A new Apple TV+ series is sparking conversations about a classic sci-fi film. After the fifth episode of Vince Gilligan‘s new show Pluribus, fans are drawing strong connections to the 1973 dystopian thriller Soylent Green. The latest installment, titled “Got Milk”, ended on a shocking cliffhanger that has viewers speculating about a dark secret. The theory suggests the show’s hive mind, known as the Others, might be consuming a resource made from human remains, echoing the infamous twist of the older film.
The series stars Rhea Seehorn as Carol Sturka, one of only 13 people immune to an alien virus that has turned the rest of humanity into a peaceful, collective consciousness. While the Others are polite and accommodating, Carol’s latest solo investigation in a deserted Albuquerque has led her to a disturbing discovery.
The “Got Milk” Mystery and a Chilling Discovery
In Pluribus Episode 5, Carol finds herself completely alone. After her actions caused harm to Zosia (played by Karolina Wydra), the entire population of Albuquerque has left the city to distance themselves from her. While dealing with her isolation, Carol notices something strange: an overwhelming number of identical, empty milk cartons in recycling bins across town.
Her investigation leads her to the Duke City Dairy warehouse. There, she does not find milk. Instead, she discovers the Others have been producing and consuming an amber-colored liquid. This liquid is created by mixing water with a mysterious white powder stored in large bags. Carol takes samples home, tests them, and finds the substance has a neutral pH and no distinct smell.
Following the clues, Carol eventually tracks the powder to a large food-packing plant. She enters a cold refrigeration room filled with shelves covered by tarps. In the episode’s final moments, Carol lifts one of the tarps, sees what is hidden underneath, and staggers backward in visible horror. The camera cuts away before the audience can see what she saw, leaving the revelation for Episode 6, which arrives on Friday, December 5.
Why Fans Are Shouting “Soylent Green is People!”
The immediate reaction from many viewers familiar with sci-fi history was to reference Soylent Green. The 1973 film, starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson, is set in a dystopian 2022 where overpopulation and ecological collapse have led to severe food shortages. The majority of people survive on processed wafers made by the powerful Soylent Corporation. Their newest and most nutritious product is called Soylent Green, advertised as being made from ocean plankton.
The film follows Detective Robert Thorn (Heston) as he investigates the murder of a Soylent Corporation executive. His research, aided by his elderly friend Sol Roth (Robinson), uncovers a terrifying truth: the oceans are dying and cannot produce enough plankton. The secret ingredient in Soylent Green is human corpses, processed into food for the living population. The film’s climax is one of cinema’s most famous lines, with a wounded Thorn screaming, “Soylent Green is people!” to warn the public.
The parallels fans see are striking. In Pluribus, Carol is investigating a mystery substance the collective consumes. The show has previously shown the Others loading human corpses into a refrigerated dairy truck in Episode 2. Now, in Episode 5, Carol finds a dairy facility producing a non-dairy “milk” from an unknown powder, leading to a room full of hidden, tarp-covered shapes. The logical, and disturbing, theory is that the powder—and thus the “milk”—is made from processed human bodies.
“While we don’t see the reveal, her eyebrows furrow, her face contorts, and she loudly gasps in horror. So what the heck is under the tarps? While we’ll ultimately have to tune into Episode 6 next week to get answers, Pluribus fans fear that human bodies are under the tarps, and that much like Soylent Green, the Pluribus milk that fuels the Others contains… PEOPLE!”
A Key Difference: Motive and Morality
While the potential act is similar, the motivation of the hive mind in Pluribus would be fundamentally different from the villainous corporation in Soylent Green. In the film, the Soylent Corporation commits a cruel deception for control and profit, knowingly turning people into cannibals.
The Others, however, are established as non-violent and unable to intentionally kill. If they are using human remains, the source would likely be the hundreds of millions who died during the initial “Joining” event or those who later perished from accidents or Carol’s own destructive emotional outbursts. From the hive mind’s perspective, this would not be an act of malice but one of pragmatic efficiency and avoiding waste. They have lost many human emotions and might view dead bodies simply as a available resource to be recycled, especially if their collective biology requires a nutrient only humans can provide.
This creates a more complex ethical dilemma than the straightforward evil in Soylent Green. Is it wrong if the bodies were already dead and no one was murdered for the purpose? The show seems to be playing with this unsettling grey area.
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The Clues and The Wait for Answers
The evidence supporting the theory is compelling to many fans. The connection between the dairy truck full of bodies in Episode 2 and the dairy factory producing strange fluid in Episode 5 feels like intentional foreshadowing. Furthermore, the show has emphasized that the Others “prefer to eat vegetarian,” leaving the door open that they might need to consume other things for survival.
Some fans have speculated that the white powder could be processed bones and marrow or powdered plasma, which could match the color and neutral pH Carol observed. Others wonder if Carol’s shocked reaction means she saw something slightly different, like human body parts rather than whole corpses, or even the bodies of pets.
All questions are expected to be addressed when Pluribus Episode 6 premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 5. New episodes of the nine-part first season are released weekly on Fridays.
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