“Pluribus” creator Vince Gilligan shared a promising update on the Apple TV show’s Season 2, revealing Monday night at the Emmys that he and the writers “figured out” the next installment.
“It took us a while, but we figured out Season 2,” Gilligan told press following his drama series writing Emmy win. “It’s technically not all written — we have broken it, which is a hard part. We figured out, in other words, the plot of all the episodes. The first two were written; the rest of them were doing various stages of being written, but we know what the whole season is.”
Gilligan added he and the writers will soon be sharing Season 2 with Rhea Seehorn, who won her first Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series on Monday night.
“Sometimes the actors — and Karolina [Wydra] and [Carlos Manuel] Vesga and Samba [Schutte] — sometimes they don’t necessarily want to know — they kind of want to be surprised, which I kind of like that,” Gilligan said. “[‘Breaking Bad’ actors’] Bryan Cranston was the same way … and Aaron Paul kind of wanted to … wait and see. But we’ll be happy to share once we got it figured out, and we’re getting close to having it figured out.”
Seehorn, who visited the press room with her Emmy just before Gilligan, revealed she didn’t “know anything” about Season 2, encouraging media to ask Gilligan about its status. “I hear that they have outlined them, but not written all of them,” Seehorn said.
With Gilligan and Seehorn’s win, “Pluribus” officially scored 18 Emmy nominations and six wins.
After working together on “Better Call Saul,” Gilligan created “Pluribus” with Seehorn in mind, but she surprised him every step of the way. “There was a certain … baseline level of excellence I knew she would achieve, and then she surpassed every single time,” Gilligan said. “Every single time I watched the footage … it just blew my mind. She was better than I ever thought she would be … and it goes for the other actors [as well].”
Gilligan noted he has been “very heartened at the reception” of “Pluribus,” noting the team “took a big swing” and wasn’t sure how it would be received. But it turns out, the show has resonated with viewers across multiple ways.
“It does seem timely via hindsight in terms of the advent of AI,” Gilligan said. “The idea for this predated both of us, but a lot of people are saying that they’re something to do with AI or loneliness or loss. That’s a big one … I think all these things are true. They all have validity. I really like hearing other people telling what the show is about. I’d rather not have to tell other people because I’d probably to get it wrong … can’t see the forest from the trees.”
“Pluribus” is now streaming on Apple TV.
