Apple TV sci-fi show’s most dangerous road trip has the worst possible timing

Editor’s Note: The recap below contains spoilers for episode 7 of Pluribus.

When Vince GiliganIt is To many first premiered on Apple TV, no one could guess what was going to happen; Now, after seven episodes, we’ve definitely gotten closer to answering some of the biggest questions surrounding the sci-fi series’ twisty premise. Last week’s “HDP” confirmed the troubling ingredient in the Others’ special diet (spoiler alert: it’s the people) while revealing that the other immunes, including Carol (Rhea Seehorn), can only be assimilated if they give their consent to an invasive stem cell procedure.

While Carol has adamantly refused to give up her autonomy – and the Others’ refusal to intentionally do harm means they can’t stick a big old needle in her hip against her will – it turns out that she and Mr. Diabaté (Samba Schutte) are not the only ones to maintain their independence To many enters the final third of its first season. This week’s episode, “The Gap”, written by Jennifer Carroll and led by Adam Bernsteinreaffirms that resistance to the Others also comes from his compatriot Manousos Oviedo (Carlos Manuel Vesga), who embarks on a dangerous, if quite scenic, road trip to meet Carol face to face. Unfortunately, he faces more than one bump in the roadthe last of which could derail him for good.

Carol’s loneliness finally catches up with her in episode 7 of “Pluribus”

But before approaching Manousos, To many Episode 7 takes us to Carol, who is also currently on the road, returning from her overnight trip to Las Vegas.. When she makes a stop at a seemingly abandoned Red Rocks gas station, her first phone call to the Others’ voicemail (“Hello Carol. This is a recording…”) gets the pump going, but then she decides she also wants an iced fruit punch, Gatorade. Apparently, even the Others cannot perform precise miracles in the middle of the desert; even though one of their drones quickly drops a bottle at Carol’s feet, the temperature doesn’t suit her, so she leaves them another terse message to “do better next time” before refueling and heading home.

12 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes and 51 seconds since joining, it seems like Carol is adjusting to the whole loneliness thing just fine. Sure, she has to create her own soundtrack so the quiet doesn’t get to her, humming everything from REM to Nelly as the backdrop to her comings and goings, but she can play golf without having to reserve a spot on the course (while watching a wild bison roaming free), trade in her police car for a Rolls-Royce in the abandoned valet parking lot, head to the local hot springs for a solo soak, and slip in a real Georgia O’Keeffe painting from the local museum to replace the print in his house. After a day of rest and relaxation, Carol decides she wants to eat out in style. and dials the Others’ number to place her order at the restaurant where she and Helen (Miriam Shor) once they celebrate their birthday. The dinner in question features some of the best meals she can remember, including a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard and Helen’s birthday in 2008.

The signs that Carol’s solitary confinement begins to affect her are there, if you know where to look, especially as the days go by. Over a month later (48 days, 16 hours, 57 minutes and 9 seconds since joining), she finally seems to be reaching her breaking point. Even new hobbies, like playing golf on the roof of a parking lot to smashing the windows of a nearby office building, aren’t enough to occupy her restless mind, although she now has real music (a mixtape of “booyah jams”) to fill the silence.

What’s most damning is Carol’s choice to set off the biggest firework she stole from that Red Rocks gas station on the way home from Vegas, and when one of them accidentally tips over to point in her direction, she doesn’t duck and cover herself. Instead, she closes her eyes, almost waiting for death to free her from this loneliness. When the fireworks go off, missing her by just a few centimeters, it apparently serves as a wake-up call. The next day, she collects paint and a roller to write a message in the street, readable by the drones of the Others flying overhead. We don’t know what it says until a car pulls up and Zosia (Caroline Wydra) spell. Carol manages to hold on until the final steps of her driveway, where she throws her arms around Zosia and sobs with relief – then the camera pulls back to reveal her message, a lowercase plea that is clear enough for the Others to eventually give in and bury the hatchet: to come back.

Manousos’ road trip encounters more than a few obstacles in episode 7 of “Pluribus”

Image via Apple TV

Like Carol, Manousos’ story this week begins in a car – that is, until he runs out of gas. He walks along the road now, can in hand, looking for another vehicle to siphon off and pointedly ignoring any efforts by the Others to directly engage with him or offer him water so he doesn’t become dehydrated (sound familiar?). He’s a man with one goal: to get to Albuquerque so he can meet Carol Sturka in person.no matter how long it takes. Once back on the road (and after leaving behind some money as payment for the gas he took from someone else’s car), Manousos devotes himself to practicing his English via a series of tapes as he drives up the South American coast, resulting in some of the most breathtaking shots not only of the episode but of the entire episode. To many himself. Unfortunately, his wheels can’t take him that far, and once he arrives at Los Katios National Park, on the Panama border, he is forced to abandon his car and continue on foot.

This decision concerns the Others, several of whom meet Manousos at the entrance to the park and encourage him not to continue. Although their unease seems to come from a sincere place, it is unclear whether their warnings about unforgiving weather and chunga palms, with their dangerous thorns, are also motivated by a desire to keep Manousos where he is. Given how easily they capitulated to Carol’s initial demand to meet the other English-speaking immune, this change of heart seems strange – but then again, the survivors also know a lot more about the Others than before. When the hive mind offers to transport Manousos and his car wherever he wants to go, emphasizing how much the latter means to him, Manousos resorts to burning the vehicle rather than complying. “Nothing on this planet belongs to you. Nothing,” he says. “You can’t give me anything, because everything you have has been stolen. You don’t belong here.” Faced with such a challenge, the Others fail to find an answer.

As Manousos ventures deeper into the rainforest, he continues to repeat his greetings to Carol, which almost turn into a sort of mantra to carry him over rocks and rivers, through jungles and caves: “My name is Manousos Oviedo. I’m not one of them. I wish to save the world.” Unfortunately, he makes contact with these chunga palms, narrowly avoiding several before misstepping on a loose rock causes him to trip and impale himself on the tree’s dangerously sharp spikes. Despite his best efforts to cauterize the terrible wounds on his back at a campfire later that night, it was clear that the infection had set in the next day, and badly. After Manousos collapses to the ground, unable to take even one more step, he hears the sound of helicopter blades spinning overhead as the Others come to his aid – and before he passes out, his last words are the name of the hope he still clings to: “Carol Sturka”. The biggest question is: How will Manousos react if he survives all of this, finally arrives in Albuquerque, and discovers that Carol has welcomed the Others with open arms?

Release date

November 6, 2025

Network

Apple TV

Directors

Adam Bernstein, Zetna Fuentes, Melissa Bernstein

Writers

Ariel Levine

Advantages and disadvantages

• Rhea Seehorn is a joy to watch in any setting, but seeing Carol finally break down speaks volumes about her loneliness.
• Carlos Manuel Vesga is in the spotlight more this week, with his best moment involving Manousos’ showdown against the Others.
• What will Manousos think when he shows up and sees Carol being nice to the Others after that video she sent?
• (It’s great to have Zosia back, though.)