Pluribus – Got Milk Review

So, I think it’s safe to posit that we’ve got a Soylent Green situation on our hands, no? Okay, let me back up a tad before jumping to the episode’s cliffhanger ending (or, at least, cliffhanger-esque – the potential clues for what will be revealed next week have been pretty clearly laid out for us to make some clear deductions as to just what Carol discovered in the massive freezer). It looks like Carol has finally pushed the eternally helpful and happy members of the Hive too far, which seemed like an almost impossibility at the start of the season. So, the misanthrope who claimed she wanted just to be left alone is now wholly alone. With no human contact. And just the local coyotes out in the New Mexico desert to keep her company. But that’s not really what she needs, right?

As with Vince Gilligan’s other hit TV shows, Pluribus is willing to ask its audience some big questions while not offering any easy answers. And this week places a spotlight on one of the foundational queries of the series: How do interpersonal relationships shape who we are as humans? It’s baked into the premise of the show. When almost all of the of the people on the planet have been distilled into a single consciousness, what does a human relationship really look like? We can assume that, despite Carol thinking she can do it alone – and despite her wanting to rage against the Hive and manipulate them into giving her exactly what she wants to gain the upper hand – at some point in the coming episodes, Carol is going to crack. Because a truth about humans is that, even if we see ourselves as solitary individuals, we still need community. Or at least almost all of us do. Considering Carol was deeply in love with Helen, she’s someone who needs human interaction. And now it’s gone.

With only a recorded voice on the other end of the phone*, Carol is going to be forced to actually make choices and work with the Hive to get the necessities she needs. Which is an interesting move on the part of the Hive. Yes, she was willing to manipulate one of their own to achieve her own objectives, but she was also more than willing to let them step in to save Zosia. For a group that is so hellbent on projecting the idea of respecting the individual – although only so far, as they believe their way of life is not only the best but should be the only option – losing an individual through the actions of an actual individual was something they wanted to prevent. They claim they want to protect all life, so stepping in to protect one minor body in their vast chain of bodies squares with this particular want. But what would have happened if Carol had not relented? And Zosia died? Would they have still wanted to bring Carol into their world? Would they have completely cut her off?

*Did that voice on the other end of the phone sound familiar? It probably did if you’re a Better Call Saul fan, because that was  Patrick Fabian – Howard Hamlin – providing an uncredited cameo.

So, about that refrigerator. I’ve seen several fan theories that the “milk” the Hive seems to drink is somehow the processed body parts of the dead (aka Soylent Green). And based on the clues throughout the warehouse – clear tarps over unevenly shaped objects – as well as what we know about the Hive’s moral stance of destroying life – they won’t kill anything living (even though Zosia was coy about how plants fit into that mantra) – there was an unspoken question regarding just how they were going to feed everyone. And with nearly one million dead in the Joining, well, they have a lot of bodies. It makes sense that they would repurpose those for food. And it would square with their “no killing” stance. Even if it’s totally creepy to someone who is not part of the Hive. Could this revelation be the trump card Carol has been looking for to get her fellow survivors on board with her plan to turn the world back the way it was? We know Laxmi still thinks of her Hive son as her son – which tells us a bit about the mental gymnastics some of the survivors are likely doing to help square this new reality with their old one – so I’m not sure they’ll care all that much so long as their loved ones are still with them.

Either way, Carol is now alone on an island. Yes, she’ll be able to survive like this, but how long will it be before she needs human contact? She definitely seemed to feel some guilt over what happened to Zosia (gruffly asking if she’ll be alright is almost like her crying in the grand scheme of things). But she cannot go on alone indefinitely. And if her discovery doesn’t rally her fellow survivors the way she hopes, is that one too many disappointments for her to bounce back from? I’m eager to see just what happens to her next. After all, Rhea Seehorn is so good that even on her own, watching her is an absolute treat.