This post contains major spoilers for Pluribus‘ eighth episode and some revelations about its hive mind/enjoined. If you don’t want to read them before watching, well, you don’t need seven billion minds to know what to do.
The hive mind’s “Charm Offensive” might have completely backfired. In Pluribus episode eight, the enjoined did everything it could to make Carol comfortable. That included letting Zosia talk and act more like an individual rather than part of a collective. When she did, she briefly remembered who she was when she was still a person and not part of Pluribus‘ Hive Mind. And combined with everything else Carol learned about how the hive mind doesn’t experience the physical sensations of every member’s body, that beautiful conversation about mango ice cream suggests Carol doesn’t need science to undo the joining on Pluribus. She might just need a little humanity.
The hive mind did everything it could to win over Carol in “Charm Offensive.” From taking her on wonderful dates and praising her new book to even using sarcasm like actual people, the enjoined Hive Mind try to have its representative Zosia seem like a real person on Pluribus episode eight. It almost worked, too. There were moments Carol forgot how much she despises humanity’s situation. She had to actively notate why the hive mind’s erasure of individuality is terrible.
The very thing that made the charm offensive so effective on Pluribus is also what might ultimately help destroy the hive mind. The enjoined recognized that Carol wanted to interact with a person, not a collective. It let Zosia act more like a person even before Carol asked her to use “I” pronouns rather than “we.” At first, the hive struggled, but eventually “Zosia” was able to convincingly play-act at being an individual person on Pluribus episode eight. And that eventually led to her to remember when she actually was a person.
The morning after they slept together, Carol asked Zosia about her favorite food. The hive mind was able to answer truthfully for “Zosia.” As a child, that woman loved mango ice cream. Zosia explained why with a touching, beautiful, very human story. She touched on the kinds of things Zosia used to love and wonder about. She even sprinkled in some details that revealed what it was like growing up in Poland during a time of great change. And as she talked about the mango ice cream—in the first person—she briefly remembered what it was like to actually be Zosia, an individual person, and not just a member of Pluribus‘ hive mind.
Losing herself in Zosia’s memories filled her with joy, and when she was done, she got lost in a haze of nostalgia and sadness. Those aren’t feelings the enjoined have on Pluribus. They love their new existence. Those are the feelings a person has. And, for the briefest of moments, that’s what Zosia was. She was not part of the hive mind, which loves all breakfast foods equally. She was a kid who loved mango ice cream more than any other flavor.
If the hive mind is completely enjoined, why would one member talking about an individual body’s memories temporarily restore their individuality and personhood? It shouldn’t have mattered that “Zosia” was discussing Zosia’s memories, because Zosia doesn’t exist anymore on Pluribus, not as a person. But episode eight gave us reason to think the hive mind is not as seamless as we imagine on Pluribus, and that individual people are still in there somewhere.
Earlier in the season, Zosia told Carol that the entire collective does not get drunk just because one member drinks alcohol. Carol then used that knowledge to try to get the truth out of Zosia about how to undo the enjoining. She drugged Zosia so she would answer Carol’s questions truthfully. It almost worked, as the hive mind lost its grip on Zosia when the barbiturates began to work.
In this episode, the two went for a massage, which, technically, Zosia gave herself. That didn’t stop her from enjoying it, though. She told Carol that it would be “unbearable” if the hive mind felt everything all at once on Pluribus. Too many people die and are born every minute, let alone all of the injuries and pains billions of bodies experience every second. As Carol noted, “Individuals feel. Everyone knows.” The hive is merely “aware” of those feelings, but only individual bodies experience physical sensations like touch. Same as individuals normally. We can empathize when someone gets hurt, maybe even feel a tinge of pain ourselves, but our nervous system doesn’t experience it the same as the person it happens to.
When “Zosia,” accessed Zosia’s memories on Pluribus episode eight, she accessed something tangible and specific to one person. She remembered what it was like when that person’s eyes watched the ships coming in and out of the harbor. What it was like when a poor kid felt the endorphins of getting a free ice cream cone. And what it was like to taste the flavor of mango on her tongue. In that moment, “Zosia” remembered what it was like to be a person on Pluribus. Only, because she did so in that specific body, she did so in the same way we do when we look at a picture from our favorite vacation. The way we can remember how something tasted when we ate it. The way a smell can transport us back to a place far away. How the sun felt on our faces when we stood somewhere special.
If “Zosia” had told Carol about someone else’s memories, it probably wouldn’t have returned her individuality for a short moment. But doing so in the body that ate that ice cream did. It allowed Zosia the human being to return in some way on Pluribus and escape the blandness of the hive mind.
Carol is obsessed with finding a scientific solution to the virus. But the answer to humanity’s problems might be much more human. Every member of the hive was once an individual who didn’t love all foods equally. They all had their own mango ice cream. If they can all remember that, they might remember who they were: a person. And, as Pluribus episode eight reveals to us, that could be the key to undoing the hive mind and breaking apart the enjoined.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. This episode made him want to try mango ice cream if any hive minds wants to make him happy. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.