An Important Pluribus Moment Was Hilariously Spoiled By Google Earth

Sometimes shows are spoiled very directly, such as when an actor like Spider-Man star Tom Holland accidentally says something they shouldn't. At other times, they're ruined by something as mundane as Google Earth. Google's historical imagery tool goes all the way back to 1984, giving users satellite-eye views of the world that go back decades. That was more than enough to spoil a surprise in "Pluribus" that was clearly filmed in 2024. August 2024, to be specific. I'm talking about the "Come Back" sequence from season 1, episode 7.

For those who need a refresher, the event comes when the hivemind abandons the area around Carol's (Rhea Seehorn) house after she gives Zosia (Karolina Wydra) a truth serum to force her to talk about the humanity-uniting event. This isolation leads to Carol finally inviting the hivemind back (via Zosia) by painting a giant "Come Back" sign on the cul-de-sac outside her home.

That sign? Yeah, you can see it on Google Earth if you go to the right point in the past. Here's the spoiler if you're interested in taking a look for yourself. Note the date: August 30, 2024.

This was a true spoiler in the sense that it was discovered before the episode aired. The screenshot was first shared on December by Reddit user Jjhend, who was inspired to go hunting for satellite imagery after learning that creator Vince Gilligan had an entire cul-de-sac built from scratch just for the show. Decider shared the image on December 5, accelerating the reveal a full seven days before the episode came out. 

Vince Gilligan (of reluctant fame as the creator of "Breaking Bad" protagonist Walter White) had mixed feelings when he was asked about the way Google Earth inadvertently betrayed his unfolding sci-fi masterpiece. From a personal perspective, he loves fan detective work. He even told Dexerto, "I'm all for it. I do that myself." But he cautioned a limit to the sleuthing, saying, "People trying to ruin it for other people, that's where I draw the line."

In other words, you can dig all day long for fun, but don't do that just to ruin everyone else's time. Gilligan's writer, Gordon Smith, agreed with the sentiment, saying:

"It's nice that people are engaged and interested. I feel like [it's fine] when people can keep that to themselves and say, 'Look, I found something,' and not try and make it so that other people get screwed up."

The sentiment is clear. The creators don't want fans spoiling the show just for sport, especially when it takes so much extra work to find the spoiler. It's not even like this part of the show was just waiting to be spoiled by local residents, since Carol's cul-de-sac isn't a real part of the Albuquerque community. As mentioned above, it was actually built for the show.

Vince Gilligan explained the genesis of Carol's abode to Decider, saying:

They built a cul-de-sac from scratch in the middle of a field on the west side of Albuquerque. I wanted to have a great view of the Sandia Mountains. Our location manager Christian Diaz de Bedoya and his location scouts looked for months to find the perfect location. We leased it long term and built a real cul-de-sac with real concrete curbs and seven real houses. It was a big endeavor. It's easy to have ideas. It's much harder to execute them.

To summarize: Carol's home was built northwest of Albuquerque in an area known as Volcano Cliffs. It isn't a real suburb, and the set was surrounded by fencing to keep out local onlookers. Unfortunately, as Carol herself learns, privacy is hard to find on a planet orbited by satellites. The result was one of the splashier spoilers of a show that, to date, is rife with fan theories (many of which we hope come true) and that has very little real clarity on what the heck is even going on. The one thing you can bet your bottom dollar on, though? Fans will be combing Google Earth for any sign of spoilers on an episode-by-episode basis if and when we get a season 2.