Manousos finally arrives in Albuquerque, only shortly ahead of Godot.

Yes, I know I’m not supposed to editorialise in the plot summary but let’s just say that taking four episodes to get from Paraguay to New Mexico is a tad testing of one’s patience. Arguably, it’s an exercise in deferred gratification – only without the gratification.

Here’s the thing. The season finale of Vince Gilligan’s tantric drama (surely even Sting and Trudie would have lost patience with this one – they certainly wouldn’t have been able to hold on for the full nine hours) is actually quite entertaining. Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) arrives on a quest to unite with Carol (Rhea Seahorn) to save humanity, but he’s being an officious git, and Carol has suddenly gone a bit hivemind native, plus things keep getting lost in translation (literally, as he doesn’t speak English and they have to use the facility on their phones). Consequently, they spend most of the episode bickering before Carol opts for the nuclear option as a promise of more eventful storytelling in season 2.

On the up side, my mind didn’t wander once during this episode. Hurrah! On the downside, given they’d had eight instalments to get to this point, I felt as if I’d missed a beat. They didn’t seem to have earned Carol’s reversal even though she’s realised she can’t live without human company and is now sleeping with Zosia (Karolina Wydra). Sure, Carol would want personal contact and sex, but Zosia is such a phenomenally boring and patronising character, why on earth would an intelligent, curious person such as Carol become so devoted to her?

Indeed, in the middle of the penultimate episode she was still keeping secret notes on her whiteboard where she has been plotting the hivemind’s demise. But, in the finale, she suddenly starts behaving like a petulant twelve year old, and I actually spooled back to make sure I hadn’t been astral planing during a key moment of transition where Carol’s brain had abruptly turned to prepubescent jelly.

The whole episode plays out like starting your car after a long absence, having forgotten that you’d parked it in first gear.

Verdict: So, am I excited about what’s to come in season 2? No, not really, because what Plur1bus has taught me is that even the creator of two of the greatest TV shows ever made is capable of boring the pants off me and failing to deliver on his narrative promises. I’m going to watch it, though, of course. Sigh.

Episode rating: 7/10  Series rating: 5/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com