Carol (Rhea Seehorn) in Apple TV’s ‘Pluribus’ episode 5
Apple TV
The fifth episode of Pluribus ends on a reveal that we never get to see, with Carol (Rhea Seehorn) horrified at the sight of the hivemind’s dietary secret.
“Got Milk” drops many clues hinting at the mysterious ingredient of the hivemind’s “milk,” and fans are convinced that they already know the upcoming twist to Apple TV’s sci-fi series.
Warning—Spoilers Ahead
What’s In The Hivemind’s Milk?
Carol’s gasp in the final scene of episode five strongly suggests that she’s looking at human remains.
Pluribus fans reckon that the mysterious liquid could be blood plasma or spinal fluid, with some suggesting that the white powder is made of bonemeal, or powdered corpses.
The idea of a dystopian society feeding citizens cannibalistic slop was famously depicted in the 1973 sci-fi film Soylent Green, and Pluribus might be paying tribute to the genre classic.
Let’s break down the evidence.
What Is The Plot Of ‘Pluribus,’ Episode 5?
We don’t know what happened to Zosia (Karolina Wydra) after the cliffhanger ending of episode 4, but Carol drugging her chaperone proved a step too far, with the hivemind withdrawing from her entirely.
Every single person surrounding Carol drives away, in a memorable scene in which she watches the exodus on the highway. It’s a poignant sight, and Carol can’t help but feel isolated, despite knowing that none were human.
They even leave an irritating “customer service” voicemail for Carol explaining that they need some “space,” but offering to fulfill her needs, long-distance.
The migration to a mysterious location begs the question of what the hivemind actually do when Carol isn’t watching them—they don’t need to speak to one another, and effortlessly co-ordinate to do necessary maintenance.
What do they do in their downtime? Perhaps they do nothing and sit perfectly still, like lizards.
Carol discovers that they do need sustenance, after finding that the recycling bins around town are filled with cartons of milk, and nothing else.
This is a worldbuilding episode, with Carol doing a lot of detective work, slowly unravelling the mystery around how the hivemind produces this mysterious “milk.”
After tracking down the milk manufacturer, Duke City Dairy, Carol arrives at the warehouse and finds traces of a liquid that doesn’t resemble milk. Then Carol discovers heaps of large sacks filled with white powder.
Realizing that the milk is made from the powder, Carol takes the bag home and tests it with a PH kit, then explains her findings in a video, ordering the hivemind to distribute the footage to her fellow survivors.
Carol discovers that the “milk” is a golden color, slightly oily, odorless and has a PH of 7.1, which is pretty much neutral.
It’s unclear if anyone cares about Carol’s findings (although the man from Paraguay, Manousos, played by Carlos-Manuel Vesga, is probably interested), and Carol continues her investigation alone.
Noticing a bar code on the bag, Carol travels to a supermarket and traces the code to a dog food manufacturer. She drives to the company’s warehouse, opening a freezer door to reveal rows of frozen vegetables.
Makes sense—the hivemind did say that they were vegetarian, unwilling to kill (or even harm) any living creature for any purpose.
Then Carol sees something else, a thing covered by a tarp. When she lifts the tarp, she seems to take a moment to understand, until something clicks and she gasps, visibly disturbed.
It’s a strong reaction from a stoic character. It must be a corpse, surely?
The Ending Of ‘Pluribus’ Episode 5, Explained
All the signs point to the Soylent Green theories being true—”Got Milk” isn’t even subtle about it.
For example, when Carol first finds the sacks, the powder is being picked at by crows, a common symbol of death.
There’s scavengers everywhere in this episode, as wild coyotes scrabble to dig up the corpse of Carol’s lover, Helen (Miriam Shor), seeking to eat the remains.
Pluribus creator Vince Gilligan seems to want viewers to know (or believe) that the milk is made from the dead. Episode two even foreshadows it, showing a corpse being loaded into a dairy truck.
After all, the disastrous aftermath of the hivemind virus pandemic and Carol’s repeated disturbances to their psychic bond created many, many dead bodies. The hivemind cleaned them up, and seemingly stored them.
After all, the hivemind are pragmatic, and it’s likely that they view burying the mountains of corpses as senseless waste, and want to make use of those golden calories.
Technically, the hivemind aren’t committing murder, and as this episode repeatedly points out, they really love recycling.