Pluribus Season 2: What Does the 8.613.0 Radio Frequency Mean? [Theories]

Humanity experiences unprecedented peace and happiness in Apple TV+’s ‘Pluribus,’ after an alien virus arrives in the form of an extraterrestrial signal. The show opens with a group of scientists receiving the signal and attempting to decipher its meaning. They realise that someone, from 600 light-years away, has sent them an RNA sequence, which, when created in a lab, takes over anyone who comes in contact with it. Soon, almost all humans on Earth are afflicted with the virus, leaving only fourteen people in the world who are immune to it, and hence still have their own will. The show primarily focuses on Carol Sturka’s disapproval of the new world order and her quest to discover how to reverse the damage. But she is not the only one doing it. A Colombian man named Manousos Oviedo shares her beliefs and starts his own investigation into the matter. In the finale, we watch him take his experiment to a whole new level. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Manousos Makes a Major Discovery Concerning the Radio Signals

When we first meet Manousos, he is holed up in his house, completely cut off from the outside world and refusing to engage in conversation with the Others. They leave food for him at the gate, but he refuses to eat it because he doesn’t want anything from them. They have taken over everyone he ever knew, including his mother, and he cannot forgive them for that. Still, much like Carol, he wonders if there could be a way to reverse whatever happened to the world. However, while Carol’s investigation is more akin to solving a crime by finding clues, his investigation is more scientific in nature. In the solitude of his apartment, he studies radio signals, and out of the hundreds that he has tuned his radio to, there is only one that produces something of interest.

In the long list of frequencies that he has crossed out, 8.613.0 stands out. The idea of scrolling through the frequencies was an attempt to make connections with any survivors, so to speak. He thought that others like him would try to find others like them, and the radio seemed like the best means through which they could send a message out to the world. While he doesn’t find any survivors (at least on the radio frequency), he does hear something strange on 8.613.0. He doesn’t understand what it is until he leaves his house, charts his way all the way to Albuquerque, and actually starts talking to one of the Others.

Since they are all connected with a hive mind and are constantly in touch with one another, he figures that the signals they transmit must be sent through the air in the form of frequencies. In the eighth episode, Zosia explains it as using the natural electromagnetic charge of human bodies to establish a subconscious connection, much like breathing. It makes sense that Manousos would ask the same questions, especially since he is trying to understand how they work. When the part about frequencies comes up, he would be interested in finding out whether this has anything to do with the frequency he wrote down in his notebook. This leads him to conduct a small experiment.

The Radio Signals Might Be Key to Reversing the Effect of the Alien Virus

Because Manousos had cut off all communication from the Others, he didn’t know about their seizures, which are triggered when someone, mostly Carol, acts out, projecting anger towards them. It is not clear why they react to anger in such a way, but in the lengthy conversation that Manousos has, first with Zosia, then with Nick, this point would indeed have emerged. He probably asked them about the deaths caused since the worldwide Joining, just as Carol did, which would have led them to mention how, when Carol acted out, they went into seizures, causing the deaths of millions of people. When Carol found out about this, she felt guilty, because she still thinks of the Others as humans. Manousos, on the other hand, doesn’t believe they are human anymore, which is why he doesn’t seem to care that the seizures could kill people. He is more interested in determining the frequency at which they emit when the seizures occur.

This is why Manousos tells them what he is going to do, so they are prepared for it, which is why Carol lies down on the floor. He shouts in anger, triggering the seizure and immediately notes the frequency on his radio, which is 8.613.0, just as he expected. Now that one question is answered, he takes his experiment further. He doesn’t know what this frequency means yet, but he takes a wild guess, believing that perhaps, during the seizure, the virus loses its control. This could leave space for the actual human being, Nick, in this case, to try to take back control. This is why, when Nick goes into a seizure again, he calls out to him in the hope that it will have some effect.

The experiment doesn’t last long enough for him to figure out if it works because Carol interrupts it with her shotgun. When the seizure ends, Nick joins the Others in leaving the city, which means that the real Nick was unable to regain control. Still, Manousos has made a connection, which has convinced him that the Joining can be reversed. He doesn’t get the chance to share it with Carol because she, too, leaves with the Others, particularly Zosia. He is not surprised by it and continues his study. The next time we see him, he is still studying radio frequencies, thanks to the books he gets from the library, including the Spanish-English translation dictionary.

This means that he is confident that he is moving in the right direction, and where he is headed will only be revealed in the second season. So far, the creator of the show, Vince Gilligan, has confirmed that the radio frequency is not the same as the alien transmission received at the beginning of the show. This makes sense because the transmission was intended to spread the alien virus. The radio frequency has more to do with communication, or lack of it. For now, the only confirmed fact is that the frequency is transmitted only during the seizures and could be the way to reverse the virus’ effect.

Read More: Is Pluribus About AI, Explained