Happy early Pluribus day! Yes, you read that right — this week’s episode of Vince Gilligan’s Apple TV sci-fi show has dropped a whole two days ahead of schedule, likely in part due to the impending Thanksgiving holiday for those of us celebrating, and likely also to get ahead of the return of another sci-fi streaming show that people will be binging this weekend. Whatever the reason, “Got Milk,” written by Ariel Levine and directed by Gordon Smith, doesn’t waste any time before launching into the immediate ripple effects of last week’s cliffhanger.
When romance author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) concocts a reckless plan to drug a member of the hivemind — in this case, Zosia (Karolina Wydra) — and demands an answer about how to reverse the alien phenomenon that linked almost every survivor on Earth, the Others… don’t take it very well, to say the least. Their collective decision to ice Carol out for what’s treated like a pretty personal violation of boundaries is the first time we’ve seen them really push back against any behavior from the immune, and it could have lingering consequences heading into the back half of the season — especially since the Others’ absence ultimately allows Carol to make what seems like a pretty harrowing discovery about them. But “Got Milk” is also an episode that forces Seehorn to carry Pluribus on her shoulders for the bulk of the hour, and she does so in stunning fashion.
Another episode where we dilly dally around until the last fifteen minutes, then end on a cliffhanger. I really didn’t need thirty minutes of the main character recapping in front of a video camera what we already know. It felt like I was watching an “internet extra” instead of the show. It was also quite a leap to make the connection to the dog food bag.
Yeah I saw someone on Bluesky say that there should be a crossover with the Chair Company and it did seem to be heading in that direction a little. I liked how it completely changed the tone of the show and still remained funny and suspenseful as you didn’t know what to expect. Rhea Seahorn managed to make it as compelling as possible. Vince Gilligan has consistently shown us that when things slow down it means we’re bulding towards something. Everyone seems to have the same assumption about what she saw in the final shot so I can only assume it’s NOT that.
Well, wasn’t that also the style of BCS? I actually like it in this series, as each scene is framed very carefully and artfully.