What would you do if the world changed overnight. What if you were the only person—or at least the only person in the area—who could remember what it was like. That’s the situation facing Carol (Rhea Seehorn) at the outset of the second episode of Pluribus. The episode, “Pirate Lady,” sees Carol trying to adjust to the new world, and it isn’t going well. Let’s dive in. SPOILERS BELOW.
The timer lets us know it’s been 11 and a half hours since the world changed. We find Carol still at home, passed out near an empty bottle. As she wakes up, she remembers all that transpired. She still has Helen’s (Miriam Shor) body, so she decides it’s time for a burial. She heads to the backyard with a shovel.
After some long, hot toil, Carol hasn’t made much progress. At that moment, a woman (Karolina Wydra) arrives. She looks like a female version of the protagonist from Carol’s book. That’s by design to make Carol feel more comfortable. Carol doesn’t take it well. When she ends up screaming in the woman’s face, she goes into a seizure-like state.
Carol jumps in the truck and goes for help. She finds more people in a similar state. Some even worse. Eventually, they snap back to life. Carol returns home. She calls the help line and tells them to send the Pirate Lady back. That’s the name she’s now given her companion, who returns to help dig the grave.
After that’s compete, and Helen is at rest, it’s time for some answers. Turns out there are now 12 other people in the world who are immune. The collective is working on an update that will join them to the fold. But Carol has misgivings. She asks what happened when she yelled earlier. Turns out her strong emotional reaction didn’t work for the collective, who suffered. Some people died, but the Pirate Lady is vague on specifics.
She does tell Carol there are five other people like her that speak English. Carol asks for a summit. All the rest agree, and it’s all set.
Meeting of the outliers
Carol is put on a commercial plane. There’s a pilot and the Pirate Lady. Soon, they land in Bilbao. There, Carol meets four others (Darinka Arones, Menik Gooneratne, Amaraa Sanjid, and Sharon Gee). But there is another.
Turns out that other, Mr. Diabate (Samba Schutte) has figured out how to use the new world to his advantage. He arrives on Air Force One, where their meeting will be held, and has a harem of women to attend to his needs. While the others have family members, and Carol has the Pirate Lady, Diabate has a harem.
When they finally meet in private, Carol urges them to think of a cure. But turns out, the others like the new world order—or at least want to be reunited with their family. Bitter, Carol agrees to a lunch. There, they all learn from the Pirate Lady that these new creatures can’t kill. That’s, in part, why they freed all animals from zoos. That means that the world is on the brink of a gigantic change, even for these 13 survivors.
But Carol, frustrated by her companions, presses the point. She asks how many died during the transition. Turns out it was north of 886 million. But one of her companions (Gooneratne) presses the Pirate Lady about how many Carol killed with her outburst. Turns out it was 11 million.
Carol is reeling from the information. She turns to the bottle and stumbles away. When the Pirate lady and others try to help, she lashes out again. Again, it creates an incident.
Carol wakes up the next day and everyone has left. Everyone but Mr. Diabate, who wants to see her. He’s headed to Las Vegas. He’s also made friends with Zosia—the Pirate Lady—and wants her to come with him. Carol claims not to care.
But as Carol climbs aboard her plane, she sees Zosia getting on Air Force One. She realizes she doesn’t want it. Carol runs from the plane on to the runway. She stands before Air Force One, which screeches to a halt.
The first episode was the micro, focused on Carol and her small piece of the world. The second episode, smartly, makes it macro. She meets others and begins to see the reach of this incident to the world. I liked the episode, and I am curious about the expansion of the world. This is a great start, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Pluribus streams Fridays on Apple TV. Check back next week as we recap the action of every episode of the series right here.