The 'Breaking Bad' Creator Shares He Has a Plan for How The Apple TV+ Show Might Finish... Currently.
The creative mastermind could not have predicted that the Apple TV+ show would emerge as a massive hit. “I am so grateful to the audience,” he remarks. “I was surprised by the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me thrilled beyond words.”
With the first season of the hit sci-fi show reaching its finale—and a second season greenlit and underway—Gilligan and his team recently discussed the viewer reception and whether it will shape the storyline of Pluribus.
About the Incredible Viewer Reception
It would be easy to get sidetracked by the rampant praise and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. He is making a conscious effort to ignore the noise.
“It's like being an endless supply of something incredibly sweet and being laughing uncontrollably,” he explains. “It's wonderful, but I learn of it anecdotally, and that's on purpose. Not once have I searched for my own name online, nor do I ever plan to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a deep trap I know I would fall into and then I'd be living in squalor from the hardware store and I'd never leave my living room.”
In spite of Gilligan’s best intentions, there’s no way to avoid the overwhelmingly positive response to the series. The most practical strategy is to acknowledge it humbly and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.
“We don't try to adjust our writing,” says co-executive producer Alison Tatlock. “Our storytelling is not impacted by online forums.”
“It's wiser to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan concludes.
A Pressing Query: Does the showrunner Have a Plan for the Conclusion of Pluribus?
So if Gilligan and his team aren't taking cues by audience theories, does it imply they already know how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? Essentially yes… in a way.
“There are some potential directions about the ultimate destination,” Gilligan says. “yet we stand ready to abandon a solid concept for a superior concept. This approach has served us in good stead on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We change course when we find a more perfect path and I expect we'll continue doing that.”
Alternatively, if plans fall through, Gordon Smith has a rather amusing idea to use as a backup.
“My recurring proposal is that it's all in a snow globe, and that we'll pull back at the end and that's where they've been all along,” Smith jokes, “but nobody's taking me up on that.”
Alternatively, why not reference the classics?
“I'd love for Carol to awaken beside Bob Newhart,” Gilligan says with a smile.
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV.
