Pluribus episode 7 has landed on Apple TV – and, while it doesn’t reveal anything new about The Others and/or The Joining, it’s still a highly significant chapter.
Titled ‘The Gap’, Pluribus‘ latest entry splits its time between protagonist Carol and Manousos. I theorized that a team up was on the cards in the wake of Pluribus episode 6 and, despite what happens to them – and, in particular, Manousos – in ‘The Gap’, I’m even more confident they’ll cross paths shortly.
Does Manousos die in Pluribus episode 7?
No. Well, we don’t know if he survives the life-threatening injuries he sustains in ‘The Gap’. However, considering he’s been positioned as an important character so far in the sci-fi mystery drama, it would be an underwhelming end to his time on the show if he’s killed off.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The Apple TV series’ latest episode doesn’t reunite us with Manousos, who’s on a mission to track down Carol, until a third of its runtime has elapsed. And, for the 10 minutes that follow, we just watch Manousos’ cross-country travels as he learns English – via a cassette tape language course – so he’ll be able to communicate with Carol once they finally meet.
Eventually, he reaches a point that his trusty top-down convertible cannot pass: the Darién Gap, a dense and dangerous 100km-wide rainforest that bridges the, well, gap between Colombia and Panama. There, he’s greeted by a small group of The Others, who implore Manousos not to try and trek through the remote and treacherous jungle.
If we’ve learned anything about one of the best Apple TV shows‘ main supporting characters, though, it’s that he’s nothing if not stubborn. So, Manousos ignores The Others’ plea and continues his quest to eventually meet Carol.
Predictably, things soon go south. Slipping on a rock, Manousos falls back and impales himself on a Chunga palm tree, whose bark is covered in 20cm long spikes teeming with bacteria. As The Others warned earlier, even the slightest cut can lead to a fatal infection. Being stabbed by numerous spines, then, is a recipe for disaster.
Manousos tries to burn the infection out of the wounds on his back using his hatchet, which he heats via a fire later that night. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop his condition from deteriorating. The next day, delirious from the infection and physically exhausted from his travails, a debilitated Manousos collapses.
Just as all hope seems lost, though, The Others, who Manousos has refused to entertain since we met him, come to his aid. Rescue workers arrive on the scene via helicopter and, while we don’t see them airlift him to safety, it’s safe to assume that they successfully do so.
The big question now is: where is Manousos? Given one of The Others told him that they’d be happy to fly him to New Mexico so he can meet Carol in person, my best guess is he’s been taken to a hospital in Albuquerque. If I’m right, we might be privy to the duo finally linking up in episode 8 or this season’s finale.
Does Carol try and kill herself in Pluribus’ seventh episode?
In truth, things aren’t looking so peachy for Carol, either.
Buoyed by learning that The Others can’t turn her into one of them without a) acquiring stem cells from her and b) doing so with her consent, Carol starts to live life to the fullest once more. Indeed, now that she knows she isn’t living on borrowed time as one of 13 immune people left alive before The Joined find a way to make her to, well, join them, Carol starts indulging in all of life’s frivolities.
For a while, anyway. After the Manosos section of ‘The Gap’ ends, the story jumps forward 34 days before reuniting us with a depressed Carol. Sitting in front of her house, beer in hand, and surrounded by fireworks that Carol’s timed to go off intermittently, she’s clearly struggling. Heck, Carol has even seemingly prepares to bump herself off as one of said fireworks is positioned to fire directly at her. Cue an extremely near-miss encounter as it whizzes past her face before exploding and setting fire to the roof of a neighboring house.
The next day, we see Carol head to her local hardware store to grab a paint roller and large vat of white paint, and then use them to write something on the tarmac of her cul-de-sac.
As the above image shows, Carol paints the words “come back”. The reason? Even the most misanthropic person in the world misses real-life human interaction. Cue a now-recovered Zosia turning up on Carol’s driveway and, after a somewhat awkward stand-off, an emotionally vulnerable Carol falling into Zosia’s arms as she fights back the tears.
Episode 7’s final scene raises numerous questions. Is this the end of The Others’ self-imposed break from Carol? Is Carol finally prepared to work and live alongside them? Has Zosia actually forgiven Carol for almost killing her in Pluribus episode 4? And will the status quo be up-ended again if (or, rather, when) Carol and Manousos eventually meet? Let’s hope all of these queries are answered when episodes 8 and 9 land on one of the world’s best streaming services.
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