When Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan announced his new series, Pluribus, we knew next to nothing about it. We knew it was Apple TV’s next big bet in experimental sci-fi, a market the streamer had cornered with series like Severance, Foundation, and For All Mankind. But unlike those series, the plot wasn’t immediately obvious. You can describe the premise of something like Silo very easily, but the only description for Pluribus described it as: “following the most miserable person on Earth and the one who must save the world from happiness.” And the official trailer didn’t reveal much else. Thankfully, Gilligan keeping the cards close to his chest pays off tenfold. Pluribus is the best sci-fi mystery since Severance, folding in elements of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Lost, The Good Place, The Last of Us, and even The Last Man on Earth, all anchored by Seehorn’s virtuosic performance. It’s a late addition to 2025’s TV offerings, but it’s soon to shoot up your list of best TV shows of the year. When we meet Carol Sturka, she’s a jaded romance author churning out the same stuff her audience loves. | Apple TVPluribus opens the best possible way a sci-fi series can open: with scientists talking excitedly about a discovery that sounds like random jargon to the average viewer. And if that wasn’t enough, the next sequence shows a mysterious procedure in a genetic laboratory. But before we can make heads or tails of this enigmatic opening, we cut to pessimistic “romantasy” writer Carol Sturka (Seehorn), who is utterly disillusioned about everything in her life: the bodice-ripping “mindless crap” she writes for sad housewives, the annoying fans who whip out swords at book signings, and the constant travel of book marketing. The only highlight in her life is her manager and partner, Helen (Miriam Shor). But her life is completely changed when something happens to Helen — and to the rest of the world. It isn’t long before Carol finds herself living a lonely life on her Albuquerque cul-de-sac, as the rest of the world joins together in a kind of psychic hivemind spread like a contagion around the Earth. Carol is one of 12 who are somehow immune, and the ever-cheerful people in the hive mind cater to their every need while investigating a way they can all be brought into the hivemind in harmony. But to Carol, that misery is her last chance at humanity. Armed with the stubbornness of a bull, she decides to do everything she can to save the human race from this peaceful existence, even if it means doing it all by herself.Seemingly all at once, the entire world is joined into a massive group consciousness. | Apple TVOver the seven episodes of the nine-episode season I received for review, I found myself procrastinating on watching the last few simply because I didn’t want the story to be over — I didn’t want to be left on a cliffhanger. Though Gilligan got his start as a writer and producer on The X-Files, sci-fi may not be a genre most people associate with him, after he spent 17 years redefining the crime drama with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. But both those shows were already masterclasses in worldbuilding and superb character drama, and Pluribus takes that to a whole new level. Exposition is breadcrumbed in so naturally: We learn about this new world at the same time as Carol, and then try to decipher just how to reverse this strange phenomenon right along with her. You could even go so far as to call this a “mystery box” show like Lost or Yellowjackets, except the mystery itself — the hivemind — is incredibly honest, forthcoming, and helpful. It’s hard not to draw a comparison to the slow mysteries that unfolded throughout Season 3 of Breaking Bad or literally all of Better Call Saul — expertly paced and never rushed or sluggish. Most importantly, the episodes feel like episodes, each with its own themes, arcs, and revelations. Zosia is chosen to be the spokesperson for the hivemind because she has a face Carol would trust. | Apple TVGilligan wrote the role of Carol for Seehorn, so it’s no wonder that her performance is the best in an already incredible career. She rides the balance between depressed and driven, panicky and steely, and does it all with humor simmering under the surface. But just because she’s the sole focus of the series doesn’t mean she’s the only character. The other is, of course, the hivemind, usually presented to Carol through Zosia (Karolina Wydra), a comforting presence who offers to be a liaison, much to Carol’s chagrin. Pluribus has already been renewed for a second season, a fact that will provide reassurance through every episode as the story uncovers more and more layers of intrigue. Even within these first few episodes, Vince Gilligan has proven that Breaking Bad may have been the peak of Peak TV, but it’s just the start of what he’s capable of. Pluribus premieres Friday, November 7, on Apple TV.