Pluribus Series Premiere Review: Please Keep Your Perfect Happiness Away From Me
Pluribus opens with a sense of wonder reminiscent of Contact and gradually descends into a chilling dystopia blending Stepford Wives and They Live, starring Rhea Seehorn in the lead role. Apple TV's Pluribus starts as if it borrowed the awe of one of my favorite films, which works brilliantly.
The cold open captures the eerie silence before a discovery, with radio astronomy and sound waves from the void hinting at unexplored possibilities. Instead of a machine's blueprint, viewers receive a biological code—four tones representing guanine, uracil, adenine, and cytosine—which serve as a psychic connection rather than a spacecraft design.
The often-circulated premise—that "the most miserable person on Earth has to save the world from happiness"—is an oversimplification that misses the mark. Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) is no caricature of a misanthrope. She loved Helen deeply and understands that joy without free will is akin to anesthesia. Carol arguably holds the clearest perspective on what it means to be human among the show's survivors.
The first episode unfolds slowly and unsettlingly, transitioning from "that's strange" to "terrifying." People freeze, tremble, and sometimes collapse silently. This calm, polite, and synchronized spread of the phenomenon is far more disturbing than typical horror zombies.
One chilling scene shows a nurse licking every donut in a hospital, and strangers exchanging spit as if performing a public duty, amplifying the unsettling nature of the contagion.
"The most miserable person on Earth has to save the world from happiness" might be the most grotesquely misstated logline in history.
Carol Sturka isn’t some cartoon misanthrope who wants to ruin your day. She loved Helen, and she knows in her bones that joy without choice is just anesthesia.
Author's Summary
Pluribus crafts a haunting, slow-burning dystopia where true humanity is defined by free will, exploring the dark side of enforced happiness through Rhea Seehorn's compelling lead performance.
Would you like the text adapted for a specific audience or tone?