Review: Resisting the Hive Mind Virus in PLUR1BUS
The protagonist in the Apple TV series does not want her consciousness absorbed into a collective human mind.
Would you trade your identity for utopia? Apple TV's science fiction series PLUR1BUS examines whether a perfect world is worth the loss of everyone's individuality.
When an alien virus turns the world's population into a hive mind, every person's consciousness is absorbed into one central entity, imbued with their collective memories and experiences. Human beings now think and act as one, collectively devoted to building the perfect world. They are so dedicated to pacifism that they won't even pick fruit from trees.
The only exceptions are 13 people who are inexplicably immune to the virus. Since their friends and family are still around, though they're now part of the hive, many of the 13 wish to join the collective. The collective, in turn, tries to help them do so.
But Carol (Rhea Seehorn of Better Call Saul) is not just immune to the virus but hostile to the concept of losing her identity. The collective respects her wishes and amiably caters to her every desire, but it becomes clear that whether she wants it or not, they hope to incorporate her eventually anyway—as they see it, for her own good.
Manousos (Carlos Manuel Vesga), perhaps the series' most fascinating character, opposes the new world order even more militantly than Carol does. On screen, Manousos embodies the principle that there's no such thing as a free lunch: He not only rejects every offer of the collective's assistance, but he insists on paying for anything he uses. Or, when he doesn't have enough cash, writing IOUs by hand.
