Pluribus has quickly become one of Apple TV’s best original shows as we follow Rhea Seehorn’s Carol Sturka on her fight to restore humanity after an alien virus turns all but 13 of Earth’s people into a content hive mind. The Season 1 finale saw her finally joining forces with the dog food-eating Manousos — one of the others immune to the Joining — with their timeline on free-thinking running short. So how long will we have to wait for Pluribus Season 2?
Creator Vince Gilligan addressed that question while talking to EW, and I’m not sure this is exactly what fans want to hear. It definitely doesn’t sound like Pluribus Season 2 will make it in time for the 2026 TV schedule, but at least things are moving in the right direction. Gilligan said:
We’re working on it. It takes us a while. I would love to go faster if I could.
No date has yet been set to begin filming Season 2, and the creative minds behind Pluribus are being careful not to let the show’s popularity pressure them into rushing the writing process.
Executive producer Gordon Smith echoed the showrunner’s sentiments about the long wait that might be ahead, saying:
You know how on a timeline, there's usually an arrow that points towards infinity? Well, I think we're on the arrow somewhere.
While I definitely am excited to see more of what Carol and Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) will get up to after his harrowing trip through the Durién Gap and what the future holds for Carol’s relationship with Zosia (and the Others), I’m willing to wait for Vince Gilligan to do his thing and provide another captivating season. (The entire nine-episode first season can be streamed now with an Apple TV subscription.)
Vince Gilligan said he was “amazed” to learn that Pluribus had become Apple TV’s most-watched show, surpassing hits like Severance and Ted Lasso. He said he feels fortunate that people are responding so favorably to the show, but again, that’s not going to help us get to the second season any quicker. Gilligan said:
As much as I am so grateful for the fans digging this show, we’ve always found our best way to proceed is to be in our bunker creating this thing and not pay too much attention to reactions of any sort, positive or negative. We’re kind of the first fans of this show, the first viewers of the show, and we kinda try to make ourselves happy. The way to tell a story is to keep doing it the way you did it back before you had an audience.
He said that’s what has always worked best for his team, and after Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, I’m certainly not going to question his method.
Fans of Apple TV shows have become accustomed to long waits between seasons. Severance went three years before its first and second seasons (due in part to the entertainment industry strikes), and we’re probably looking at 2027 before we get Severance Season 3. The Morning Show, similarly, takes two years between seasons. It looks like we can expect the same from Pluribus.
