The big twist of ‘Pluribus’ finale is the perfect setup for its next chapter

Here it is, Carol: the finale of the first season of To many. Vince Gilligan’s sci-fi star received a two-season order from Apple TV from the start, so fans knew a clean conclusion wouldn’t come.

However, even if a breathtaking ending was to be expected, the climb we did to get there was filled with To many‘ signature blend of careful pacing, high tension, and observations about humanity that are both hilarious and heartbreaking.

First, a deeply disturbing prologue kicks off “La Chica o El Mundo”: It’s now 71 days after the accession, and we are in a remote village in Peru, home of Kusimayu, one of the survivors who attended Carol’s disastrous summit in episode two. She decided to join the hive mind.

We are spared the part of the procedure that extracts his stem cells; we see what comes next. All she has to do is inhale fumes and endure a brief seizure, and when she opens her eyes again, she’s part of the team. With that familiar bland smile now fixed on his face, Kusimayu opens the enclosure containing all of his animals, including the most poignant baby goat this side of Breakup.

In Albuquerque, Carol and Zosia watch satellite images of Manousos approaching. Carol is nervous about this intrusion; she has just settled comfortably into her new happiness (or the illusion of happiness in any case) with Zosia, and her arrival will absolutely disrupt the fantasy. “I’ll just listen to it and send it back,” Carol says.

(By the way, it’s been 60 days since joining, so we came back before Kusimayu’s transformation.)

Zosia makes herself scarce and Carol receives Manousos alone, in a scene about a million times more awkward than one could have imagined. Their previous interactions consisted of yelling at each other on the phone – a frustrating, but also hopeful, sign that someone, anyone capable of even having a screaming argument still exists. And as we saw, Manousos was so intrigued by Carol’s video that he went on a long journey to find her, learning English (sort of) and suffering serious injuries along the way.

But upon meeting face-to-face, the two immediately clash. She is suspicious of the machete he carries. He hesitates to enter her house, convinced that the Others (he calls them “the weirdos”) have installed surveillance equipment without his knowledge. When they finally talk outside, he insists on holding an umbrella to avoid prying eyes from the drones above him. (Considering we saw how closely he was being watched during his approach to Albuquerque, his fears seem legitimate in this case, even if his overall vibe is very paranoid.)

But even when they eventually compromise on where they should converse, things remain very sticky between them. Carol insists that she doesn’t want to “destroy” the Others; Manousos says, “These weirdos are bad” because “they stole everyone’s soul.” Carol maintains that they are still human; Manousos says this is not the case.

So Carol, who just pointed out that the Others can’t lie, tells Manousos a story, saying she doesn’t know why they returned to Albuquerque after abandoning her for 40 days. (It’s a good thing she asked Zosia to remove that huge “come back” call she had painted on the street before Manousos arrived.)

Eventually, they move their conversation—aided by the monotone of Google Translate, although Manousos’s English is now much better than Carol’s very rudimentary Spanish—into Carol’s house. He won’t commit until he does a thorough search of the listening devices and finds something very strange hidden in Carol’s liquor cabinet.

When Carol calls Zosia to ask for answers, she discovers that it is a sensor that has been there for years. Like since 2011, when she froze her eggs. It seems Helen stashed it there to keep a discreet eye on her drunken spouse, and it’s been lying around ever since. Obsessed with details To many fans will recall that Carol previously made reference to freezing her eggs, making a joke about it during this flashback to Carol and Helen’s stay at the Norwegian Ice Hotel.

So that’s two mentions of Carol’s eggs across To many first season, and series creator Vince Gilligan isn’t dropping this information in vain. But before we get to that, we still have some Carol-Manousos drama to go through. Needing some time away from his new enemy, Carol makes him move into the empty house next door, something he is very reluctant to do. This reaction is entirely consistent with his desire to pay for everything he takes, or at least sign an IOU for it. This guy has a moral code that has remained firmly in place, even though the world has changed drastically around him.

Anyway, while Carol gets drunk and falls asleep Golden GirlsManousos meddles in his activities by talking with Zosia. He could really talk to any of the Others – it really wouldn’t make any difference – but summoning Zosia in particular is designed to get Carol pumped up, and it works. She is furious. She drags Zosia away, but Manousos quickly asks another Other to come and talk to her instead.

While Carol fumbles with Zosia’s gentle insistence that “We love him like we love you” – logically, Carol knows that’s how the hive mind works, but emotionally she can’t understand that; Zosia is her special, er, “chaperone,” after all – Manousos takes inspiration from Carol’s own playbook.

“Something’s about to happen,” Zosia announces, and she calmly lies down on the ground before she begins to shake. A frantic Carol runs next door and sees that Manousos caused the mass meltdown this time. He deliberately agitated the Other sent to replace Zosia to try to bring him out of his hive-mind stupor.

It doesn’t work, and much to Carol’s horror, the Others decide that it’s Manousos’ turn to be put in solitary confinement – and since he’s now in Albuquerque, that means another mass exodus from Carol’s hometown.

“I think there is a way to put things back where they belong,” Manousos insists to Carol. “Now the work begins!” »

When she hesitates, he goes in for the kill, and here we learn why the episode is called “La Chica o El Mundo”: “Do you want to save the world or get the girl?”

For a moment, To many makes us think that Carol chose Zosia. There’s a happy montage of the couple on various luxurious vacations (Carol’s choice beach read: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin). It’s peaceful. It’s idyllic.

But a fireside chat during their ski trip puts an end to it all. Carol is happy and surprised at how good it feels. “It just keeps getting better,” beams Zosia.

Slowly, Carol realizes she’s talking about…membership. This is something Carol has vehemently resisted from the beginning. Although this newfound happiness has been bliss, she prefers to be unhappy forever with her individuality intact.

And besides, back in Las Vegas, didn’t Mr. Diabaté assure him that the survivors could not convert without their express consent? The process of stem cell extraction is invasive, and without obtaining permission to perform the procedure, the Others would not have the equipment necessary to bring a holdout into the hive mind.

This information was liberating. This put Carol in a very good mood. But now she has a horrible realization: her eggs. The Others have his eggs frozen. They don’t need to stick a giant needle in his hip. They already have the goods.

“How much time do I have left?” she asks Zosia.

“A month,” Zosia replies. She is delighted that Carol will soon be bound to receive this wonderful gift. “I hope not more than two or three.”

Needless to say, this changes everything.

It has now been 74 days since joining. Manousos is still alone in Albuquerque and he hears a helicopter approaching. He carries a large box which he leaves in front of Carol’s house. We see that Zosia is the pilot and Carol is sitting next to her. They share a very charged look as Carol walks out. It’s a sad moment. But they are sad for different reasons.

When a bewildered Manousos approaches, Carol tells him, “You win. We’re saving the world.”

What’s in the box? Well, an atomic bomb, of course!

The others Of course hoped she wouldn’t ask for one after her semi-serious investigation following the grenade incident. But they are forced to give Carol what she wants. Introducing a giant bomb into the story is a brilliant way to set up the events of season two, isn’t it?

You can watch all nine episodes of To many first season on Apple TV. A second season has already been greenlit, but as of now, it’s unclear when new episodes might arrive.

Want more io9 news? Find out when to expect the latest news Wonder, Star WarsAnd Star Trek exits, what is the next step for the DC Universe in cinema and televisionand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.