Carol finds herself in a classic hero’s pickle as Manousos arrives in Albuquerque. The fierce lone wolf is unaware of Carol Strucka’s change of heart toward the hive. Believing she still wants to save the world from the alien presence, the two stubborn forces initially butt heads.
However, before their meeting, the young Peruvian girl who wished to reunite with her kin finally receives her wish. A chilled elixir of the virus is drop-shipped to her rural community. Here, she inhales the specimen as seen in the premiere. After a small seizure, she awakens enmeshed with the others.
Eleven days prior to her transformation, Carol and Zosia track Manousos’ arrival. Zosia elects not to be there when he arrives, assuring Carol that he would never hurt her. Upon his arrival, the two strangers spend most of their time arguing. Once Manousos is assured they aren’t spying on them, they reach a mutual understanding. However, Carol is taken aback at a secret she discovers about Helen and a past attempt to having children.
Carol’s depressive state turns to anger and angst as Zosia speaks with the stranger, divulging the truth —including the reason the hive returned to Carol. Carol feels betrayed, thinking that Zosia was hers, forgetting that its love is not reserved for only one. The two opposing mindsets come to a head when Manousos attempts to free another from the hive, sending Zosia into a simultaneous seizure spell. Carol ends this experiment with her shotgun, prompting the hive to once again leave. Only this time, Carol opts to follow Zosia.
Here, Carol lives out what she’s been missing: a partnership. She never liked anyone other than Helen; she viewed her fans as feeble-minded and has no connection with family. The introverted author’s sole purpose with outsiders was rooted in capitalism. While she is genuinely frightened by the new world order, she only grieved Helen. And she’s recaptured that loss with Zosia.
However, Carol’s own fan-fiction is too good to be true, as Zosia reveals they are close to converting Carol’s frozen eggs to stem cells. The sole ingredient they need to add Carol to the hive. Saddened by the development, Carol returns to Manousos with a package. “You win. We save the world,” Carol states. The episode closes as Manousos learns she’s returned with an atom bomb.
A pristine callback closes an excellent season, as Carol remained who her experiences have made her: a headstrong and selfish individual. Her yearning to save the world was less an act of selflessness than it was a reaction to said abnormality. A lack of control, which was her nature. And even in her attempts to “save” the world, resulted to abrupt violence, in comparison to Manousos, who seems to want to reverse the spell through non-violent erasure. He seeks the return of humanity while Carol only sought a return to her comfortability. Two polar opposite ways of viewing the world.
Despite her selfish motivations, one can empathize with Carol and her monumental loneliness. A loneliness that left her bitter toward family; to find solace in the bottle; and in a career that sought to silence her queerness. Of course, she fought tooth and nail to have a smidge of Helen back in her life as opposed to a world that wanted to do nothing but change her. However, the hive reminds her of that world. It is this definitive fact that traces her back to Manousos’ side.
Excellently written and acted, season one of Pluribus is a nearly perfect exploration of love, loss and self.
Rating: 10/10