Pluribus

I started Pluribus because the concept is genuinely interesting, and that's what kept me watching at first. Unfortunately, the show moves very slowly and the story feels quite thin. Many scenes are unnecessarily long and don't really add anything to the plot, which makes it boring at times. With better pacing and a more focused narrative, this series could have been much more engaging.

The premise for this show is/was excellent. It's a unique take on what might happen in this scenario.

Episodes 1 and 2 were a 9 for me.

Every episode after has been extremely meh. Episode 9 is the desperate attempt to keep you tuned for a second season, but I'd imagine they've already lost 50% of their viewers, if not more.

This show is slower than slow. Tectonic plates move faster. I know people keep saying "It's to build tension". It's building towards narcolepsy, is what it's doing.

Pluribus has a very obvious padded runtime, propped up by episodes about nothing that go nowhere.

Pluribus had the legs to be an amazing mini-series (Band of Brothers or Chernobyl size) but as a multi-season show, it's a chronic disappointment.

To the point where I don't care if there's an episode 10 or if they just stop at episode 9.

Two episodes in, I'm not sure what to think yet. The concept is original and there's definitely something interesting here, but as often happens with Vince Gilligan, it takes a long time to get moving. The slow-burn approach is intentional, yet at times it feels overly drawn out, and I caught myself skipping ahead during a few scenes that just lingered too long.

It looks great, the acting is solid, and the idea has real potential, but I'm struggling to feel fully engaged. I'm more curious than excited, and I still don't really see where the show is heading. It's not bad at all, just a bit too slow, occasionally dull, and not gripping enough from the start.

Hopefully it finds its rhythm.

The first few episodes set up a really interesting premise and introduce characters and mysteries and shocks that make you want to keep watching. But, it quickly devolves into long, nothing-happening episodes where you hear the same phrases repeated scores of times, watch someone playing golf or driving or hiking for minutes on end, all leading to more episodes in which nothing ever really happens.

The main actors are all awesome, at least.

We are living in a new world where basic stories need 40-50 hours to tell. Writers are obliged to barely advance plot points so that viewers have enough interest keep their subscriptions, and the streaming services their profits. Long gone are the geniuses like Serling, who could have told 80-100 original stories in the same time. Then we now have Gilligan commenting that the show is so slow because he wants viewers to "savor" it. BS. He wants to push out the show into a 4-5 season series for the cash grab, to maximize the cash return on his small amount of original ideas (and let's face it: this is basically the "Species" premise with some "Twilight Zone" ideas mixed in). At the end of Season 1, I'm bored with every single character. They just ran around in circles for 7.5 hours. To delay plot progression even more they throw in convenient flashbacks when the story starts to develop. If you want to "savor" something, watch a Kubrick movie. Those last 2-3 hours, less than 1/2 the time you'll waste watching season 1, and you get a full story. If I continue on with Season 2, Ill binge watch on at least 2x speed. I don't need to chew my food 1000 times before swallowing.