Lifestyle Entertainment Pluribus, AppleTV+’s dystopian sci-fi, makes the end of the world look happier than ever The new show from Breaking Bad’s creator about a cheery hivemind virus that infects humanity flips the script on the post-apocalyptic genre Reading Time:3 minutes Published: 5:15pm, 15 Nov 2025 The end of the world is not usually so cheery. Advertisement In Pluribus, the new Apple TV+ series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, scientists encounter a mysterious repeating signal coming from outer space. That discovery leads researchers working for the United States military to encode a sort of virus that inevitably gets set loose and, after brief periods of mass seizures, leads to a psychic harmony among every human on Earth, who now operate as an “us”. The thing is, they are really very nice. They offer pooled resources, true equality and, above all else, contentment. For Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn), a grumpy romantasy writer who is immune and surrounded by smiling altruists at her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, things could not be worse. Rhea Seehorn in a still from Pluribus. Photo: Apple TV/TNS Typically, post-apocalyptic and dystopian speculative fiction narratives offer worst-case scenarios. Think Fallout, 28 Years Later and The Last of Us . Advertisement Source: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3332737/pluribus-appletvs-dystopian-sci-fi-makes-end-world-look-happier-ever