Rhea Seehorn in Pluribus Episode 2Image via Apple TV
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Carly Lane
Published 54 minutes ago
Carly Lane is an Atlanta-based writer and critic who has been with Collider in some form or fashion since 2021. She considers herself a television nerd, diehard romance/sci-fi/fantasy reader, and nascent horror lover. Her fondness of books is only eclipsed by the towering TBR that her shelves can't possibly contain.
She is the author of A REGENCY GUIDE TO MODERN LIFE: 1800s ADVICE ON 21ST CENTURY LOVE, FRIENDS, FUN AND MORE, published through DK Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House) and currently available wherever books are sold.
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Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Pluribus Episode 4.
While all eyes might currently be on Vince Gilligan's new Apple TV sci-fi series Pluribus for its larger worldbuilding answers — and with good reason — there's an equally compelling, more human story nestled at the heart of this narrative. As one of the only remaining people on Earth still immune to the alien hivemind that has assimilated every survivor on the planet, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is seemingly driven on two fronts: to avoid becoming one of the Others at all costs, and to see whether there's a possibility of reversing things for everyone else.
Neither of these dilemmas is going to be easily solvable — we even learned last week that, despite the Others' efforts in working around the clock, the hivemind has gotten no closer to figuring out how to infect the immune. In sarcastically requesting a grenade from Zosia (Karolina Wydra) and subsequently blowing up part of her own house with it, though, Carol's starting to put the pieces together on what the Others' limitations are and how she might be able to wield that knowledge to not just her own benefit, but humanity's potential future. Like "Grenade" before it, the title of this week's episode, "Please, Carol," adopts a wholly new meaning once you get to those closing minutes — and likely leaves more than one viewer questioning just how far the protagonist of Pluribus is willing to go in search of a solution.
'Pluribus' Episode 4 Introduces Another Immune Survivor
Carlos Manuel Vesga looks contemplative in Apple TV's Pluribus.Image via Apple TV
Remember Carol's utterly disastrous attempt to reach out to another survivor from that Wayfarer plane last week? Well, Episode 4's cold open finally clues us into who was on the other end of that brief phone call: Manousos Oviedo (Carlos-Manuel Vesga), the self-storage facility manager in Paraguay, who's apparently been holed up in said storage facility since the event happened. After several failed attempts to find a radio signal that confirms any sign of unaffected life, Oviedo seems like he's starting to get desperate, especially since his options for food are dwindling.
The hivemind has attempted to woo him in the same way that they have Carol, by dropping off trays of food at the gate outside the facility. Instead, Oviedo ignores their peace offering in favor of breaking into different storage units, in the hopes of finding anything edible. After that, the only options he's managed to unearth are a mojito drink pouch and several cans of dog food. When Carol calls, Oviedo clearly believes she's one of the Others, explaining why he hangs up on her the first time. Hearing someone who's willing to cuss him out, rather than play nice, is more than a surprise; it's the confirmation Oviedo needs that there are other survivors like him out there.
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Gilligan also explains where his original idea for 'Pluribus' came from and reflects on reuniting with 'Better Call Saul's Rhea Seehorn.
Posts By Carly Lane Nov 7, 2025After the opening titles, Episode 4 reveals that it's been about a week since the event — 7 days, 8 hours, 42 minutes, 27 seconds and counting, to be precise — and Carol is finally leaving the hospital to drive home. With few options available, she borrows a state police vehicle instead, declining the Others' offer to collect her Range Rover from the bar and deliver it to her house. Despite her refusal, however, they have another surprise in store for Carol; they're already hard at work repairing the damage to her home. After bluntly asking everyone to take a hike, and a much-needed shower and change of clothes, Carol briefly considers wiping away the outline she has in her office for her fifth Wycaro book before ultimately tucking them away in favor of a new whiteboard, which she's using to compile everything she knows about the Others so far:
1. Eager to please — would give me A-Bomb?!
2. Can't kill, not a fly
3. Don't play faves, like all jerks same
4. *** Trying to change me! ***
5. Weirdly honest?
Carol ducks back outside to seize someone from the hivemind at random: an individual in a cycling uniform formerly known as Lawrence J. Kless, AKA "Larry" (played by Emmy-winning Somebody Somewhere actor Jeff Hiller). Their scene at Carol's kitchen table certainly feels like an interrogation, with Carol trying to get a straight answer out of the Others about her books that isn't just sweeping praise. (Turns out there are members of the hivemind who have vivid memories of reading Carol's books, though, including a woman named Moira McAllister from Kansas City who was deeply depressed and suicidal before she found the Wycaro series.) Despite her threats to the Others to keep Helen's (Miriam Shor) name out of their mouths, however, Carol wields their knowledge of her late wife's memories against them, forcing them to reveal what Helen really thought of her books — that they were "harmless" — as well as the fact that she never finished reading Bitter Chrysalis, the litfic novel she urged Carol to publish in the premiere. As hard as the truth is to hear, however, it confirms one more detail on Carol's list, and once Larry leaves, she erases the question at the end of number 5, "weirdly honest," and adds: "Can't lie."
Carol Tries To Get More Answers Out of Zosia in 'Pluribus' Episode 4
As for Zosia, her recovery is slow-going, but she's up and walking by the time Carol returns to the hospital for a visit. Carol apologizes for not having the foresight to realize that the Others would have taken her request for a grenade literally, and for Zosia being hurt in the process — but she does have an ulterior motive for stopping by. When the event first happened, the Others had no sense of the intricacies of their Joining, but Zosia admits they have a little more understanding of how things work now. When the topic turns to reversing the Joining, however, and Carol starts posing direct questions in that regard, Zosia remains tight-lipped. "Your non-answer is my answer," Carol realizes. "'Cause I don't think you can lie to me."
Yet for Carol, there's a more personal reason behind not wanting to join the hivemind: her time at Freedom Falls, a conversion therapy camp her mother sent her to when she was 16. Zosia's reassurance that the Others "love and accept all beings equally" doesn't mean much when they intend to make her one of them, but, as Zosia points out, isn't Carol also trying to change the Others, in her own way, by asking if the Joining can be reversed? "We know what it feels like to be you. To be alone. To suffer. We've been you, but you've never been us." Still, Carol's not going to be swayed away from her mission so easily, and sneaks into the hospital's drug storage to swipe some thiopental sodium, an intravenous barbiturate typically used for general anesthesia. She's not so reckless as to inject it into Zosia without first testing it on herself, though, and smuggles some vials home. Hours later, Carol wakes up on her couch with no idea what she's been saying or doing for the last several hours, but the camera she set up in advance has recorded everything — from uncontrollable sobbing about Helen's death to a dramatic reading of her latest Wycaro book to even a slight admission of her own repressed attraction to Zosia.
Mortifying as that recording is (which drives Carol to quickly dispose of it by flushing the SD card down the toilet), it proves that a little injection will likely loosen anyone's lips, so Carol drives back to the hospital and wheels Zosia out of her room and into the elevator, where she sneaks a dose of thiopental sodium into her IV bag. Outside in the garden, Zosia starts to have trouble remembering details that would come easily to any member of the Others — is it possible the drug has temporarily cut her off from the memories of the hivemind? — so Carol seizes her chance and starts peppering her with questions about reversing the Joining, even briefly handcuffing herself to Zosia so the Others can't take her away. As Zosia starts to cry, and the closest Others begin to surround them, they all begin chanting the same thing: "Please, Carol," as tears quietly stream down their faces. No one starts to seize up, as has happened before, but Zosia does go into cardiac arrest and collapses at Carol's feet before the Others jump in to resuscitate her — after asking Carol's permission first, of course. We don't see whether they're successful or not before the episode cuts to black.
9
10
Pluribus
Carol's drastic decision with the Others is bound to backfire.
Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Thriller Sci-Fi Release Date November 6, 2025 Network Apple TV Directors Adam Bernstein, Zetna Fuentes, Melissa Bernstein Writers Ariel Levine
7 Images
Rhea Seehorn staring into the distance in Pluribus
Rhea Seehorn's Carol holding a doctor by their arms looking worried in an ER lobby in Pluribus
Rhea Seehorn's Carol looking seriously over her shoulder in Pluribus
Rhea Seehorn in PluribusApple
Rhea Seehorn in Pluribus©Apple TV+ / Courtesy Everett Collection
Rhea Seehorn's Carol looking distracted and Karolina Wydra's Zosia smiling at someone in Pluribus
Rhea Seehorn curled up on the couch in PluribusClose
Cast
See All-
Rhea Seehorn
Carol Sturka
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Karolina Wydra
Zosia
- Somebody Somewhere's Jeff Hiller earns a perfect cameo as one of the Others.
- The episode poses some interesting philosophical questions about free will.
- We learn some critically important backstory information about why Carol is so resistant to becoming one of the Others.
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Pluribus
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Apple TV+
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