Pluribus season 1, episode 5, "Got Milk," completely subverts its playful title by giving the show its darkest episode in weeks. Since its stellar double-episode premiere, Pluribus has struggled at times to move the needle all that much when it comes to narrative intrigue. That's not to say it's not been entertaining, but "Got Milk" finally moves the show on from its artfully stagnant period.
As the fifth of nine episodes in Pluribus' inaugural run, "Got Milk" is the central installment of season 1. It's pretty clear that showrunner Vince Gilligan is determined to start pushing the story toward a suitable stopping point before the season 2 break — which has already been ordered at Apple TV. The tasteful shift in tempo results in one of Pluribus' most compelling efforts so far.
FULL SPOILERS ahead for Pluribus season 1, Episode 5, "Got Milk."
"Got Milk" begins with the perfect twist after the previous episode's finale
Carol Sturka's (Rhea Seehorn) promising (but risky) plan to drug Zoisa (Karolina Wydra) in an attempt to trick information out of her on the subject of reversing the Joining turned out to be unsuccessful at the end of episode 4, "Please, Carol." With the Others long being so patient and forgiving of Carol's fiery attitude toward the new state of humanity, it was unclear how "Got Milk" could turn the near-death of Zosia into a convincing plot development.
Still, Episode 5 pulled it off perfectly. There was no violence or any real negativity toward Carol, just a simple mass exodus that saw every Other in Albuquerque leave the city to put some space between them and Seehorn's character for a little while. Such an operation would have taken far more effort before the Joining took hold, but the beautifully-shot sequence is one of the best demonstrations yet of the eerie synchronicity brought about by Pluribus' peaceful apocalypse.
Pluribus episode 5 capitalizes on an empty Albuquerque while also fixing one of the show's biggest problems so far
Carol has long felt alone in Pluribus since the death of Miriam Shor's Helen. She hasn't actually been alone, but it has seemed that way because of the way she has shut herself off from the Joining. However, "Got Milk" finally aligns what Carol feels about her situation with the reality of it all. While she initially seems put out by the Others' decision to leave the city, Carol eventually turns her newfound freedom into an advantage when she hits upon a rich vein of progress in her investigation into the Joining.
Interesting though it is to see Carol stumble across the trail of empty milk cartons that lead her to the dairy facility, Pluribus' struggles with exposition are once more brought to the forefront. Short of speaking out loud so the audience can hear, or including an inner monologue as a narration track, it's impossible to know exactly what Carol makes of her discovery.
Her decision to record video messages for the other unjoined individuals does make sense, but it also sticks out a little as a mechanism for the writers to let the audience in on what Carol is thinking and what she has figured out. Still, it was a more effective version of the same technique from "Please, Carol," which saw Seehorn's character recording videos after injecting herself with thiopental sodium and logging what it did to her. It wasn't immediately clear what was going on, but it did work well eventually.
During these new video camera scenes, I love how Carol finally pointed out the biggest flaw in the logic of the other unjoined characters. They all seemingly have no real issue with how the world has transformed, but as Carol explains, they'll probably feel differently in the final moments before they're inevitably robbed of their individuality. After that, they won't be able to enjoy or appreciate what they're currently interpreting as benefits in quite the same way. I'd thought this for a while, and it was great to see it finally acknowledged.
"Got Milk" finally teases why Carol (and the viewers) should be legitimately afraid of the Others
Carol's discovery of the suspicious number of discarded milk cartons leads to an investigation that takes up most of the runtime in "Got Milk," but the payoff at the end of the episode is worth it. Ending up at a facility responsible for manufacturing dog food, Carol discovers something that very clearly horrifies her. Although the episode doesn't show what it is that brings about Carol's reaction, the implication is that the Joining's motivations are far more nefarious than they seem.
Until "Got Milk," the biggest threat the Joining posed was the possibility of endless bliss, brought about by sharing a consciousness with every other person on Earth. The thought is a little unnerving, but intentionally written to be viewed as morally grey from certain points of view, and unashamedly positive from others. Now, Pluribus has teased a more conventionally villainous streak for the Joining, and I can't wait to see next week's episode to find out the true extent of the twist.
Episode Rating: A+
Pluribus is streaming now on Apple TV with a new episode every Friday. The finale will air on December 26, 2025.