Pluribus recap, Episode 3: 'Grenade'
Carol learns just how much the Others will do to make her happy
A review of this week's Pluribus episode, "Grenade," coming up just as soon as you get me a tank...
Alan Sepinwall
My review of this week's episode of Pluribus, "Grenade" — with spoilers — coming up just as soon as you get me a tank...
"So now I'm drowning?" -Carol
"You just don't know it." -Zosia
"Full Measure," the third season finale of Breaking Bad, opens with a flashback to a younger Walt and Skyler first seeing the house at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane that they will soon buy. This is 15 years before Walt's cancer diagnosis, before he decides to start cooking meth, before all of the terrible choices he makes over the run of that series. Breaking Bad fans have long argued over whether the cancer and everything that followed turned Walt into a monster, or if he always was one, and only needed the right/wrong circumstances to truly reveal himself. People in the latter camp often point to that "Full Measure" flashback as a key piece of evidence, as we see that Walt is already resentful and entitled, displeased with the size of the house, convinced they can do better, and surely thinking about the fortune he gave up when he impulsively sold his share of Grey Matter for a pittance. This is always who he was, those fans argue, and the flashback proves it.
The cold open of "Grenade" — written and directed by Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad alum Gordon Smith — functions similarly. It's seven years before the Joining turned all but a baker's dozen of humanity into a hivemind(*), and we are 5000 miles away from Albuquerque. Carol and Helen have come to Norway for a fabulous stay at one of the country's famous ice hotels. Or, rather, Helen has come for a fabulous stay. Carol has come because she loves Helen. None of this is charming or exciting to her. She complains about the cold. Complains about having to sleep on a block of ice. Complains about the expense — and doubles down by complaining about the cost of freezing her eggs for future IVF(**). When Helen tells her that her book made the bestseller list, Carol's not even happy once she realizes that it's relatively far down on the list. And while Helen marvels at the sight of the Aurora Borealis, Carol is completely unmoved(***).
