Pluribus season 1, episode 9, "La Chica o El Mundo," rounds off the show's inaugural run with its own version of a high-octane finale. While it's basically impossible for Pluribus to have any traditionally "exciting" scenes, "Chica o El Mundo" colors within the show's unique lines to provide fans with a perfect way of leaving them wanting more.
Episode 9's cliffhanger comes with a little less tension than some other projects. With Pluribus season 2 already confirmed before season 1's double-episode premiere, viewers have been made especially aware that the story would extend beyond the initial 9 installments. That said, while a continuation has long been guaranteed, it's been unclear exactly how Pluribus' larger plot could run for more than one season. Now, we finally have answers, packaged in a compelling way.
FULL SPOILERS for Pluribus season 1, episode 9, "La Chica o El Mundo."
"La Chica o El Mundo" brilliantly sets up the Pluribus season 1 finale's biggest twist
Darinka Ariones's Kusimayo debuted in Pluribus' second episode, "Pirate Lady," but she finally makes a return in the season 1 finale. While it was revealed in episode 6 that the Joining had found a way for the unjoined to join the hive mind, "La Chica o El Mundo" is the first time we get to see said "cure" for those immune to the virus in action.
As one of the Pluribus scenes that Carol (Rhea Seehorn) can't possibly know about, the cold open that shows Kusimayo becoming one with the Joining is strictly a world building effort. Still, it's a very effective one. It's also an embedded clue that Carol's time as an unjoined individual might be nearing its end. Which, as it turns out, is very much the case. In theory.
Carol's meeting with Manousos is joyously predictable (until it isn't)
Manousos (Carlos Manuel Vesga) gradually became a more pivotal figure as Pluribus went on, but his role in the season 1 finale finally brings him to prominence. As Carol has softened to the Joining since she made the videos documenting her findings, it was always going to be entertaining to see how Manousis reacted when he arrived in Albuquerque to find that Seehorn's character wasn't the Joining-hating woman she'd once been.
As suggested, there is no shortage of friction between the two characters when they meet, but Pluribus takes things a step further by forcing Manousos into a surprisingly dark turn. His experiments on the Joining presumably kill droves of Others off-screen, suddenly making him seem more of a villain than either the Joining or Carol have been so far.
The extreme move of retreating from Albuquerque entirely twice in the same season really reinforces how desperate the Others are to maintain peace between themselves and anyone who they're upsetting – the unjoined. So, while it's not surprising when it happens again in the season 1 finale, it is a little less easy to predict that Carol would go with them this time. In other shows, this moment could have contributed to something approaching a happy ending, but Pluribus had other ideas in mind.
Pluribus' season 1 finale finally weaponizes the Joining's love for Carol (& it's terrifying)
"La Chica of El Mundo" leaves it very late to pay off its cold open, but the episode finally reveals that Carol's choice to remain an individual is no longer in her own hands. While the Joining refuse to perform the painful stem cell extraction procedure on Carol without her permission, Pluribus' final stages paint the Others as villains in the most convincing way yet.
While Pluribus has always done a great job of making the Others' love for Carol seem convincing, the season 1 finale reveals the Joining's feelings for Rhea Seehorn's character are smothering and unyielding. Rather than fully respecting Carol's wishes, they find a workaround that involves accessing her frozen eggs, and end up telling Seehorn's character that it's only a matter of months before the procedure to bring her into the hive mind will be perfected.
For all of Pluribus' strengths, it has struggled throughout season 1 to identify the true villain(s) of the piece. That said, it does seem as though this moral ambiguity is by design, rather than being an oversight. Thankfully, "La Chica o El Mundo" does choose the Joining to be the bad guys because of their innate need to force Carol into something she has already stated several times she does not want. But do you know what's more powerful than toxic codependency? An atomic bomb. I guess we'll have to see how Pluribus season 2 addresses that, and I can't wait.
Episode Rating: A+
Pluribus season 1 is streaming now in its entirety on Apple TV.