Pluribus fans, it’s official: Just as the Winds of Wycaro‘s duneship Mercator glides over Wycaro’s slipsand, so too has the Carol (Rhea Seehorn) and Zosia (Karolina Wydra) ship set sail.
In episode 8, titled “Charm Offensive,” Carol shares a passionate kiss with Zosia. Technically, this means she’s also kissing the other 7 billion members of the Pluribus hive mind. If that makes your head hurt, same! But that’s the point. Even though the kiss is full of desperate desire, it also comes with a lot of baggage for Carol.
“I think it’s super, super complex,” Seehorn told Mashable about Carol’s mindset during the kiss. “There is some willful delusion. There are some coping mechanisms going on. She’s so fragile.”
While shooting the scene, episode director Melissa Bernstein and Pluribus showrunner Vince Gilligan reminded Seehorn of the impact the Others’ departure from Albuquerque had on her. From episodes 5 through 7, she was almost completely alone, save for some wild coyotes and a brief chat about cannibalism with Mr. Diabaté (Samba Schutte).
“She was really broken by this isolation period that she went through, and not just because of how long she was alone, but [because of] the horrible existential crisis of thinking, ‘This will be forever. This will be the rest of your life,'” Seehorn explained.
When confronted with the reality of nonstop isolation, of course the Others and their relentless need to make Carol happy would seem like a soothing balm. That need is on full display in “Charm Offensive,” which sees Carol and Zosia playing croquet, getting a couple’s massage, and going on a hike together, where they observe a passing train. When Carol reveals she loves the sound of train horns, Zosia uses the hive mind to tell the train conductor to honk the horn at that very moment. If you forget the alien virus of it all, you’d think it was a romantic gesture! The same goes for the Others’ reconstruction of Carol’s favorite diner, which allows her to relive her best day as a writer.
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But even with all the Others’ courtship, make no mistake: Carol is still aware that the Others are pulling her strings, even if it’s coming from a place of care. (Lest we forget, they chose Zosia as Carol’s “chaperone” because her physical similarities to Wycaro’s romantic hero Raban would make her seem more desirable.)
“Even the diner scene, she’s still aware this is manipulative, but it is also an incredible act of kindness,” Seehorn said. “What they do with that diner is one of the first times you see Carol admit to having a joyful memory where she was actually present instead of fault-finding all the time. She’s saying what was great about it instead of what was bad about it, and then she’s struck by, ‘Wait a minute, is this all just for a certain objective?'”
For the actual kissing scene, Seehorn noted that, “Karolina also has the very challenging side of it to play. Are [the Others] being manipulative? Why are they kissing Carol? Are their feelings real? Are they able to disentangle those two things from each other?”
Wydra relished that ambiguity, hoping audiences experience a tug-of-war about whether they should root for Carol and Zosia’s romance.
“I want people to think, ‘Wait a second, is Zosia finally moving away from the collective, and you start to see her individuality, and she’s truly falling for Carol? Are these feelings mutual and they’re both having this experience at the same time?'” Wydra told Mashable in a separate video interview. “Or is it that the collective has all the memories of [Carol’s late wife] Helen, and they know what Carol likes and what will tickle her and get her excited? The kind of banter that I have with her, it that genuinely what Zosia’s personality is, or is it the collective wanting to do anything to make Carol happy?”
The need to make Carol happy resulted in a key decision for the kiss scene: that of who would initiate the kiss.
“By the time we did the kiss, we played with who’s leaning into whom,” Seehorn said. “In the end, they had Zosia lean towards me, partially because she can see the pain and the desperation that Carol feels, and how alone she feels. Whether or not it’s also manipulative, that’s definitely open to interpretation for the audience.”
Pluribus is now streaming on Apple TV. The Season 1 finale airs Dec. 26.
