Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Pluribus’ begins with an alien invasion that turns almost every human being into an extremely nice person. They are all connected by the hive mind, and their purpose is to further this sense of happiness, especially to the fourteen people who were not affected by the virus. Carol Sturka refuses to accept this new reality and decides to find a way to undo this. However, the loneliness also starts to creep up on her, and the finale sees her take some drastic decisions. The episode ends with her returning to her house with a huge box, the contents of which confirm the direction the story is going to take. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Contents of the Box Refer to a Question Carol Asked the Others
Earlier in the season, Carol jokingly asked for a hand grenade, and, to her utter surprise, was provided with one. This ended with an explosion in her house, which led Zosia to spend some time in the hospital. What shocked Carol was how easily the Others gave her what she wanted. She had only meant it as a joke, and when Zosia handed her the grenade, she mentioned that while they thought it was a joke, they didn’t want to risk it not being one. When she asked why they gave him the grenade, they said that it was to make her happy. This sounded ridiculous, so she asked them if they would give her the atom bomb if she asked. The Others confirmed that they would do it, even if it wouldn’t be safe for anyone. What mattered to them was to make her happy.
At the time, Carol asked that out of curiosity, to know just how far they could go to keep her happy. In the finale, she puts that question to use, getting them to deliver an atom bomb right on her driveway in a giant box. Or at least, that’s what she tells Manousos. The way she says it, one could easily dismiss her answer as sarcasm. Perhaps, it’s something else, something much less dangerous but important to Carol. Perhaps, it’s a machine that she thinks would be useful to her and Manousos in their quest to figure out how to save the world. However, considering what happens right before this scene, it’s clear that she is in no mood to make jokes. It is an atom bomb after all.
Another way to twist this could be that she believes there is an atom bomb inside the box because that’s what she asked for. She thinks that the Others cannot lie, and they have already exhibited their devotion to making all of her desires come true. But they are also found to have been sneaky in unexpected ways. While they cannot lie, they do try to find loopholes and ways to skirt an honest answer. So, perhaps, when Carol asked them for an atom bomb, they found a way to make her think that they were fulfilling her wish, but didn’t actually do it. This means that when the time comes for Carol to open the box and actually think about using the bomb, she might be in for a surprise. That, however, is a problem for another day. A more important question for now is why Carol asked for the bomb in the first place.
The Betrayal by the Others Brings Carol Back to Square One
When the world turned alien right in front of her eyes, Carol had the same reaction as Manousos. She was suspicious of the Others and kept them at an arm’s distance. She wanted nothing more than to get the world back to the way it was and was ready to do whatever it took to get there. But then, they left her, and eventually, the loneliness started to creep up on her. This was especially after she found out that while the Others had found a way to turn the immune ones, they wouldn’t do so without their explicit consent. What made her feel more secure was that they needed her stem cells to do it, and because the process was invasive, it would turn violent if she didn’t consent to it. This gave her a sense of security, leading her to ask them to come back. However, it turned out to be a bubble that she had created for herself.
Being with Zosia, Carol starts to warm up to the Others, unlike before. She is so attached to them that when Manousos shows up to join forces with her, she trusts the Others more than him. In fact, when the Others decide to leave the city after being threatened by his presence, she decides to join them, which is after he confirms her belief that there is a way to reverse the damage that has been done to the world. She spends time travelling with Zosia, captured in a state of perfect bliss. When she shares this feeling with whom she believes to be her partner, she is told that this feeling will magnify tenfold when she joins them. It turns out that the Others have a way to get Carol’s stem cells from her frozen eggs, which means they don’t really need her consent to turn her anymore.
She realises that their biological drive to turn everyone like them is stronger than what she mistakenly believed to be Zosia’s love for her. She had fooled herself into thinking that she could continue to live like this without them trying to turn her. But now, it’s clear that despite all their docility, they might eventually find a way to turn her. For Carol, this is a fate worse than death. This is why she asks for the atom bomb. Earlier, Manousos mentions that if the world cannot be saved, then it must be destroyed. At the time, Carol is appalled by it because she still sees the Others as human, while Manousos does not. But when the facade breaks and she realizes that she had created an imaginary world for herself, she is forced to accept that the people around her are not really people anymore. And God help them if they try to turn Carol, because she will blow up that bomb in her driveway before she is forced into becoming the happiest person in the world.
Read More: Why is Carol Immune in Pluribus? [Theories]
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