PLURIBUS – Revive the Hive? – Neil Healy
-Websters: The Hive Mind – “The collective mental activity expressed in the complex, coordinated behavior of a colony of social insects.”
When you are grabbed by the opening of Pluribus, you are expecting something familiar, but this is far from what you get. Aliens taking over the world. No problem. But wait. Why are these replacements so happy? And why is our heroine, even from the first frame, so unhappy?
“You have to go along to get along”. Somehow Carol Sturka, played by Rhea Seehorn, never heard that slogan. Despite being a successful author, she is not proud of her writing, and you get the feeling all she really cares about is her girlfriend. When it all starts to slip away, Carol is blindsided by the fact that what she had before the transformation was really pretty wonderful, worth fighting for. And even though she is one of only thirteen survivors in the planetary takeover, she seems to be the only one of this small group that really cares. So now we have a brutal chess match over who wins the eternal conflict between a collective consciousness and individual will.
Sound familiar? From the Greek Chorus, through biblical tribes, to Edgar Allen Poe, the model of conformity for survival has been a solid theme. In The Lottery, The Midwich Cuckoos, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the battle for the human soul continues. And now we have Pluribus, an American post-apocalyptic science fiction television series created by Vince Gilligan for Apple TV.
We know we are in good hands. Like Breaking Bad, we buckle in for thrills and unexpected twists. Carol Sturka is the champion for individuality, in her case fractured at best. She looks at individuality through emotional, psychological and philosophical lenses. We learn the Aliens have killed a billion people in their take-over, but they claim to be bringing peace though harmony and consensus. “I” has been replaced by “we”. They can’t even lie. Can they, known as the “others,” be that bad? Carol thinks they are. “You don’t get to decide when I’m done being me.”
I just watched the 1956 original Invasion of Body Snatchers, after Pluribus, and I enjoyed the more visceral fear and immediate danger. You experience Kevin McCarthy’s dreadful horror as he battles his childhood friends who, overnight, have been replaced by Pods. These green shapes appear to evolve back into their original human selves but are only mere soulless replicas. When they discover Dr. Miles Bennell (McCarthy) is not one of them yet, they try to convince him that he should come over. All he has to do is fall asleep and that will do it. Miles and his girlfriend resist and leave their hometown of Santa Mira, California. They battle the townspeople, extreme fatigue and struggle to alert the world against this horrible subversion. “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next!” Carol couldn’t have said it better.
When I first saw this movie as a kid I was truly frightened. How horrible it must be to lose what made you special, what made you yourself, your character, your identity, your soul. Pluribus gave me that same feeling of dread. It moves at a slow, deliberate pace. It’s unsettling, shocking, and at times, like Carol, you feel horrified by these like-minded do-gooders who want you to just give in and life will be better. Will it?
Season one ends with a powerful cliffhanger. I will be there to see what happens to the soul of mankind. Does it rage on or does it, as in Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, simply vanish. Can’t wait to find out.
-Neil Healy
