Episode drops in a few hours (9pm EST) if you’re in the western hemisphere. It drops tomorrow at 2am GMT elsewhere.

Episode description: Manousos begins a dangerous trek to meet Carol. Returning home from Las Vegas, Carol gets creative with her rebellion.

Use spoiler tags for spoilers.

  • Gorillatactics [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    22 hours ago

    The plurb could have called Carol and flown her to Ecuador to meet Oviedo but they let it play out this way so now both are dependent on hive. Emotionally manipulative assholes.

  • supdawg813 [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    It really bothers me that the plurbs can kill hundreds of millions of people for the sake of infecting the entire human race all at once (and it admits that this could have been done more slowly with fewer casualties), but preventing even more millions in its own collective from starving to death by harvesting (not even killing! Just harvesting! Plants don’t die when they are harvested!) any plant life is off-limits. It really takes me out of it actually. Seems like taking over a species and then imposing rules on them (no way this was humanity’s own idea) that don’t permit them to fulfill such a basic biological imperative is, like, murder. Starving people to death by intentionally not producing food to feed them is murder.

    Also don’t we have lab grown meats in the present day??? I feel like the collective minds of all of humanity would pretty quickly have that production down to a science if all other motives were absent and the alternative was mass death. Idk this whole “we will literally starve ourselves to avoid harming a plant” thing is introducing a lot of logical silliness and seems more for the sake of creating drama than anything else.

    • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      1 day ago

      I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve watched a show where the bad guy was just doing good guy stuff but then randomly murdered a bunch of people for the plot. It’s just LIB Hegemony. That’s really why I’m Pro-Plurb. Carol and Manousous seem like representatives of the “Will there be civil liberties for the Fascists?” Club, imo. parenti

      • supdawg813 [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        idk on further reflection, maybe this is the point? Poggy over on yt is doing some pretty compelling theorycrafting. Full vid’s worth a watch but I timestamped his theory at the end.

        on Poggy's theory

        I don’t totally buy the “one body” thing; only one body would eventually mean death to the collective as a whole which contradicts the idea of consciousness being equivalent to life by the collective’s logic. I do however think he’s onto something with goal of the virus (which the hivemind isn’t made aware of) being to vastly shrink the human population.

        I think we’re predisposed over here to wanting to see the plurbs as being overall well meaning, and they very well may be (as they cannot lie), but there’s definitely gonna some sort of greater evil at play. I just don’t think it is Vince’s intention to prove Carol wrong. As cool as it would be to see a show where the plurbs really are just innocently wanting to build a better world for humanity and Carol is a critique on the brainworm’d American chauvinist (which I still believe she is, just not in a way that she ends up being totally wrong)

        It’s also clear to me that the “hivemind” isn’t exactly a “hivemind” in the sense that it’s a synthesis of all of human consciousness; the virus seems to appropriate each of the infected’s skills and knowledge but ultimately exerts huge influence on the the collective’s behavior and decision-making, if not total control. Choosing to put plant life over human life, for example, or to produce and consume HDP, is not something in line with the core beliefs of humanity; this is imposed by the virus.

        • JoeByeThen [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          The big issue I’m having is that I’m seeing the Plurb as very much revolution coded. I hear “It was done against people’s will, people died” and immediately think “A revolution is certainly the most authoritarian thing there is; it is the act whereby one part of the population imposes its will upon the other part.” The Plurb tells us it’s shutting power down for efficiency, making sure everyone is getting the nutrients they need, getting junkies clean and I think “The revolution that feeds the children gets my support” BUT then the show says, there’s gonna be a famine because The Plurb is too principled or idealistic and I hear, “communism only works in theory, in the real world millions die.”

          I lived through LOST, I don’t know that I care about the ending and show theories, ya know? I’m ruined already. What I care about is what message the story is telling and what hoops people’s brains are jumping through to maintain congruency with the story. idk. I don’t think I’m gonna be happy regardless. data-laughing

          Much of our ignorance of the Plurb is because we’re experiencing it 90% through Carol’s eyes and she can’t be bothered to get to know the Plurb. There’s so much that we don’t know and can be filled in at the writers whims simply because Carol’s investigations happen in dumpsters instead of just asking. And people are applauding this for some reason. The more I think about it, the more I wonder how long I’ll last with the show. It’s an interesting premise but as soon as they pulled out the famine bit, well.🤷‍♂️

    • thefunkycomitatus [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      Not only that but the remainders can consent to provide labor. They could work for the plurb doing the things that plurbs can’t do. I thought that’s where they were going with Zosia saying they would cook a pig if Mr Diebate killed it himself.

      I thought they were going to ask Carol and the others do a Richard Matheson thing. If the non plurb do something that they don’t know is causing harm, and the plurb aren’t the ones directly causing the harm, then there is no problem for their logic. They’ve shown they can do indirect harm (speeding up P-day causing almost a billion to die) and that they forgive Carol for unknowingly doing harm (killing millions by losing her temper).

  • bigpharmasutra [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    The visuals in this episode were gorgeous. I really enjoyed the friendly latino truck driver. Came across a few of them myself in the area.

    I think Carol’s going to hook up with Zosia, or at least try to. Have they disclosed if the hive mind is trying to reproduce and create children? Are they fucking in there?

    • hello_hello [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago
      ep 6-7

      I think its too early for them to be fucking since episode 6 revealed that they are struggling with food because of the plurb rules about not intentionally harming life. They’re probably facing down a great dying unless they find a solution that doesnt require HDP.

      Also yeah carol is totally going to hook up with Zosia since its the first time she’s actually embraced a plurbed person. Seems like the pluribus knew what it was doing.

      • bigpharmasutra [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        The struggle with the food was exactly why I was curious about reproduction. I wasn’t sure if I missed some subtext along the way.

        I think Carol will end up ultimately rejecting sex once Zosia says “we want you”. She’s got the need to be loved by someone for what she is embedded too deeply to succumb to the collective.

  • hello_hello [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    3 days ago
    episode discussion (CW: self-harm, mental health deterioration, isolation)
    • When I (carol) am in the, “who is the most mentally unwell and unhappy individual on earth” and my opponent is Manousos squidward-nervous
    • I’m glad I knew enough about latam geography and migration corridors to know that nobody gets past the jungle to Panama so I was patiently waiting for him to get folded and taken in by the pluribus. The cinematography and sound design was a treat to go through and I’ll probably revisit that part of the episode just for the vibes. Really unwise of Manousos to not take a boat but I guess he didn’t have enough money for it and spent it all on paying nobody for gas (and then destroyed the car that he could’ve used to “trade” for the boat). But like what to expect from a tipo from paraguay?
    • Carol still an unhappy traumatized alcoholic queer woman as ever. But now she’s basically been stripped away from any belief she can live without the plurb. It’ll be interesting to see Carol go through a reversal of her ideals from the beginning of the pluribus event to now (it hasn’t even been like 2 weeks right?)
    • Also, based on the last episode, if the pluribus have discovered a way to bypass the immunity via stem cells, that must mean that some of the unaffected have willingly joined the plurb? I feel like this show isn’t a multi-season thing then since it seems like it should be wrapping up.
    • I also agree with @thefunkycomitatus@hexbear.net that Manousos will probably be the villain or antagonist figure since it’s chekov gunned’ that the unaffected can still hurt each other and there’s not much the plurb can do to stop it. I wonder if Manousos figures out that he can disable the plurb through outbursts and just keeps doing that to one plurb’d node and Carol would have to stop him. If this plot ends up happening I’d be disappointed because I just came up with it in 30 seconds.

    Chad Koumba “Let me re-enact some epic james bond scenes for shits and giggles” Diabate vs the virgin Carol “I need ICE COLD FRUIT PUNCH gatorade, also let me blow myself up with fireworks” Sturka.

    We don’t have any rhea seahorn emojis kitty-birthday-sad saul-anime

    • nasezero [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago
      spoiler

      (it hasn’t even been like 2 weeks right?)

      It’s been over a month, actually. IIRC, The episode shows the counter at +12 days early in episode 7, then it jumps to +48 days, I think after Manousos collapses and is picked up by the Plurbs. (I assume he’s still recovering when we jump back to Carol finally asking the plurbs to “come back.”)

      • thefunkycomitatus [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago
        spoiler

        I don’t know how I didn’t notice the time change. I must have been looking at my soap shaving video or playing subway surfers instead of looking at the 2x speed video of the episode. That makes more sense why Carol was so lonely.

      • hello_hello [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        I see,

        spoiler

        Im excited to see them meet. There’s a dramatic irony to the fact that Carol finally submits to using the plurb meanwhile manuosos sees her as the last remaining honest person. It’ll probably be a rude awakening for him when he does wake up.

        • nasezero [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago
          spoiler

          There’s a dramatic irony to the fact that Carol finally submits to using the plurb meanwhile manuosos sees her as the last remaining honest person

          That’s assuming she’s being sincere, and after the scenes of her hanging up the Bella Donna (a species of nightshade) painting, I’m not sure what we saw was a genuine embrace of/submission to the hive aware

    • sexywheat [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      7·
      3 days ago

      I dunno I think that

      spoiler

      The jury is still out on whether or not this will be multi-season or not. I went into this kinda assuming it would just be a one-off, but based on how slowly this plot is progressing I can’t help but think that this is going to go on for at least a couple of seasons. There’s so much more they could do with this and I feel like the story is just getting started. I mean, Manousos could get a nuclear weapon if he wanted to for chrissake, if he wouldn’t be such a stubborn bastard.

  • HarryLime [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    Love Manousos

    spoiler

    That last scene was creepy as hell. Zosia stands expectantly, waiting for Carol to come over, saying nothing, her face giving away nothing, and only smiles once Carol falls apart in her arms. Really seals for me that the hive does obey the rules the show has laid out, but it’s still incredibly manipulative.

      • HarryLime [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago
        spoiler

        I see your point, but I’d be more mad at the alien hive mind that forcefully assimilated me into itself without my consent, assuming I ever get my individuality back. Bad as it is to drug and almost kill someone, Carol is trying to save the human race.

  • vegeta1 [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    3 days ago

    That mouse saved from the trap thonk I think the hive mentioned something about mice being one of the few creatures they could infect. Maybe…

  • EnsignRedshirt [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    3 days ago

    This episode felt a little indulgent. The same amount of narrative and character development could have been done with half the runtime, imo, and we didn’t learn anything new. I’m enjoying the show overall, but I hope the remaining couple of episodes pick up the pace a bit.

    • thefunkycomitatus [comrade/them, they/them]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      11·
      3 days ago

      Definitely a Bravo Vince episode but take a look at that last scene again and I think there is some foreshadowing there. Also

      spoiler

      Manousos may end up being the first big bad of the show rather than the hive. He seems way more unhappy with the plurb than Carol ever was. He’d rather destroy his things than see the plurbs get them. Also Vince may not be able to resist turning the characters from Latin America into murderers. I also swear he did the yellow filter shit again but I’m too seepy to re-watch the episode right now.

      Edit: He did not do a straight yellow filter like in BrBa but he did play with the color grading to emphasize oranges vs blues. Carol at dinner is very yellow/orange while the sky and background is blue (the mid ground is kinda green tinted). Then when Manny is driving through the mountains and the mountain town, everyone, plus the foreground buildings are very orange. The sky/background is very blue. Some extras are wearing very blue outfits.

    • sexywheat [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
      10·
      3 days ago

      Hard agree.

      spoiler

      I thought this episode was like 90% filler, not unlike episode 5. The journey through SudAmerica was cool to watch even though nothing was really happening most of the time. But it kind of reminded me of some of the mid-season Walking Dead episodes where there was just long scenes of silence for no apparent reason other than to just convey how SAD and BORED they are. Which, fine, whatever, it just doesn’t make for a very good television episode that’s all.

      EDIT: Ok, I revise the 90% amount, you’re probably closer with 50%. I read a bunch of other commentary on the episode and there was some maybe obvious character development / juxtaposition that kinda went over my head. In retrospect, I think this was an episode preparing us for the likely Carole / Manousos meetup. After everything that he’s been through, I think he’ll just view Carole as a complete sellout.

      Prediction spoiler:

      spoiler

      I think Manousos is going to murder Zosia. I know this is a ways out, but that’s the way I see this going at this point.

      • EnsignRedshirt [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        9·
        3 days ago
        spoiler

        I like where they’re going with it, I just think they could have done more with the runtime. I like that they showed how far Manousos was willing to go to avoid getting help from the plurbs, and I’m glad they gave us some time to appreciate how far he was going, but it just stretched out. He’s collecting rain water, he’s fishing in a creek, there are two separate scenes where he’s siphoning gas for his car. Two! Beautiful shots and great character development, but you have to let something land on the editing room floor.

        Same with Carol. Do we need 20+ minutes to reaffirm that she is, in fact, lonely and sad? They could easily have carved 5-7 minutes out of this episode to give us a C plot or additional scene about one of the other survivors, give us some more clues as to what’s going on, shown us a bit of this weird universe they’ve established.

        The comparison to TWD is apt, although TWD had 16-episode seasons, plus the pressure of being on linear TV and having to occasionally work in filler episodes for budget reasons to meet the episode quota. There’s no excuse for that on these streaming shows.

        I do think they’ve set us up well for a meeting between Carol and Manousos. Hard to tell what’s going to happen, but your prediction is as good as any. It would save Carol from being the bad guy on the show.

  • mendiCAN [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    3 days ago

    i dunno if i like the premise but Gilligan’s delivered twice and the dramatic beats are there. I’m having enough fun and’ve stopped trying to guess where this thing might be going.