What is going on? This is a question I’ve asked myself many times while watching Vince Gilligan projects. The legendary writer behind Breaking Bad and personal favourite Better Call Saul is back with a far more puzzling show.

So what is going on? Well I don’t really know, there’s only three episodes out! But the pitch is that the excellent Rhea Seehorn is one of few people to be unaffected by a phenomenon which transforms people into a happy, helpful, hivemind. The world is transformed overnight into a co-ordinated and efficient machine, just trying to make you happy. Seehorn plays Carol, a fantasy author who hates her own novels and fans. Her character is the focus of the show, constantly at odds with the new, weird world around her. There is a lot of weirdness, but it has a logic and uncovering that logic is so much fun.

“There is a lot of weirdness, but it has a logic and uncovering that logic is so much fun”

The first episode is a remix of classic disaster movie tropes made weird by the smiling, friendly infected, all portrayed through slick montage and beautiful framing. It didn’t surprise me much and the opening scenes played out almost exactly as I expected. The second episode, which delves into the details and complications of the new reality, feels new, surprising, and actually kind of challenging. By the end of the third episode, the show is really starting to play around in the world it’s built and explore the changes in Carol’s character. I think it’s worth the free trial, but I would maybe wait to see where the full season goes and try to squeeze it all into that one week. I don’t think it’s necessarily the kind of show you need to be ‘up to date’ on.

I’m not sure where Pluribus is going, but there is a real sinister tone and some uncomfortable themes lurking around the edges. Questions of grief, alienation, consent, and individualism. I hope it develops these further, and keeps complicating them. And maybe if we could put Mike Ehrmentraut in there somewhere – I love that guy.

“There is a real sinister tone and some uncomfortable themes lurking around the edges”

Gilligan knows how to shoot a show. There’s always something going on in the background, some looming threat, an omen on the horizon, which pulls your attention away from the main action. It’s colourful and pops. It’s also slow. Like, sometimes really slow. It spends so much time on details. This is when you start asking “what is going on?” It is classic Breaking Bad pacing. Episodes start with an excessive focus on a small detail, whose significance will become deadly apparent by the end of the episode, maybe even the end of the season. I love it: it’s just fun to watch the slow reveal of a complex process, but I must warn you not to watch this with the friend who always asks questions in the middle of the movie. This show could kill them, so be careful.

I think that Vince Gilligan understands what makes TV unique. Pluribus luxuriates in how long TV shows are. He was already making the most of this with Better Call Saul, where every episode pushed tiny developments in characters and relationships until they broke. Here, he is making the most of the time and budget Apple has given him. I think these episodes deserve your attention as the latest development in a very exciting style of TV. You can really feel Gilligan testing the limits of what he’s been given and it’s a treat.

I think if you regularly watch TV, this deserves to be on your watch list. I don’t usually watch much TV during term, I don’t have the time, so I think I might end up catching up on it over Christmas, along with Slow Horses, and Alien: Earth, and … sorry, what’s that about a dissertation?