Pluribus

Feeling drunk and philosophical

Is the hive even trying to procreate?

Based on their hive ethics it seems like the virus might be to destroy the human species in the long run. Nicely.

My kids think it's a third body problem kinda deal. No spoilers

Three Body Problem how? The aliens are completely retarded and didn't realize humans lie until 40+ years into their total and complete observation?

Make humans into non violent sex slaves until alien arrival

Adebisi said:

Make humans into non violent sex slaves until alien arrival

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Remote planet enslavement is what I'm going with too.

genocide on a galactic scale. send an information virus that makes every alien species peaceful so they won't go hunting for you, if they can't harm another living thing the species will effectively die off (or reduce to a tiny non threatening non thriving species) within 200 years as the show has demonstrated.

it could be on purpose, it could be a weird mutation accident, it could be a peaceful intention that was warped by a third party, it could be created by an artificial intelligence to wipe out organic life, a million other options. The core idea is that since space is huge and FTL doesn't exist, there is no point in "going" anywhere (1000+ years to closest star, time dilation issues) but to protect your own empire you make sure no one else exists to come knocking on your door.

I have a feeling Vince Gilligan didn't really think it out all that far, its just an interesting idea and I wouldn't be super shocked if the show never really deals with it. I'm sure from a story telling perspective Its more interesting to keep it mysterious and never find out who the aliens were or why, and just show how humans deal with it. I don't expect this show to turn into 3 Body Problem, you can watch that show/books if you like the dark forest idea.

I mean if the aliens are trying to get all the resources out of earth no better way than to have the entire population helping. The can't hurt anyone/thing being built in as a extremely docile safeguard also makes sense.

If this was a story being told in a different medium, like I was a third of the way through the novel, I would be thinking about all of the high concept stuff and big science fiction themes. I would be thinking about where the story was going. As a television show, as this television show, I am doubtful entertaining any of those ideas is worth the viewer's time. It's not a show about the nuts and bolts questions of how this society works day to day nor the big questions about what it means to be human or an alien invasion. It's about a grumpy and incredibly unlikable lesbian (that some of the writers think is actually great) frowning at things.

Hatorade said:

I mean if the aliens are trying to get all the resources out of earth no better way than to have the entire population helping. The can't hurt anyone/thing being built in as a extremely docile safeguard also makes sense.

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I doubt it is that. My main predictions:

1) Since the transmission signal was (presumably) just the means of producing the virus, in theory the hive mind virus would only know what is in it's base programming. From what we have gleaned from the show: Can't hurt anything living, negative emotions have an adverse effect, is telepathic somehow, and they are driven to create a means of transmitting the signal out into space. The 2nd would mostly fit in with what a virus would do: Replicate itself. The signal is the means to replicate across the galaxy. Being nice to people to get them to join the collective = a means of replicating the virus. The "do not harm" and negative emotions and telepathic thing seems to be the outlier, since typically a virus doesn't care if something is harmed or not. Although ultimately humans will be harmed because they can't eat anything except themselves or extremely limited food options, meaning billions of people are going to die of starvation eventually

2) Given that, I suspect the virus will end up just being a "grey goo" type of situation: A completely unintended outcome of genetic experimentation by an alien civilization that results in the destruction of a civilization. It could be something as banal as "We made a virus that will create world peace!" and the virus takes the instructions too literally and ends up wiping out the planet while simultaneously doing what a virus does and spread itself across space.

Arbitrary said:

It's about a grumpy and incredibly unlikable lesbian (that some of the writers think is actually great) frowning at things.

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Never could get past this to put Episode 1 on-- despite the hype and rave reviews. The protagonist sucks.

jayrebb said:

The protagonist sucks.

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She's maybe the most authentic female character of the 21st century. Of course she's horrible. That much of the writing room doesn't realize what they've done adds crucial depth to a story otherwise lacking it.

Twilight's protagonist is about a bland everygirl that any young adult reader could easily self insert as. Actually this unremarkable girl was super special this whole time! Pluribus is for all those girls that grew up and got surly with age. Here our protagonist was a successful fiction writer with a loyal fanbase and partner that loved her unconditionally even though Plurby has zero redeeming qualities. She has done nothing to earn what she had and the show will never even attempt to demonstrate otherwise.

Lady wish fulfilment is so fucking weird. Their heroes journey is 1. be challenged 2. actually you were awesome this whole time and everyone else was just holding you back 3. pour wine. Even in your 50 Shade's of Grey or Handmaiden's Tale or Invisible Man (the negative version of the trope) it's men willing to move heaven and earth for your plain ass.

Her being an asshole works here though because it offers a contrast to the hive mind. It also helps show the shift in her personality as she starts to fall for the lies the hivemind tells her to make her complacent in the hopes of converting her

I don't think Gilligan concerns himself with the likeability of his characters.

Tuco said:

What? I imagine he spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about how to create highly flawed but relatable and likable characters. He has written some of the most liked yet vile characters in this generation of TV.

Carol is one of his most ambitious characters to date, she is disgusting and without merit and knows it, yet the audience has to become motivated to cheer for her.

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You think the characters in Breaking Bad were likeable? Okay... psycho.

I would say it's certainly possible that Gilligan does not have an answer for what the aliens or their motivations are or what the end game of the show will even be.

If you've ever dived deep into the breaking bad or better call Saul commentaries or behind the scenes stuff, you realize how so many things that seem essential or intricate were never actually planned out. Even the arc of a single season wouldn't always have its end known upfront. The skill from him and his writers was that they actually found a way to tie all that disconnected shit together in a cohesive and intriguing story, like accomplished jazz musicians, whereas most writers rooms cannot.

So, on one hand I have some faith it will materialize into something better than its parts but maybe this is the time he fails.