For the creator of “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” coming up with a title is usually a quick process. For his ambitious new Apple TV+ series, Pluribus, it became a years-long puzzle. Vince Gilligan has revealed that naming his first project since leaving the Albuquerque criminal underworld was the single most difficult titling job of his career.
The sci-fi drama, which reunites Gilligan with “Better Call Saul” star Rhea Seehorn, launched its first two episodes on November 7, 2025. It tells the story of Carol Sturka, a self-loathing romance author who becomes one of the few people immune to an alien virus that transforms the rest of humanity into a blissful, single-minded collective.
The Struggle to Find a Name
Gilligan explained that the naming process was unusually tough for this project. His previous shows came together easily by comparison.
“This was the single hardest thing I’ve ever created, to title,” Gilligan said. “Breaking Bad came easily, Better Call Saul came even quicker, and El Camino, that wasn’t hard either.”
The struggle lasted for years. Gilligan and his team of writers compiled a massive list of potential titles, searching for the perfect fit for their complex story about individuality and connection.
“We had a list of over 100 titles,” he said. “We had Pluribus pretty early on and I said, ‘no, it’s gotta be something else’. And then we came back to it after about 2 years.”
Why ‘Pluribus’ Finally Stuck
The title Pluribus comes from the Latin phrase “E pluribus unum,” which translates to “Out of many, one.” This phrase is famously part of the Great Seal of the United States and appears on American currency. For Gilligan, the meaning extended far beyond a national motto.
“It’s a tip of the hat to the motto, but the show isn’t meant to be just American. I really want this to be a show for the whole world, and I liked the idea of ‘out of many, one,’ not just in reference to democracy, but people everywhere – all becoming one,” Gilligan said.
This concept is at the very heart of the show’s plot. In “Pluribus,” an alien signal containing a genetic recipe is received on Earth. A lab leak leads to a global pandemic, but instead of causing sickness, the virus creates “The Joining,” a hive mind that erases individual conflict, anger, and grief. The infected population becomes unfailingly nice, speaking in unison and sharing a single consciousness. Seehorn’s character, Carol, finds herself as a stubborn outlier in this forcibly happy new world.
A New Kind of Hero for Gilligan
“Pluribus” marks a significant shift for Gilligan, who became famous for his masterful portrayal of antiheroes. He described his new protagonist as a “reluctant” and “inept” hero, but a hero nonetheless.
After spending over a decade exploring the moral decay of Walter White and Jimmy McGill, Gilligan felt a change was needed.
“I think we need more good guys again. We need more heroes,” he stated, emphasizing that characters who rise to the occasion despite their fears are the most interesting to him.
The creator wrote the part of Carol specifically for Rhea Seehorn, having been captivated by her ability to make any character compelling. He recalled her performance in “Better Call Saul,” where her character Kim Wexler evolved from a potential short-term love interest into an indispensable part of the series, earning Seehorn two Emmy nominations.
A Global Story with a New Mexico Backdrop
Although “Pluribus” shares its Albuquerque setting with Gilligan’s previous hits, its scope is vastly larger. The production built an entire neighborhood from scratch in the New Mexico desert and filmed sequences in international locations like the Canary Islands, Norway, and Morocco to achieve its global scale.
The series asks a provocative question: in a world where everyone is perfectly content, is individuality worth saving? The title “Pluribus” perfectly encapsulates this conflict, representing the many individuals who have been merged into one unified voice. For Carol, the last woman standing for individual thought, the fight is just beginning.
Looking back, Gilligan now feels the difficult title was worth the wait.
“I could not think of a title that really satisfied me, but now that we’ve lived with it for a while and now that it’s out in the world, it seems to me like, yeah, ‘why was that so hard?’”
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