‘Pluribus’ is Apple TV’s Most-Watched Series Ever and Bob Odenkirk Predicted It

Apple TV has a new biggest ever series champion, and Bob Odenkirk predicted it four months ago. The streaming platform has very quickly established itself as a go-to one-stop-shop for fans of deeply involving, slow-burn dramas, the latest of which has managed to dethrone Severance as the most watched show in the platform’s history.

The show in question is Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan’s latest project, Pluribus, an Invasion of the Body Snatchers riff starring Rhea Seehorn, which had already beaten Severance’s Season 2 debut record and has now overtaken the sci-fi show’ total viewership record. While Apple TV has not revealed the numbers involved, it is hard to gauge how well this sits with releases on other platforms.

What is perhaps more interesting is that Seehorn’s former Better Call Saul costar Bob Odenkirk actually predicted that the series would be “the biggest show since Severance,” which has turned out to be exactly the case. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in August, Odenkirk was asked about the series, and while he knew very little about it, the prediction he made at the time has pretty much come true.

“I don’t know a damn thing. But I know it’s going to be massive. Massive! It’s going to be the biggest thing, well, since sliced bread, but really since Game of Thrones. You probably know what’s biggest [lately], but probably since Severance. I know Severance, in its way, is a big, big effort. So I think that [Pluribus] is going to be the next big show, and I can’t wait.”

‘Pluribus’ Has Impressive Critical Reviews

With Apple TV’s commitment to two seasons, Pluribus was always going to return for Season 2. However, it seems that the combination of huge viewing figures and some impressive reviews would have seen it renewed regardless.

Critics love Gilligan’s unique take on the end of the world, scoring it 98% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and hailing it as a “genuinely original” sci-fi series with an award-worthy performance by Seehorn as the most miserable woman in the world who has an issue with it being taken over by a helpful, happy alien hivemind.

Although audiences have clearly been watching the series in substantial numbers, their opinions about it have been much more mixed than their professional counterparts. The series’ Popcornmeter score is currently on 68%, with the biggest complaint being that the series is “boring” and “nothing happens.” This is really where you decide if you are a fan of other slow-burn dramas such as Silo, For All Mankind, and Foundation, which have all had the same complaint, but have also been hailed as some of the best TV shows of the last decade.

Pluribus is heading towards its season finale on December 26, and with Season 2 in development, it is obvious that the series will leave fans on some kind of cliffhanger that they will have to wait over a year to see return to screens.

Release Date

November 6, 2025

Network

Apple TV

Directors

Adam Bernstein, Zetna Fuentes, Melissa Bernstein