Pluribus Episode 4 Just Introduced The Show's Breakout Character (And We Love Him)

This article contains spoilers for "Pluribus" season 1, episode 4.

Vince Gilligan's "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" both introduced their breakout characters very early in the game. Aaron Paul's Jesse Pinkman was supposed to die in season 1 but became the true heart and soul of "Breaking Bad." Meanwhile, Rhea Seehorn's Kim Wexler stole scenes from the beginning of "Better Call Saul," which led to a fan-favorite status and, of course, Seehorn's role as Carol Sturka on "Pluribus."

Since "Pluribus" focuses on the complete upheaval of humanity as we know it, such an early-game introduction wasn't viable. On the contrary, the stellar first episode does introduce Carol's charming PR manager-slash-partner Helen (Miriam Shor), only for her to die during the hive mind's "Joining" event. Since then, the show has brought in a fair few new characters, but none of them has really radiated the patented Vince Gilligan breakout character aura that was immediately there with both Jesse and Kim ... that is, until now. "Pluribus" season 1, episode 4 finally introduces us to Carlos Manuel Vesga's Manousos, the mystery Paraguay guy who the hive mind has been unable to communicate with so far, and honestly? He's great. 

Manousos is a container unit company manager who's dealt with the hive mind situation by putting his workplace into lockdown. He performs strange frequency experiments with the implied intention of figuring out the hive mind virus, and is so determined to survive on his own that he rather opens his customers' containers (after writing an apologetic note, just in case) and eats dog food rather than accept gourmet meals from the infected. Intense, quirky and captivating, everything about Manousos already screams "Lovable Vince Gilligan Secondary Protagonist," and I find myself unreasonably invested in whatever his arc turns out to be. 

"Pluribus" is a peculiar sci-fi series with a great lead, but its "Carol Sturka vs. the hive mind" premise hasn't been particularly conducive to memorable supporting characters so far. The show's primary pre-Manousos attempt to summon an all-time Gilligan great is Samba Schutte's Koumba Diabaté, the Mauritanian hedonist who comes across as a flamboyant Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) archetype with the primary ambition moved from financial and professional satisfactions to carnal ones. Likewise, Karolina Wydra is very good as the smiling and perma-polite Zosia, but since she's specifically just one of the hive mind's many mouthpieces and plays the same role as every other person who has gone through the "Joining," it's hard to see her as her own character. 

We're just four episodes in, so both of them could, of course, eventually become absolute all-timers. The same can be said about others like Menik Gooneratne's Laxmi, once the show characterizes her beyond her justified but one-note dislike of Carol. Things take time, and since the hive mind premise of "Pluribus" is so massive and the show has focused nigh-exclusively on Seehorn's protagonist character, everyone else is still a work in progress. However, Manousos is the first non-Carol character on the show who manages to shine from the very beginning, which is more than enough to put him in the breakout character fast lane. Here's hoping the rest of his time on the show can match the first impression.

"Pluribus" is streaming on Apple TV.