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Vince Gilligan never anticipated that the Apple TV+ show would become a massive hit. “The viewers have been incredible,” Gilligan says. “It was unexpected the show being as widely discussed as it is, and it makes me deliriously happy.”

Now that Season 1 of the popular sci-fi show coming to an end—and Season 2 greenlit and underway—the writers' room recently discussed the viewer reception and whether it will influence the future direction of Pluribus.

On the Tremendous Audience Reaction

One could easily to get distracted by the constant speculation and fan theories surrounding Pluribus. The creator is making a conscious effort to steer clear of all that.

“The experience is akin to constantly eating something incredibly sweet and being laughing uncontrollably,” he explains. “It's wonderful, but I hear about it from others, and that's intentional. Never in my life looked myself up on the internet, nor do I ever intend to. It's not a lack of interest. It's a deep trap I know I would fall into and then I'd be never leaving the house from the hardware store and I'd rarely emerge from my living room.”

Despite his concerted efforts, there’s no escaping the immensely favorable response to the series. The only approach for the writers is to accept it graciously and try not to let it influence the direction of the show.

“It is not our goal to adjust our writing,” says writer and executive producer Alison Tatlock. “The narrative we craft is not influenced by online forums.”

“It's wiser to keep our noses to the grindstone,” Gilligan adds.

The Central Mystery: Will Vince Gilligan See the Ending of Pluribus?

Considering the writers aren't taking cues by fan response, does that mean they have mapped out how Pluribus will reach its endpoint? In short yes… with some caveats.

“There are some potential directions about where the show might end up,” he states. “yet we stand ready to discard a decent plan for a superior concept. This approach has served us in well on Better Call Saul and on Breaking Bad even before that. We scrap ideas when we conceive of something superior and I imagine we will be doing that.”

On the other hand, if all else fails, Gordon Smith has a humorous idea to serve as a last resort.

“I constantly suggest that the entire story is inside a snow globe, and that we'll zoom out in the finale and that's where they've been all along,” he says humorously, “but no one is buying it.”

Then again, why mess with the iconic TV endings?

“My dream is Carol to awaken beside Bob Newhart,” he jokes.

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Pluribus is currently available on Apple TV.