Pluribus episode 5 is out now on Apple TV – yep, it arrived two days earlier than expected – and, hoo boy, is it a doozy.
Titled 'Got Milk', the sci-fi mystery drama's latest chapter sees Carol make an alarming new discovery about The Others. And, judging by the reactions I've seen online, Apple TV viewers are seriously hoping that the resolution to its cliffhanger ending isn't as obvious as we expect it to be.
What is the liquid that The Others drink in Pluribus?
Episode 5 picks up immediately after its forebear's own cliffhanger ending. That being, Zosia going into cardiac arrest after Carol injected Zosia with too much thiopental sodium.
Considering how badly Carol has treated Zosia – and, by proxy, the rest of the hive mind known collectively as The Others – in recent episodes, they decide they need some space. Long story short: The Others depart Albuquerque en masse, leaving Carol alone to fend for herself. Well, unless she calls them to request help with something.
Anyway, Pluribus' latest entry becomes a one-person show following said exodus, with viewers following Carol down an investigative rabbit hole that has something to do with... milk cartons.
Stay with me here. Carol, who's forced to dispose of her own trash after The Others fail to do so, notices every trashcan and dumpster is full of discarded milk cartons. Tracking down their manufacturing to a local dairy, she soon comes across large, brown bags of what appears to be a crystalline substance not unlike salt or sugar.
After bringing a bag home and conducting some routine tests, the Apple TV Original's protagonist hypothesizes that this is what The Others consume on a daily basis to maintain the "psychic glue" that links them together. Essentially, she believes this soluble white powder is added to water, poured into the milk cartons on an industrial scale, and then dispatched for The Others to consume.
As part of her findings, Carol also concludes that the liquid is odorless, has an light olive oil consistency to it, and has a pH level of 7.1; a figure that mean, like water, it's neither acidic or alkaline.
What does Carol see at the end of Pluribus episode 5?
That discovery leads to a much bigger one that, based on Carol's reaction at the end of 'Got Milk' and what fans are saying online, might be even darker in nature.
You see, after Carol spots a barcode on the bag she brought home, she heads to her local Sprouts grocery store, but fails to track down where it was made because the barcode readers at Sprouts don't recognize it. However, after she compares this bag's barcode to another on a bag of dog food, she traces its origins to Agri-Jets, a local food packing plant.
Breaking in, Carol soon finds a giant refrigerator that initially looks like it's keeping pallets of fresh fruit from going off. After all, this is Albuquerque, so it gets plenty hot outside.
Scanning the shelves, Carol's interest is piqued by... something that's covered by a plastic sheet. Lifting it up, it takes her a few seconds to realize what she's looking at before recoiling in horror. Screen cuts to black. Roll credits.
So, what did Carol see? My initial thought is that it has to be human remains. It could be a chopped up body or just a collection of human bones. The latter are white and, when ground down, would look like a crystalline powder. In fact, bone marrow is considered to be one of the most nutritious parts of the human body, so this could be the substance that's dissolved in water and consumed by The Others.
Judging by what I've seen on the ResetEra forums, r/Pluribus, and other forms of social media, there are lots who agree with me, too. After all, what else would cause a startled Carol to step back as soon as she registers what it is?
As a couple of viewers have pointed out, previous episodes provides further evidence that this is the case. Indeed, referring to episode 2's first scene, ResetEra user Arsene no Kiseki reminded us that The Others were taking dead humans away in a van with a bottle of milk painted on its side. Additionally, Redditor LoretiTV jogged our memories about a moment in episode 3 when The Others ask Carol if they can "be of assistance" in disposing of her dead partner Helen's body. You don't need to spell out what that would've meant if Carol had agreed to it.
Why are Pluribus fans comparing it to a film called Soylent Green?
The more I think about it, though, the more I'm doubting myself about this theory.
Why would The Others keep human remains alongside fresh fruit and vegetables? If it's just bones, why keep them refrigerated when bones don't decay in the same way that other parts of the human body would? Didn't Zosia previously tell Carol that The Others are vegetarian because they can't kill living things, including insects? And, most importantly of all – from a story standpoint, anyway – wouldn't this reveal just be a lazy plot twist on the writing team's part that we've seen countless times before?
There are multiple examples of this storytelling trope, but it's Soylent Green that audiences have immediately compared Pluribus to. A 1973 dystopian sci-fi thriller film, Soylent Green's big twist is – spoiler – that the titular substance is made from human bodies.
If Pluribus has taken this specific narrative cue from films and shows like Soylent Green, it'll be a pretty uninspiring turn of events for a Vince Gilligan-created project. Considering how creative Gilligan usually is from a storytelling perspective, I'm praying that we'll be proven wrong when this cliffhanger is resolved. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until one of the best Apple TV shows' next installment arrives on December 5 – and that's only if Pluribus episode 6 reunites us with Carol. Don't make me wait until its seventh chapter to learn more, Mister Gilligan...
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