Finally, there was a little sunshine in Pluribus

Things may finally be looking up. In the penultimate episode of For manyIn the first season, Carol (Rhea Seehorn) seems really happy. That’s a pretty big deal for someone who the series describes as “the most miserable person on the face of the Earth,” who also happens to be living in a weird kind of apocalyptic scenario that she’s desperately struggling to stop. But what does the change in her behavior mean for the show as it moves toward the end?

Welcome to our weekly website edge-Joint discussion For manythe new sci-fi series on Apple TV from Very bad Creator Vince Gilligan. The show follows Carol as one of a handful of “survivors” on Earth after a virus of unknown origin turns the rest of the world into an interconnected hive mind. The cell is cheerful, Carol is not, and all kinds of drama ensues. Each week I present a set of questions from the latest episode to get the conversation started, so feel free to chime in in the comments with your thoughts, theories and questions. We’re very close to the end now, and that’s normal Spoilers follow For the first eight episodes of For many.

This week’s episode actually started with Manosos (Carlos Manuel Vesga) who, After a serious accident in a rainforest at the end of episode sevenHe finds himself waking up in a hospital in Panama. He’s not happy about it, even though the cell saved his life. This is because Manousos absolutely despises the Hive and has so far refused any help from them, going so far as to set his beloved car on fire to keep them away from it. In this case, he is trying to compensate for medical assistance by paying a hospital bill that does not exist. He then leaves, driving an ambulance to continue his journey to see Carol in New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Carol is living it up. After spending so much time alone, she now hangs out with her companion Zosia (Karolina Wydra) as if they were best friends. They go for long walks and massages. They play cards together. And along the way, Carol learns some more important things about the hive. First, they communicate using some form of electrical current, and this happens unconsciously, “like breathing.” They’ve also kept trains running in order to transport food, sleep huddled together in spaces as large as hockey rinks to conserve resources, and are building a kind of giant telescope in order to send a signal back to Kepler-22b, where the virus originated.

Perhaps most importantly, she knows that one of the reasons Zosia spends so much time with her is to keep Carol busy and make her forget about saving the world from Hive. Here we are, one episode away from the end, and I have some lingering questions to ponder as we approach the end.

How real is Carol’s happiness?

At first, it seemed very real. After feeling so lonely, Carol was starving just for a hug, and spending a lot of personal time with Zosia seemed to be good for her. But once she learned that the cell was trying to distract her, Carol’s behavior changed — at least at first. Now I wonder if her current cheery act is a front so the cell doesn’t suspect she’s investigating her again. Then again, things take a completely unexpected turn in the end, so maybe I’m wrong, and her feelings toward Cell – or at least Zosia – have changed.

Are the individuals still present in the hive?

The answer was certainly no before, but now it’s less clear. After some struggles, Zosia is eventually able to speak using “I” instead of “we,” suggesting that there may be human individuals, somewhere deep within the hive, within the hive.

Will Carol and Manosos clash?

At the end of the episode, Zosia tells Carol that “you’ll have a visitor.” So it looks like the finale will finally include meeting the skeptics in the cell. But both are very Strong characters, so I wonder how well they’ll work together when it comes to saving the world (if Carol even wants to save it anymore).