Pluribus Episode 9 is now available on Apple TV and with it, the first season of the hit sci-fi mystery drama has come to an end.
There’s also a lot to unpack from the Season 1 finale. that Explosive moment confirming a recent fan theory about Carol, whether there will be a second season and more, I’ll try to answer your biggest questions about the latest Apple TV Original episode. I’ll also go over them in the order they come up chronologically in episode 9, because it’s necessary to discuss the questions earlier in this entry to help explain the ones that come after.
Who is Kusimayu? And why does he join The Others?
If, when this guy appeared in the first scene of episode 9, your first question was “…who?”, you’re not alone. I didn’t immediately recognize who Kusimayu was either.
However, we have met her before; in fact, she was one of the five other immune humans that Carol (and, by proxy, we) met in Pluribus‘Premiere of two episodes. You may also remember that the Peruvian citizen was steadfast in her desire to join The Others in episode 2, titled ‘Pirate Lady’, because she wanted to join her loved ones, who had already been assimilated into the hive mind.
You also don’t have to wait an excessive amount of time to become a part of The Joined. As episode 9 begins, it is revealed that it has been over 71 days since The Joining occurred in Pluribus episode 1 – and finally, The Others have created a specific strain of the alien virus, which caused The Joining, that will only affect Kusimayu.
Remember, Pluribus In episode 6, Carol made two big discoveries about the Others, one of which was that they couldn’t convert the immune system without developing a genetically coded strain for said person. The only way to do this was to harvest stem cells from the immune system, for which the Others would have to give their consent. In short: if you do not agree, The Others will not be able to obtain the stem cells necessary to make the strain, so you will maintain your autonomy. FYI, keep this in mind for later, because it’s important.
Anyway, Kusimayu clearly allowed The Others to do the above, so he could join them, which is what happens in the opening sequence of episode 9. Where before there were 13 immune individuals, there are now 12…
Do Carol and Manousos finally meet in episode 9 of Pluribus?
Yes, and, as expected, things don’t start well. At all.
Carol and Manousos’ reunion has been mocked since Pluribus‘ sixth episode and, after the penultimate installment of this season, it was confirmed that it will finally happen in its finale. However, although they initially sang with the same anthem “we have to save the world”, when they cross paths, that is no longer the case.
In fact, thanks in large part to her blossoming romantic relationship with her hive-mind companion Zosia, Carol’s perspective on The Others has changed. Not to the point that he wants to join them, admittedly, but enough that his new perspective on them doesn’t align with Manousos’s. Inevitably, that creates friction and, simply put, leads to Carol largely severing ties with Manousos and, for the moment, potentially finding a solution to reverse the union with her Colombian ally.
What does Manousos discover about The Others?
Speaking of said solution, it looks like Manousos learns something incredibly important about The Joined in the latest episode of one of Apple TV’s best shows.
After meeting Zosia (much to Carol’s chagrin) and learning all about The Others, he conducts an experiment. Upon soliciting the services of another member of The Joined, he evokes his inner “early season” Carol by becoming angry at said individual.
As we learned in Pluribus In episode 2, anger not only disrupts the link between the hive mind, but also causes its human hosts to have a fit that, if the fury displayed by an immune human is strong enough, can result in the death of millions of The Others. So when Zosia goes to bed and suddenly starts convulsing at Carol’s house, we know what’s about to happen.
When Carol panics at Manousos’ temporary abode and berates him for intentionally causing another potentially lethal event, Manousos heads to his ambulance to grab his portable radio and his notebook full of radio signals. Locating the only frequency (8613.0) that picked up a signal in episode 4, Manousos soon realizes that the static he heard in that episode now registers an identifiable but audible sound.
Upon re-entering the house, he causes the now-freed Other, whom Carol had calmed down, to have another attack by yelling at him. As an alarmed Carol runs back to her house, Manousos places the portable radio on the Other and begins telling the person trapped in his own mind to free himself. However, it is unclear whether Manousos’s experiment would have worked, because Carol soon returns with a shotgun and, after firing a warning shot over his head, forces Manousos to stop what he is doing.
Following the introduction of Manousos in episode 4, I proposed a theory (which episode 9 at least proves to be partially correct) that Pluribus‘The mysterious individual at that time was key to solving his great enigma. That is to say, radio waves/signals/frequencies are apparently crucial to reversing The Union. After all, this catastrophic event was caused by an extraterrestrial RNA-based radio wave that, as we learn in episode 8, traveled from a real-life exoplanet called Kepler-22b to Earth.
It stands to reason, then, that The Joining can be undone through the use of some sort of reverse-engineered radio wave. Manousos and Carol could use the 8613.0 frequency to help affected people free themselves from the stranglehold that the hive mind has over their minds as well.
The only other way to potentially free infected people appears to be to have them remember a central or favorite memory. In episode 8, Zosia seemed to break free for a nanosecond after telling Carol a story about mango ice cream. Could Manousos and Carol use this along with the 8613.0 frequency to completely free people from the hive mind? I wouldn’t rule it out.
Wait, will Carol be forced to be a part of The Joined?
From the looks of it, yes. Worse yet, it isn’t long before his freedom is taken away.
After Manousos’ failed experiment, The Others leave Albuquerque just as they did in episode 5. This time, Carol joins them because she still doesn’t trust Manousos, especially after the stunt he pulled and because of his romantic entanglement with Zosia.
Unfortunately for Carol, it’s not long before reality sets in, because she soon discovers that The Others have not only located some of her stem cells, but are also inventing a specific DNA strain of the alien virus to use on her.
Since the sixth episode of the Apple TV show, fans have theorized that The Others would use Carol’s frozen eggs (we first learned about it in episode 3) for their benefit at some point. That has been proven to be the case, and Zosia confirmed that The Joined harvested stem cells from Carol’s eggs to make the aforementioned strain. Zosia tells Carol that it will take between one and three months for The Others to create the perfect strain to infect Carol as well. In short: enjoy your freedom while you can.
As expected, Carol is No happy about this, which is why we see her return to Albuquerque and meet with a bewildered Manousos. Why are you confused? Good…
What’s in the giant steel box Carol brings home?
Rocking around her house, Carol brings with her a giant steel box, one of which was carried by the helicopter she flew home in. Looking at Manousos once her mode of transportation is gone, she tells him “You win. Let’s save the world,” before continuing on her way. As she does so, Manousos asks what the giant package is, to which Carol replies “Atomic bomb.”
Now, as part of a big question raised about The Joined in Pluribus In the final scene of episode 3 (I mean, they can’t lie), we learned that The Others would give Carol anything she asked for to keep her happy. Despite her clear discomfort, that would include giving her a nuclear weapon if she asked for it.
So, did Carol really bring a nuclear weapon with her as a deterrent to prevent the Others from trying to convert her, or is it just a metaphorical atomic bomb? Knowing Carol, I suspect it’s the former, but we’ll have to wait for season 2 to know for sure. Speaking of which…
Will there be a second season of Pluribus?
Yeah! When Apple won the fierce bidding war for exclusive rights to Pluribus In September 2022, he greenlit two seasons of Vince Gilligan’s latest television creation. So, we’ll get at least one more installment on one of the best streaming services in the world.
However, at the moment it is not known when it will be released. In mid-November, Gilligan told RadioTimes.com that his writing team would reconvene shortly to begin working on scripts for the next season. Considering that means Season 2 is still in its pre-production phase, it will be a long time before it airs on Apple’s streaming platform. My best guess? We won’t see it until mid-2027, and that’s being incredibly optimistic.
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