Pluribus Season 2 Update Confirms What Details Will Be Revealed About Manousos’ Research

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Pluribus season 1 finale.The creative team behind Pluribus confirm the details of Manousos Oviedo’s (Carlos Manuel-Vesga) research that will be revealed in season 2. The Pluribus season 1 finale sees Manousos finally reaching Albuquerque, New Mexico and brutally experimenting on Rick (Brenden Roberts), one of the Others who belongs to the hive mind.

Creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan, along with the episode’s writers Alison Tatlock and Gordon Smith, were asked by The Hollywood Reporter if the experiment failed, or if it was successfully interrupted by Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) before success or failure could be determined.

Gilligan defers to the writers, with Tatlock explaining that Manousos fails in the moment while still learning something valuable for the future. Smith agrees that Manousos has learned from failure, and even though he was unable to remove Rick from the hive mind, he has new knowledge that will likely be used in season 2. Check out Gilligan, Tatlock, and Smith’s comments below:

Gilligan: That’s another good question. I don’t know. What do you guys think?

Tatlock: He fails in the moment while still learning something.

Smith: Yeah, an experiment within the scientific method, generally, moves through failure, and it keeps moving through failure. You learn more from saying, “That’s not right. It did not stop them from being joined, but I did learn something. So what did I learn?” What he learned and what he can do with it is hopefully going to be brought out in season two.

They were also asked if the signal that Manousos plays is the same signal that caused Pluribus‘ virus in the first place. Gilligan, Tatlock, and Smith all confirm that it is not the same signal, as the one Manousous plays is from a shortwave radio, and the one that created the hive mind came from Kepler-22b at 600 light years away.

Gilligan: Well, I don’t want to ruin anything for season two, but I think it’s okay to say it’s not the [same signal].

Smith: I don’t think we’ve discussed it as being the signal from space. Manousos’ is the shortwave. If we looked at the stuff that the scientists [in the premiere] were doing, they were coming in on a different wavelength.

Tatlock: Different technology.

Smith: And way higher power. “They” had to broadcast it from Kepler-22b.

Gilligan: Which is 600 light years away. So I don’t think we’re giving anything away to say it’s not the same signal. You don’t need to assume that’s the exact same signal.

While Manousos fails to undo the Joining, his experiment with the signal has allowed him to better understand the hive mind and how to hurt them. The signal experiment and what he learned from it is now poised to lead to more vital discoveries in Pluribus season 2.

The sophomore season was greenlit before season 1’s debut, meaning that audiences will get to see Manousos’ next move. For the time being, he is still in Albuquerque and reunited with Carol after she made a disturbing discovery about Zosia (Karolina Wydra) and the Others.

Beyond what Manousos has learned, he and Carol now have an atomic bomb at their disposal as well. This pays off the scene from earlier in the season, where Carol pushes to see if the Others will genuinely provide her with anything to make her happy, and they confirm that they would give her an atomic bomb if she requested one.

After being separated for all of Pluribus season 1 until the finale, Manousos and Carol will need to work together in season 2. Their starkly different personalities and the tumultuous events surrounding their meeting already proved that this will be challenging, even in the aftermath of Carol’s revelation.