Pluribus is a new, standalone sci-fi drama by Vince Gilligan. It is not part of the Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul canon. Gilligan has been explicit that this series has no crime and no meth, and he has cautioned fans not to expect Kim Wexler crossovers. Any nods would be Easter eggs, not a shared universe plot.
Apple TV+ has dropped the first full trailer for Pluribus, Gilligan’s genre-bending return that reunites him with Rhea Seehorn. Seehorn stars as Carol, described as the most miserable person on Earth, who is drafted to save the world from happiness.
The trailer sketches a Twilight Zone-esque premise with Stepford-like neighbours serving breakfast in bed, eerily empty store aisles and planes, and a cheery insistence that Carol join us, as if mass joy were contagious and compulsory. The series is set in Albuquerque, the same location as the Breaking Bad Universe.
Is Pluribus connected to the Breaking Bad universe?
The verdict is no. Pluribus is a separate world with a different genre frame and no cartel crime. Fans sensed a link because so many Gilligan signatures show up. Pluribus is set in Albuquerque, featuring empty roads, sunlit deserts and tight interiors. A lone protagonist resists a powerful system, echoing the choice-and-consequence engine that drove Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Rhea Seehorn’s return primes viewers to map Kim onto Carol. Gilligan’s own words set the boundary. As per a TVLine report dated October 22, 2025, Vince Gilligan said,
“There’s no crime, and no methamphetamine. It’s going to be fun and different. ... Rhea will be playing a very different character than she played on 'Saul.'
He also emphasized that Seehorn plays a distinctly different character and that the world undergoes a significant change in the first episode. These are firm creative dividers from the Breaking Bad continuity. Shared crew does not equal shared canon. The Albuquerque setting and Seehorn’s return naturally invite crossover theories, but Gilligan has discouraged that reading. As per the TV Insider report dated September 12, 2025, Gilligan remarked,
“There might be some Easter eggs along the way, [but] I can’t imagine Carol running into Kim Wexler. That would be pretty weird.”
He allowed that there may be Easter eggs, which are winks, not bridges. Taken together, the statements clearly establish the relationship. Pluribus stands beside Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, not inside them.
The official positioning from Apple underlines the break. The press release summarizes Pluribus as “a genre-bending original in which the most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.” That logline signals social sci-fi, not crime saga, and it frames Carol as a reluctant hero rather than an antihero in a criminal arc.
Pluribus trailer breakdown: All the clues
The trailer opens with Carol resisting a wave of compulsory cheer. Neighbours beam. A voice, possibly from the presidency, promises to find what makes her different so she can join us. Cuts reveal visual tells that the joy is unnatural. We glimpse breakfasts in bed delivered with robotic kindness, empty aisles and aeroplanes, and quick, darker flashes of a fiery plane crash and bodies. The montage plays satirically and eerily, with room for deadpan humor.
Pluribus: Plot, cast and release plan
The official plot centers on Carol, the one person seemingly immune to a global turn toward optimism and contentment. Apple confirms the nine-episode season and the weekly release cadence after a two-episode premiere on November 7, 2025. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television with Gilligan as creator and showrunner, and executive producers Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Diane Mercer, Allyce Ozarski and Jeff Frost. Cast includes Rhea Seehorn as Carol, Karolina Wydra and Carlos Manuel Vesga, with guest stars Miriam Shor and Samba Schutte.
There is industry buzz around Pluribus as an event launch. As per The Hollywood Reporter interview dated August 14, 2025, Bob Odenkirk, who plays the lawyer Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, said,
“I know it’s going to be massive. Massive! It’s going to be the biggest thing, well, since sliced bread, but really since Game of Thrones. I can’t wait.”
In short, Pluribus is Gilligan pivoting to mild science fiction, not a stealth Breaking Bad chapter. The trailer points to a story about consent, conformity, and one person’s refusal to be assimilated.
Stay tuned for more updates.
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - JULY 29: Actor Aaron Paul (L) and actor Bryan Cranston examine bronze statues depicting television characters Walter White, played by Cranston, and Jesse Pinkman, played by Paul, from the series "Breaking Bad" at the Albuquerque Convention Center on July 29, 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The statues were commissioned in 2019 by Sony Pictures Television and were sculpted by artist Trevor Grove and cast by Burbank, California-based American Fine Arts Foundry. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)