(Life Through the Lens - Photo Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

“And when the day comes that you have peace and love forced upon you, who knows, maybe in that last fleeting moment you might just realize you treasured your individuality.”

***

Imagine a world at your fingertips. A world that will no longer differentiate between the learned and the ignorant. A world where culture is effortlessly inherited, and experience is evenly spread. Everyone eats. Everyone works. There is joy displayed across every face.

Imagine a world where expertise is shared between every human. Memory is housed collectively. Perception is broad yet united. Actions are fluid and communal. Crime is no longer a threat because common good is all that remains. Jealousy, abuse, hatred, division – gone; all that remains is the unified many.

Everything is shared. Everything is equal.

Oh yeah, and individuality is lost. Personality and preference are sterilized. Subjective history is voided. Talent is no longer gifted or earned. Acceptance is forced, not granted. Choice has disappeared and given way to command. Consciousness has melted into watery awareness. Instead of a life filled with options, decisions, victories, disappointments, intimate growth and unexpected futures, humanity is left to merely move where told and feel what is prescribed.

Everything is soulless. Everything is cold.

What is a person if not beautifully flawed? Perfection is reserved for precision machines … not people. A promised future of existential ease and accommodation is a mirage hiding doom and oblivion. Resist this hallucination – keep your feet in the soil and your back to the work at hand.

Almost 100 years ago, “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley cried the same caution: “But the tears are necessary… There’s a story one of the old Indians used to tell us, about the Girl of Mataski. The young men who wanted to marry her had to do a morning’s hoeing in her garden. It seemed easy; but there were flies and mosquitoes, magic ones. Most of the young men simply couldn’t stand the biting and stinging. But the one that could – he got the girl.”

“Charming! But in civilized countries,” said the Controller, “you can have girls without hoeing for them; and there aren’t any flies or mosquitoes to sting you. We got rid of them all centuries ago.”

The Savage nodded, frowning. “You got rid of them. Yes, that’s just like you. Getting rid of everything unpleasant instead of learning to put up with it. Whether ’tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. … But you don’t do either. Neither suffer nor oppose. You just abolish the slings and arrows. It’s too easy.

“What you need,” the Savage went on, “is something with tears for a change. Nothing costs enough here.”

Our battle against emptiness still rages on: if it costs nothing, it has no value!

***

When a mysterious signal is received from space, astronomers and scientists work feverishly to decode it. The signal is decidedly a viral RNA sequence, but when it is created in a lab, chaos ensues. An outbreak, transferred through saliva, takes over the lab, then the city, then the world. The infected, though, are not traditional “zombies,” no — they are pleasant, cooperative and happy. Within a few weeks, every single human who survived the infection is “one” — connected, shared, merged. Only 12 humans remain uninfected.

One such “stubborn” human is Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn). Professional author by trade, relentless cynic by choice, Carol finds her life in shambles. She goes from cruising along one minute to completely alone the next. In the wake of all the drastic change, Carol tries to make sense of the swarm mentality that has overtaken the earth. With every passing day, Carol is learning to fear less and question more. This eerie ecstasy leaves her very uneasy, very suspicious.

Although not a scientist, Carol’s mission is to find a way to undo what has been done. Can the 12 remnants work together to regain the world’s imperfections … or is this new harrowing-harmony an accepted evolution?

***

Once upon a time, Vince Gilligan created “Breaking Bad.” There was television before and television after. Personally, “Breaking Bad” changed every single viewing experience – if that was possible, anything short of that now feels a varying shade of disappointing.

His latest foray into original content is Apple TV’s “Pluribus.” With season one now complete, I can safely say I enjoyed it immensely. It is smart, timely and rich. While it hasn’t established the kind of soul-shattering arcs that “Breaking Bad” did so effortlessly, it has given Carol room and importance to explore. As a writer, Gilligan has formed an imperative piece about AI and its insatiable intoxication; it gives me chills! As a director, he has brought precision and delicacy back to the small screen!

The cinematography by Marshall Adams and Paul Donachie is quirky yet natural. I love the inclusivity it promotes and the layers it invites. The production design by Denise Pizzini is wonderfully real and always surprising.

Seehorn is amazing as Carol; she is the exact right amount of off-putting and endearing. Her character isn’t as engrossing as Walter White … but give her time. Karolina Wydra is great as Zosia. Carlos-Manuel Vesga is gaining speed as Manousos.

If indeed Gilligan is preaching about AI, I can’t wait to hear more from his sermon! “Pluribus” season one can be streamed right now on Apple TV+.

REPORT CARD: Pluribus

Grade: A

Assessment: Bold and inventive