménage à sept parties going on.
But I guess the ob/gyn questions were a more polite way of getting the same point across, that Lakshmi’s “little boy” ain’t just a little boy anymore.
Or someone with a history of heroin use?
This was something that occurred to me after Carol’s conversation with Joel Larry about her books.
Art is dead. The hivemind aren’t interested in or moved by Carol’s stories except to the extent that they assimilate the good vibes their members once got from reading them. Oh, and because Carol’s writing “tells them about Carol”, which sounds like a parent putting a small child’s artwork up on the fridge. Storytelling is dead - everyone knows the whole story the minute it’s conceived. This includes all humor - everyone already knows every punchline. And while they’re happy to take the non-hive people to the Guggenheim, it seems to be more to appreciate their reaction to the art. The hive people don’t seem interested in art for art’s sake, except in the context of historical artifacts of a now-dead culture. The only people still capable of creating new art of any kind are the few unassimilated, and I suspect anything the hivemind generated would be like (a better version of) ChatGPT - an amalgam of existing material synthesized depending on the audience prompt.
Speaking of which: I don’t know whether the “biological imperative” of the hivemind is to assimilate and then reproduce by broadcasting the signal onward (cordyceps style) but the whole concept strikes me as an immediate evolutionary dead end. Monocultures tend to be more vulnerable than diverse ecosystems, and given that Carol can currently kill millions just by throwing a tantrum, this seems to be a rather fragile one.
I would assume they would reproduce for the purposes of maintaining an optimal population. You know, with global planning for where and when and how many, and using the best genetic couplings, like a perfectly normal civilization.
Speaking of the Paraguay guy - I was wondering whether he’d somehow escaped the initial airdrop of the “virus” in his container offices and thence was sufficiently isolated to avoid later infection. Which would mean he was still vulnerable. But that seems like a long shot (although Carol ending up getting him ‘turned’ would be ironic in a Gilliganesque style).
I made almost the exact same observation to my wife as we were watching the show last week. There doesn’t seem to be anything pushing society or culture forward anymore. If this goes on for too long civilization is going to stagnate. It’s just a motor running without an apparent purpose. There is no free will, no individuality or personality. No one is thinking about or designing the newer faster computer. No one is thinking about or building the newest device that will “change the world,” like the internet or the smartphone. There is no new art being made. There is no creativity or experimentation. Efficiency is through the roof, but creativity is gone. Future episodes could contradict this, or circumstances may change based on the actions of the unaffected of course.
Mrs. Jihi and myself are watching the show as well. Most interesting new show we’ve seen in awhile. There are inconsistencies and issues of course and they may not be addressed to our satisfaction by the end, but for right now we’re just enjoying the ride.
I don’t think we have enough information to make that conclusion. The combined knowledge of everyone in the world could make research and development take off like a rocket and we simply haven’t seen if that’s the case. We don’t know what their priorities or capabilities are.
Spoiler (hypothesis, but I’m about 90% sure) based on the ending of episode 5:
It’s people! It’s people! Soylent amber/straw is PEOPLE!
Scientific progress could go through the roof. But that’s not an antidote to cultural stagnation.
Yes, that was what I was suggesting. It was even clearer when she skillfully wrapped her arm when trying it on herself.
The Others have said they are working hard to figure out how to assimilate the other 13 (+?). I reckon there are ways to test that without an immune subject on hand, yet they’re so nice. It leads me to believe they cannot, yet perhaps every time there’s a new formula candidate, a minder meets one of the immune, they spray a trial mist.
So we don’t and probably won’t see any science laboratories or construction of a ring (around the planet) of giant radio telescopes broadcasting this virus, unless VG makes a bottle episode or the end product is what we see as the credits roll on the last episode.
It’s probably a Soylent Green-type scenario BUT for two things: I saw an interview where Rhea Seehorn said she didn’t think people would be able to guess where things were going after Episode 5, AND we’re talking about Vince Gilligan. He rarely goes the obvious route. So if we’re all thinking “it’s people,” then I’m guessing he’s gonna throw us a curveball.
As stated right off:
My WAG is that the Others were able to predict that Carol’s investigation would bring her to that warehouse and left her a helpful note under that tarp. She’s not really the clever wildcard she thinks she is. After all, the others have access to the minds of millions of psychologists, detectives, and (most importantly) popular novelists and storytellers.
I am, however, wondering how the collective skill of the world’s best drone pilots managed to wrap that thing around a lamppost.
ISTR she mentions a brief dabbling in heroin use in that scene, back when she was 16 I think?
She said sophomore year which could refer to college
I thought for sure the episode would end with a shot of Carol’s drone packages in a pile somewhere in the desert. Do we think those tapes are actually being delivered?
Also, that was some surprisingly shoddy CGI when Carol was up on the roof watching everyone leave town.
I thought it was odd that Carol thought to visit the Agri-Jet warehouse after noticing a similar barcode on a sack of dog food. That seemed a tenuous connection, though perhaps the Joined were reusing the same paper sacks.
That was the connection.
I think that just clenched it after she searched Sprouts for similar sized/shaped bags. Either the others don’t care what Carol finds out or they are just keeping her entertained/distracted/sorta happy with the mystery. They aren’t so dumb to leave so many clues behind when they left Albuquerque.
Or they just don’t care. What she is finding is not anything that threatens them or that they wouldn’t just tell her if she asked. “It doesn’t contain chlorine. There’s that.” And neutral like celery!
In hindsight, that scene where Carol helps Zosia open the carton in the hospital takes on a whole new importance. And after Zosia takes a sip, she says, “Do you like the police car?”
Can we read anything into that? Was Zosia making some connection between what she was drinking and criminal activity? It seemed like a throwaway question at the time, but now I’m not so sure. The writers could’ve had her ask anything.
Having said that, why didn’t Carol notice the milk was the wrong color? I guess she opened it without looking at it but I would have noticed immediately that it was off. Hold on Zosia, I’ll get you a fresh one! Oh no, they’re all like this! WTF?
As I said on another forum, when it comes to science, Carol is much more Jesse than she is Walt.
The scene is edited in such a way that you can’t tell if Carol even looks inside the carton.