Pluribus Episode 6 Suggests We May Be Rooting For The Wrong Character After All

This article contains spoilers for "Pluribus" season 1, episode 6.

Vince Gilligan did it again, didn't he? The "Breaking Bad" creator has said he doesn't want to be remembered for Walter White (Bryan Cranston), and he's expressed a wish to write a genuinely heroic protagonist. Even so, it's increasingly starting to seem that he may have pulled the old "Mr. Chips turns into Scarface" on us once more. 

Let's take a look at Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), our "Pluribus" protagonist who's also rapidly becoming the odds-on favorite at the "worst person in the world" Olympics. "Pluribus" season 1, episode 6 reveals that the hive mind will be starving within a decade or so because of its refusal to kill anything, including plants. We also find out that to prevent billions of people from starving to death, Koumba Diabaté (Samba Schutte) and the other survivors are actively staying in touch, working to communicate with the hive mind and trying to save it. Well, everyone except Carol and Manousos (Carlos Manuel Vesga), the self-isolating guy from Paraguay who has no way of knowing what's up just yet. 

In effect, this means that Carol is seen as the closest thing the whole wide world has to an arch-villain. Both the hive mind and the other immune people are actively freezing her out because she's extremely disruptive. Already in episode 2 ("Pirate Lady"), Carol established herself as Vince Gilligan's most dangerous protagonist, courtesy of her eight-figure body count caused by the angry outbursts that can send the hive mind in seizures. With the entire rest of the world now against Carol — and not without reason — it might just be that "Pluribus" has tricked us into rooting for the wrong character.

Of course, I'm not saying that Carol is an actively villainous person. On the contrary, she has the best of intentions — returning the world of humankind back to the normal, fractured state that she recognizes and begrudgingly tolerates. But isn't that par for the course for Gilligan's protagonists? Walter White (Bryan Cranston) initially just wanted to make sure his family is provided for after cancer gets him, or at least told himself as much. Jimmy "Saul Goodman" McGill (Bob Odenkirk) just wanted to be a respected lawyer. Carol Sturka just wants to save humanity. 

The problem is that Carol also shares another thing with Walt and Saul: She doesn't seem to care how her ambition is fulfilled, as long as the job gets done. This implies a third shared trait with the others — namely, the risk of losing the plot and becoming truly amoral.  

Carol is already a legitimate liability to both the hive mind and the immune folks who still cherish their hive-minded family members, like Laxmi (Menik Gooneratne). What's more, "Pluribus" season 1, episode 6 reveals that she can't be turned into a member of the hive mind without her explicit permission, which renders her effectively untouchable. Now, she has official free reign to do what she feels that she needs to, no matter the cost. And since she's already dealing with the baggage from all those millions of people her tantrum killed, what's a few more if it advances the cause? 

Yes, in order to stand out from the pack in the "Pluribus" world, Carol obviously needs to be a negative person. Still, her desperation and newly-revealed effective immunity from hive mind conversion are a dangerous combination — doubly more so because frankly, her methods suck. Sure, her doomsday detective antics uncover the secret of the hive mind "Others" nourishing themselves with human remains, but Koumba has found out the same thing long before her by simply interacting with the hive mind and the other survivors. What's more, Carol knows for a fact that the Others will procure absolutely anything she wants, up to and including dangerous weapons. Given her impulsiveness and propensity to overindulge, she's potentially just one bad night away from setting up the "Pluribus" equivalent of the ending of "Dr. Strangelove."

So, if Carol is heading toward the deep end, Walter White style, who's the "real" hero of the "Pluribus" universe? It's probably not Koumba, who seems charming enough but whose James Bond games and overindulgence with the ... friendlier aspects of the hive mind are a bit too creepy for comfort. It's also unlikely to be Zosia (Karolina Wydra), who's ultimately just one face in the massive hive mind flock. Laxmi? She has potential, but we simply don't know her well enough yet. 

As of now, my pick for the show's de facto protagonist mirrors my pick for the "Pluribus" breakout character: Manousos, whose solo adventures and quiet refusal to mingle with the hive mind make him a largely unturned card who might yet turn out to be the show's stealth protagonist. Or maybe he turns out to be a serial killer. You never know with Vince Gilligan.   

"Pluribus" season 1 is streaming on Apple TV.