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| Pluribus on Apple TV: What’s Real, What’s Fiction, and Why Vince Gilligan Left the Breaking Bad World Behind (Photo: Apple TV/Screencap) |
Vince Gilligan stepping away from the sun-bleached chaos of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul was always going to raise eyebrows. After more than a decade crafting stories around courtroom antics, questionable chemists, and New Mexico’s moral grey zones, fans wondered what on earth he’d do next. The answer arrived quietly but powerfully in the form of Pluribus, a sleek new sci-fi thriller set once again in Albuquerque — but in a world that’s nothing like the one ruled by Walter White.
And of course, the big question rolled in: is Pluribus based on a true story?
Despite sharing a familiar setting, Pluribus isn’t connected to the Breaking Bad universe in any narrative way. Instead, it introduces an entirely original world that kicks off when researchers pick up an alien signal containing an RNA sequence.
A lab mishap spreads the sequence across the globe, pushing humanity into a forced state of collective happiness known as The Joining. Those infected — called the Pluribus — essentially lose their individuality and merge into one shared consciousness.
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Even the title nods to this idea, likely referencing the Latin phrase E pluribus unum — “Out of many, one”.
The series stars Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, a grumpy, self-loathing romance novelist who becomes the world’s most reluctant hero. The show launched on Apple TV on 7 November 2025 after the streamer reportedly won a heated bidding war.
So, Is Pluribus Based on a True Story?
Short answer: no — not in the literal sense.
According to Variety, Gilligan actually came up with the pandemic-style opening long before COVID-19 was even a whisper.
Nearly a decade ago, he imagined a scenario where the world suddenly becomes “unfailingly nice” to one man. People adore him to a disturbing degree, even ready to sacrifice themselves for him. It was meant as a darkly comic idea, which eventually evolved into something much bigger — and far stranger.
The protagonist shifted from an ordinary man to the brilliantly messy Carol Sturka once Gilligan rewrote the role specifically for Seehorn. Her version of the character adds the human chaos he felt the story needed.
So although Pluribus isn’t based on any real event or person, it is rooted in Gilligan’s long-held fascination with how ordinary people react when pushed into bizarre, overwhelming circumstances. Very Breaking Bad, just through a sci-fi lens.
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Gilligan insists viewers should interpret the themes however they like. But he’s also been pretty open about what was buzzing in his head while creating the show.
One of the clearest inspirations? Modern anxieties around technology — especially artificial intelligence.
Gilligan has never hidden his distrust of AI, once calling it the most “expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine” ever built.
The whole idea of the Pluribus — beings who are all-knowing, endlessly helpful, and quick to smother individuality — feels very much like a metaphor for a world slipping into tech-controlled uniformity.
He’s also spoken about the importance of telling new stories rather than recycling old ones. For him, every generation deserves fresh ideas that reflect their own fears, not just franchise reboots and superhero retreads.
Pluribus is his answer to that challenge — a completely original IP built from the ground up.
So no, Pluribus isn’t based on a true story. But it is fuelled by real cultural unease — about tech, about individuality, about a world that seems increasingly eager to blend everyone into one big, smiling crowd.
If you’re curious to see how Gilligan spins all of that into a sharp, character-driven thriller, Pluribus is now streaming on Apple TV