Pluribus season 1, episode 6, "HDP," confirms and quashes the gory reveal at the end of episode 5, but in brushing the twist aside, the show brilliantly makes sure to keep the larger storyline moving forward and the show's world turning.
As is quite often the case with Pluribus so far, the pacing of "HDP" is not for everyone, but the way showrunner Vince Gilligan likes to make TV certainly allows some very key moments to breathe.
With just three episodes left to go after "HDP," Pluribus season 1 is heading into the home stretch. While the sixth episode is a perfect example of how the show makes it seem like a lot is going in within a fairly static scene, the installment also sets up Pluribus' immediate future to be filled with a bunch of great reveals and powerful character moments for Rhea Seehorn's Carol Sturka.
Spoilers ahead for Pluribus season 1, episode 6, "HDP."
The change of scenery in "HDP" benefits both Carol and the Pluribus audience
Other than the occasional scene that's set elsewhere, most of Pluribus has taken place in Albuquerque so far. As the place where Carol lives, this makes sense, but the show has slowly suffered from a strange phenomenon due to its unique premise.
A story's setting can often act almost like a character itself, as the figures who populate the surroundings help add color and intrigue. The Joining in Pluribus robs the audience of all that many distinct personalities, and since the end of episode 4, Albuquerque has been especially short of secondary characters after the city's mass exodus.
Watching Carol make her way around an empty city without really speaking to anyone was interesting for one episode, but "HDP" had to shake things up to stop things from getting boring. Thankfully, Pluribus did just take by taking Carol to Las Vegas to visit Samba Schutte's Mr Diabaté, another unjoined character who hadn't factored into the narrative since the second installment of the show's double-episode premiere.
Not only is it great to see Carol speaking to someone at length who isn't just a variation of the same character, but the reunion is also quite clearly benefiting her mood and disposition — after John Cena's shocking explanation of the Joining's cannibalism has passed, of course. Plus, it's more entertaining to see Carol hashing out her thoughts and ideas about the Joining with a real person, rather than just speaking into a video camera and hoping everyone would see the recording.
"HDP" perfectly demonstrates Pluribus' potential for darkness and levity in the same episode
After the cold open that confirms the Others are stockpiling dead bodies to help feed the surviving humans, "HDP" very quickly engages in some pretty severe tonal whiplash by showing what Mr. Diabaté has been up to. Contrasting Carol's macabre discovery with the 007 spoof highlights the respective elements of both sequences that are difficult to pull off in tandem for some shows. The fact that the two scenes are probably the most sinister and lighthearted moments in the show so far is all the more impressive.
In general, Mr. Diabaté is the antithesis of Carol, with both characters having conflicting views on whether the Joining has been good for the world or not. Schutte's character has motivations for keeping the Joining intact that seem altruistic, but are actually incredibly selfish when the surface is scratched even a little. His arc suggests his life before the Joining was pretty miserable, which would explain why he sees getting everything he wants as a massive upgrade.
Carol wasn't the most upbeat person in the world before the Joining, but the loss of Helen (Miriam Shor) sent her into misery overdrive. So, the motivations of Seehorn's character for wanting to reverse the Joining aren't exactly clear, as she doesn't really have any kind of social circle that she's voiced concerns about. Bringing her together with Mr. Diabaté for some one-on-one time allows the audience to really inspect what makes them both tick, but any answers that can be gleaned from the exchange are compellingly vague at best.
The final third of "HDP" adds to Pluribus' fascinating story-within-a-story
Of the other unjoined individuals that Pluribus has shown so far, the most fascinating, other than Carol, has been Carlos Manuel Vesga's character. He has only been sporadically shown or mentioned, and his resistance to interacting with the Others is even more intense than Carol's. Still, I loved seeing his curiosity and desperation get the better of him when he watched Carol's tape, which has Spanish subtitles so he can actually understand her.
With Carol's arc seemingly grinding ever closer to a complete halt, especially with the reveal in "HDP" that she can't be pulled into the Joining against her will, it was starting to become unclear how the show could continue to keep things interesting going forward. With Vesga's character ending "HDP" by presumably setting off to go and meet Carol in person — without her knowledge — Pluribus is shaping up to revive how unpredictable it's constantly capable of being.
Episode Rating: A
Pluribus season 1 is streaming on Apple TV with a new episode every Friday. The finale will arrive on Dec. 26, 2025.