{"id":2156865,"date":"2025-11-14T17:25:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2156865"},"modified":"2025-11-14T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T17:25:08","slug":"breaking-bad-creators-pluribus-is-a-sure-emmys-contender-if-you-can-handle-how-depressing-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/breaking-bad-creators-pluribus-is-a-sure-emmys-contender-if-you-can-handle-how-depressing-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Breaking Bad\u2019 creator\u2019s \u2018Pluribus\u2019 is a sure Emmys contender \u2014 if you can handle how depressing it is"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F11%2Fpluribus-45.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Breaking bleak.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/31\/real-estate\/2-properties-featured-in-breaking-bad-ask-a-combined-7m\/\">\u201cBreaking Bad\u201d <\/a>creator Vince Gilligan\u2019s new show \u201cPluribus\u201d is off-the-wall, unique, and sure to be an instant Emmys contender \u2013 if you can handle how depressing it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now streaming on AppleTV+ (with new episodes out Fridays), it stars \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d and \u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d alum <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/09\/better-call-saul-star-rhea-seehorn-on-the-finale-and-her-new-web-comedy\/\">Rhea Seehorn<\/a>. It may appeal to viewers who enjoy shows like \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d and \u201cSeverance,\u201d with a dash of \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d and \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2019\/06\/07\/the-good-place-to-end-after-fourth-season\/\">The Good Place\u201d <\/a>sprinkled in.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s got an eye-popping 100% on Rotten Tomatoes \u2013 in contrast to TV\u2019s current worst show, the dreadful <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/11\/05\/entertainment\/kim-kardashians-alls-fair-is-a-train-wreck-sarah-paulson-glenn-close-dont-help\/\">\u201cAll\u2019s Fair,\u201d <\/a>which has a paltry 4%.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rhea Seehorn as Carol in \u201cPluribus.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Apple<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in \u201cBreaking Bad.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Frank Ockenfels\/AMC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The plot follows Carol (Seehorn) a cynical romance author. After a mysterious global event turns the population into a hive-mind of cheerful zombies, she\u2019s one of the only people in the world who is immune. They\u2019re not real zombies \u2013 nobody is undead or eats brains \u2013 but everyone loses their individuality. Everyone Carol meets refers to themselves as \u201cwe,\u201d and has the same startlingly upbeat shared personality and shared consciousness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2019Pluribus\u2019 is my twist on a post-apocalyptic zombie tale,\u201d Gilligan told <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.menshealth.com\/entertainment\/a69276271\/vince-gilligan-interview-pluribus\/\">Men\u2019s Health<\/a>. \u201cThe big difference is these people are not zombies. They\u2019re really, really happy people who still have all their faculties.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carol is one of only about a dozen people who is still herself. She\u2019s filled with confused rage and grief, especially because her longtime partner, Helen (Miriam Shor), dies during this zombie-esque takeover event.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rhea Seehorn as Carol in \u201cPluribus.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Anna Kooris<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rhea Seehorn as Carol in \u201cPluribus.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Jeff Neumann<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To make matters worse, when she meets the handful of other people who are also immune, she finds that she\u2019s the only one who has any urgency to restore the world to how it used to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not convinced things are as bad as you say,\u201d one fellow immune man tells her, pointing out that issues like racism and crime no longer exist. There\u2019s peace on earth\u2026and Carol is having a terrible time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt that \u201cPluribus\u201d is unique. The TV landscape is packed with endless spinoffs and reboots, so that alone is worth championing. Plus, amid shows that assume the audience is stupid (like \u201cAll\u2019s Fair\u201d), \u201cPluribus\u201d is unashamedly philosophical.<\/p>\n<p>However, it also may be the most depressing show of the year. \u201cPluribus\u201d is a great show that also sort of makes you want to jump off a bridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Carol (Rhea Seehorn) in \u201cPluribus.\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>At least in most other dystopian shows, the characters go through harrowing situations, but they have some people to share it with.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carol\u2019s angry snark is frequently an amusing contrast with the saccharine friendliness of everyone around her. So, on the surface, the tone of \u201cPluribus\u201d is lighter than a show like <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/20\/entertainment\/the-last-of-us-creator-craig-mazin-on-that-shocking-death-pedro-pascal-is-in-season-2-more-than-people-might-think\/\">\u201cThe Last of Us.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But, as a constant hum beneath the wacky story, there\u2019s little relief from how horrifying the situation is. Carol is basically all alone in the world. The awful isolation of her circumstance makes \u201cPluribus\u201d dark, and gives it a claustrophobic feeling, despite its zaniness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The show almost feels like that classic \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d episode <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Time_Enough_at_Last\">\u201cTime Enough At Last,\u201d<\/a> but that\u2019s only 25 minutes. Stretched into nine hours, such a concept becomes gutting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Rhea Seehorn as Carol in \u201cPluribus.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Jorge Alvarino<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cPluribus\u201d has gotten some comparisons to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/01\/07\/entertainment\/severance-season-2-review-weirder-and-wilder\/\">its Apple sibling, \u201cSeverance,\u201d<\/a> which also sees its main character grieving his wife, and trapped in a nightmarish existence. But, the latter has other characters to add levity, and to give the audience moments of relief so that we\u2019re not only following the grieving and angry Mark (Adam Scott).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPluribus\u201d is only Carol.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Seehorn\u2019s performance is stellar, but it\u2019s essentially a one-woman show, as she\u2019s surrounded by happy robots (figuratively, as it\u2019s explained that they\u2019re not robots).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to imagine how to spin several seasons out of this. Then again, it\u2019s silly to doubt Gilligan. If anyone can run with a premise that appears limited in scope, it\u2019s the \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d creator.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I wouldn\u2019t recommend tuning into \u201cPluribus\u201d if you\u2019re in need of a mood boost.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But if you want something different, imaginative, and thought-provoking, it offers a feast.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breaking bleak.\u00a0 \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d creator Vince Gilligan\u2019s new show \u201cPluribus\u201d is off-the-wall, unique, and sure to be an instant Emmys contender \u2013 if you can handle how depressing it is.\u00a0 Now streaming on AppleTV+ (with new episodes out Fridays), it stars \u201cBreaking Bad\u201d and \u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d alum Rhea Seehorn. It may appeal to viewers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2156866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[25538,25317,345383,21741,359900,22205,21913,347734],"class_list":["post-2156865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-actors","tag-apple-tv","tag-breaking-bad","tag-entertainment","tag-rhea-seehorn","tag-television","tag-tv","tag-vince-gilligan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\u2018Breaking-Bad-creators-\u2018Pluribus-is-a-sure-Emmys-contender-\u2014.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2156865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2156867,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2156865\/revisions\/2156867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2156866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2156865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2156865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2156865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}