Vince Gilligan’s latest show, Pluribus, is a departure from his previous hits, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Eschewing the crime drama and action associated with those earlier shows, Pluribus takes a premise that sounds like an episode of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror and uses it as the backdrop for gorgeous cinematography and scenes of impressive performances from Rhea Seehorn, who often has the challenge of acting alone in a scene or with one or two other actors who are playing essentially brainwashed people with little personality.
It is also Gilligan’s first show to mention Finnegans Wake by name!
Read on for my thoughts about Pluribus, its relationship to the Wakean theme of the “Fortunate Fall,” and some musings on whether the show can be read as a criticism of Communism, Capitalism, Buddhism, Christianity, or something else.
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The Suspended Sentence 