PluribusThe debut season is nearing its conclusion. In fact, with the sixth episode of the sci-fi mystery show now available on Apple TV, we’re just three episodes away from the end of this season.
However, right now there are more important things to discuss, namely the new things Carol (and, by proxy, we) learn about The Others in episode 6, titled ‘HDP’. There’s also the small matter of (whispers quietly) the Apple TV Original’s protagonist finally getting an ally who also seems to want the world to go back to the way it was.
What did Carol see at the end of the fifth episode of Pluribus?
Going into this week’s entry, the most important thing I had to address was Pluribus The cliffhanger of episode 5.
Fortunately, ‘HDP’ doesn’t commit the cardinal sin of making us wait to find out what a mortified Carol found. And, as many fans predicted, the main character of the Apple TV show discovered that The Others were, in fact, consuming the dead.
It won’t be long until we find out why. Once Carol meets with the hedonistic Koumba at the Westgate Hotel and Casino in Last Vegas, we discover that Koumba and 10 of the other immune humans keep in regular contact with each other, and we also learn of the Others’ penchant for human flesh.
It all sounds very macabre, but in a video – one of them with an unexpected cameo by none other than John Cena – recorded by The Others, which Koumba shows to Carol, they explain why they have resorted to a form of cannibalism.
As we learned in episode 2, and as Cena reminds us in episode 6, the Others cannot kill living creatures on purpose. It also turns out that the virus that has infected them prevents The Others from harvesting crops, fruits and vegetables. That said, they can eat these latter food groups once they are ripe and, for example, fall from a tree like apples do.
But back to the whole eating humans thing. Once again, as Cena explains, there are more than seven billion people on planet Earth and, although an average of 100,000 people die every day, the world’s food reserves will eventually run out.
Bottom line: The Others consume several 300-calorie milk-like drinks a day that contain 8 to 12 percent of a compound called HDP. Or, to give its full title, Human Derived Protein. Rather than letting these nutrient-rich bodies decompose, they are “harvested”—that is, cut up, vacuum-sealed, and frozen until needed—before being ground and mixed with other soon-to-spoil fresh food products to create The Others’ fluid-based consumable.
This is not something that others want but, given the few alternatives available from a protein source perspective, it is considered a necessary evil. Judging by Carol’s reactions during and after the video, it’s clear she disagrees, and I suspect many viewers, myself included, are on her side.
What else does Carol discover in episode 6 of Pluribus?
As it happens, there is something else that is of great importance.
From Pluribus Premiering on one of the world’s best streaming services, The Others has indicated that it’s only a matter of time before the Immunes belatedly become part of The Joining. That’s because the others willpower find a way to infect them with the alien virus that the rest of humanity succumbed to.
Or so we thought. Later in ‘HDP’, Koumba drops a narrative bombshell: The Others cannot infect you without your consent. They need to create a genetically modified version of the virus that can only infect each human being, and to do so, they need stem cells from each individual, which The Joined cannot obtain without their permission. In short: Carol and her fellow resilient humans will continue to live their lives as normal unless they agree to join, well, United.
That’s not to say that The Others won’t try to get around this problem. As I theorized at the end of Pluribus Episode 3, they can’t lie. However, while that was confirmed in chapter 4, The Others have shown that they can tell half-truths and/or bend the truth to suit their collective agenda, especially if what they say can be used to harm them. So while they might say that invulnerable humans can continue doing whatever they want, I’m not entirely convinced that they won’t find a loophole to exploit.
What is Manousos doing in episode 6 of Pluribus?
It’s been a couple of weeks since we spoke with Manousos, the enigmatic Colombian based in Paraguay who is even more skeptical of The Others than Carol. However, it finally looks like Carol may have finally found an ally who is just as hell-bent on reversing the effects of the virus as she is.
The last 10 minutes of the latest installment of one of Apple TV’s best shows takes place three days before the events of ‘HDP’. In summary: The Others deliver Carol’s video message (that there is a way to undo The Union) to Manousos, he leaves his storage container office, the safe house to go home and gather supplies, and heads to an unknown whereabouts after a brief, disturbing encounter with the United version of his estranged mother.
So where is it headed? Considering he has Carol’s home address (it was attached to the envelope her video recording came in), the logical answer is a nearby airport. From there, all you have to do is fly to Albuquerque, find Carol, and team up with her to try to find a cure. Simple, huh?
Being a Vince Gilligan television series, nothing is that easy. Still, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Carol and Manousos cross paths. Armed with what she has learned about the Others and Manousos’ apparent experience with the radio signals I pointed out in Pluribus In episode 4, the couple might find a way to fix the world.
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