Breaking Bad creator's new show Pluribus debuts to a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score as viewers say its first episode is "one of the best pilots in recent memory"

Rhea Seehorn as Carol standing in a yard in Pluribus.
(Image credit: Apple TV)

Pluribus has only just arrived on Apple TV Plus, but critics and viewers are already calling it the best show of the year. The new sci-fi series from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul creator Vince Gilligan stars Rhea Seehorn as "the most miserable person on Earth" who must "save the world from happiness".

With two episodes now available to stream, Pluribus has landed a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes (from 27 reviews), while the first reactions online couldn't have been more positive. "Pluribus is going to win so, so many awards. One of the best pilots in recent memory, maybe ever," said a viewer on Twitter.

"PLURIBUS has one of the greatest first episodes of television I’ve ever seen. Wow," wrote another, while a third called it "easily the best new TV series of the year" and praised its lead performance: "Rhea Seehorn creates a totally unique antiheroine: a mix of righteous, messy humanity and ugliness. It’s brilliant."

"This is easily one of the year's best and most enjoyable US dramas, and a distinctive, singular vision. In an era where small screen science fiction is mainly characterized by franchise spin-offs, and adaptations of established properties, Pluribus is – like its protagonist – truly one-of-a-kind," we wrote.

"The scope of it is globetrotting, world-spanning," Gilligan continued. "I think we've learned – my producers and I, together – to be better producers over the years… The size of this thing is not something we would have attempted or could have succeeded at maybe five or 10 years ago."

Mireia Mullor
Contributing Writer

Mireia is a UK-based culture journalist and critic. She previously worked as Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy, and her work as a freelance writer has appeared in WeLoveCinema and Spanish magazines Fotogramas, Esquire, and Elle. She is also a published author, having written a book about Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' in 2023. Talking about anime and musicals is the best way to grab her attention.

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