Carol makes an horrific discovery in the warehouse, only to discover it’s not particularly horrific after all.

Hurrah. Something actually happened in Plur1bus.

Following on from Carol’s cliffhanger gasp at the end of episode 5, she discovers what the hive mind has been putting in its milk – and let’s just say it’s the sort of thing that might have got Charlton Heston a tad hot and bothered back in the day. Not having anyone to talk to she makes a video about it, but subsequently opts to drive up to Las Vegas to tell Diabaté about it herself, and gets an info-dump response which the sci-fi literate viewer will have seen coming a mile off.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with the story beats themselves, but the mechanics of how they are revealed go to the heart of why Plur1bus is such a frustrating watch.

Carol discovers a thing. She makes an info-dump video about the thing. She tells another character about the thing. The other character then offers a counter info dump. Carol gets frustrated and does a speech about why humanity has to be saved from monotony (which, to be brutally honest, is taking irony to unnecessary extremes). No one is willing or capable of change, so these conversations consist solely of info dump descriptions of ideas with no character development whatsoever. Rinse and repeat, very, very slowly. The whole thing has the rhythm of a super-extended shaggy dog story. Never has the phrase ‘lost the plot’ felt more appropriate.

Having said that, the end of episode 6 offered the first instance in the series so far of a character in the show changing their perspective on anything – although it does require the repetition – in full! – of one of Carol’s many ‘let’s save humanity’ speeches.

Verdict: This might just get interesting. Although I’m not getting my hopes up. 6/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com