Pluribus season 1, episode 4, "Please, Carol," is a good blend of tasteful exposition about the Joining and pushing the plot onward, despite its resistance to being moved along all that much. Like the show's previous installment, what could be interpreted as pacing issues in "Please, Carol" feel more like an intentional decision to build tension and allow the audience to digest and work out what's really going on.
While episode 4 is great in its own right, Pluribus still seems like it's struggling a little to live up to the strength of its double-episode premiere, and especially the show's pilot episode. Still, learning more about how Pluribus' peaceful apocalypse functions remains front-and-center for most of "Please, Carol," which serves the episode very well.
FULL SPOILERS below for Pluribus season 1, episode 4, "Please, Carol."
The "flashback" at the beginning of "Please, Carol" is a great change of pace for Pluribus
Unlike Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, which are Pluribus showrunner Vince Gilligan's biggest projects to date, his Apple TV sci-fi show doesn't have a traditional ensemble cast. While the award-winning crime saga often moved around various characters other than its more central figures, Pluribus has largely stuck with Rhea Seehorn's Carol Sturka so far. The first 10 minutes of "Please, Carol" are the biggest diversion from that storytelling decision yet.
Episode 4's cold open instead revolves around a "new" character called Manousos, played by Carlos Manuel-Vesga. It's initially implied that we're getting a live look-in at how another of Pluribus' unjoined characters is living his life, but it's quickly revealed to be a slight flashback to when Carol tried to reach out to him in the previous episode, "Grenade."
Witnessing the exchange from the other side is really cool, and I'm actually surprised I didn't see it coming. In hindsight, his soft introduction in "Grenade" was always going to lead to a more substantial role, and it's interesting to see how he's essentially acting like a more concentrated version of Carol when it comes to keeping the Others at bay. Plus, his scribbling down of Carol's name sets up their inevitable meeting in a later episode.
One scene in "Please, Carol" perfectly highlights Pluribus' refusal to talk down to the audience
Carol's false search for heroin — that inadvertently leads to her actually getting it — is part of an unspoken scheme for Seehorn's character to trick information out of Zosia (Karolina Wydra) on the topic of how to reverse the Joining. After working out that it is possible earlier in the episode, Carol becomes laser-focused on figuring out how it can be done.
The sequence that sees her lifting Thiopental Sodium from the hospital's supply, then moves on brilliantly to Carol testing the drug on herself, gradually laying out her plan to use it on Zosia, without ever directly explaining things to the audience. It's not necessarily an easy thing to follow, but the episode does an excellent job of not rushing through the scenes that are needed to communicate vital information about what's going on.
Not only that, but using the Thiopental Sodium on Zosia as an impromptu truth serum is also a subtle callback to "Grenade," when Carol discovered that one Other drinking alcohol doesn't intoxicate the entire Joining. So, what originally seemed like Carol extending an olive branch by way of a sociable drink is retroactively revealed as recon for her larger plot to return humanity to the way it was. Again, this is something that's left to be noticed by the viewers, rather than being made glaringly obvious.
The final scene in Pluribus episode 4 makes it impossible to guess what Carol will do next (which I love)
Carol seemed to be making the most progress she has made yet in episode 4, gaining some valuable information on how consistently honest the Others are, how the Joining works, and how she can use that information to her advantage. A path to the season 1 finale was finally starting to become somewhat clear, then Zosia's collapse results in a regretful-looking Carol who is worried about the only "person" she can call a friend in the new version of the world.
Now, Carol isn't just restricted from upsetting the Joining, but also from experimenting with ways to separate someone from the hive mind to gain allies, no matter how temporary. Although Manousos will invariably be a bigger part of the plot going forward, it's tough to see how the distance and language barrier that separates them can make for a fruitful collaboration. So, while "Please, Carol" isn't Pluribus' strongest effort so far, it probably has the best final moment.
Episode Rating: B+
A new episode of Pluribus is available every Friday on Apple TV, with the finale set for release on December 26, 2025.