Fans would already be excited by the idea of Pluribus—Apple TV’s new sci-fi series from Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and a writer and producer for many years on The X-Files—even without all the mystery.
But the fact that the show has been so enigmatic has only heightened its allure; aside from a few intriguing trailers and brief clips, all we know is its logline: “The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.” Today, however, mere hours before Pluribus‘ two-episode premiere, the first four minutes of the show have hit the internet, and… well, spoilers ahoy.
Entertainment Weekly got the exclusive, and you’ll have to go to EW’s site to watch the embedded clip. But the truth is now out there: the source of the show’s conflict comes from outer space.
The scene opens with a countdown clock, showing us there are 439 days and however many hours, minutes, and seconds until something big happens. We then see an array of large satellite dishes scanning the sky, and if you’ve seen Contact, what happens next will be very familiar. Breathless, thrilled, and freaking-out astronomers check and double-check that they are, in fact, receiving some kind of highly unusual message from space.
But what is it, exactly? And what will it mean for Earth? The clip ends as one of the scientists realizes he knows what it is. We can guess it’ll have something to do with that happiness epidemic we’ve seen Carol (Better Call Saul‘s Rhea Seehorn) confronting in Pluribus’ other teases—but for the full story, you’ll have to tune in.
Pluribus drops its first two episodes tomorrow, November 7, on Apple TV, with a weekly rollout thereafter. io9 will have a review up once the embargo lifts, but now you already know one big spoiler—and it’s a very exciting one for X-Files fans who might be interested in checking out what Gilligan’s up to now.
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