The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Reveals He Knows How His Sci-Fi Series Will Conclude... At the Moment.
The creative mastermind never anticipated that the Apple TV+ show would emerge as a cultural phenomenon. “I am so grateful to the audience,” Gilligan says. “I did not foresee the show being as talked about as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”
With the first season of the acclaimed program coming to an end—and a second season officially in the works—the creative team recently discussed the viewer reception and whether it will shape the narrative path of Pluribus.
About the Overwhelming Fan Response
It would be easy to get swayed by the widespread acclaim and online debates regarding Pluribus. Gilligan, however, is striving to ignore the noise.
“The experience is akin to force fed something incredibly sweet and being tickled to death,” he says. “It's wonderful, but I learn of it through word of mouth, and that's intentional. I have never looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever plan to. It's quite the opposite. It's a deep trap I know I would fall into and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd never leave my living room.”
Regardless of his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the extremely enthusiastic response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to accept it graciously and try not to let it alter the course of the show.
“We don't try to tailor anything,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The plot we develop is not influenced by online forums.”
“It's wiser to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan adds.
A Pressing Query: Does the creator Have a Plan for the Conclusion of Pluribus?
So if the creative staff are not listening by public opinion, can we assume they have already decided how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? In short yes… with some caveats.
“We've developed some interesting ideas about where the show might end up,” Gilligan reveals. “however, we remain prepared to throw out a solid concept for a superior concept. That philosophy has guided us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We throw stuff out when we get a better idea and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
On the other hand, if plans fall through, executive producer Gordon Smith has a rather amusing idea to serve as a last resort.
“My recurring proposal is that everything takes place within a snow globe, and that we'll reveal the snow globe and the characters are inside it,” he says humorously, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Then again, one could always use the iconic TV endings?
“I'd love for Carol to open her eyes with Bob Newhart there,” Gilligan adds, smiling.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV.
