Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan talks about how the protagonist of Pluribus is different from Walter White

In his new show Pluribus, Vince Gilligan, the creator of complex and imperfect characters such as Walter White, chooses to take a different path. Rather than emphasizing the character’s descent into darkness, Pluribus takes a different approach. Its narrative centers around Carol Sturka, portrayed by Rhea Seehorn, a woman who becomes a silent agent of goodness in a strange world where everyone appears to be unnaturally happy.

Although Breaking Bad demonstrated how a good man can gradually corrupt himself, Pluribus turns this notion upside down. The question it poses is what happens when one attempts to remain genuine and kind in a world that urges everyone to be unreal and overly optimistic.

Gilligan retains his trademark tone in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, intelligent, philosophical, and deeply human. However, now he seems more concerned with providing his characters compassion and optimism than confusion and egomania. Pluribus is not about an antihero; it is about a flawed individual who, in her own faltering manner, decides to be a moral guide.

What Vince Gilligan said about Breaking Bad’s Walter White and Pluribus' Carol Sturka

The journey of Walter White in Breaking Bad was one of gradual ruin. He began as a man with cancer who made desperate decisions that appeared right at first, but over time, he transformed into a monster because of the choices he made. Vince Gilligan created Walter to demonstrate how fear and ego can corrupt an individual to the point where they lose their soul.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Vince Gilligan revealed:

“As much as I love Walter White and as proud as I am of Breaking Bad — and as much as I know that it’ll be the first sentence in my obituary — at a certain point, you’re like, ‘God, it’d be nice to write a hero again, someone who’s trying to do the right thing,’”

Gilligan desired to explore something new with Pluribus. This time, he wanted to write about healing rather than ruin. Carol Sturka, the protagonist, is not a genius criminal or a smooth talker; she is a woman who refuses to settle for the fake version of happiness everyone else seems to believe in. Because she’s the only one who truly sees what’s wrong and what’s right, she refuses to go along with it, and that loneliness drives her to action. Gilligan told The Hollywood Reporter:

“Carol Sturka is a hero. She’s imperfect. She can be a bit of a noodge or a curmudgeon or what have you, but we root for her. She wants to do the right thing, and she wants to save the world. And that’s refreshing.”

The tension in the story also takes a different direction. In the case of Walter White, we saw how far he could go to preserve his pride and family. In Carol’s case, we wonder whether she will be able to reunite people and make them care once again. Gilligan explains that Pluribus is an experiment to see whether viewers are still willing to love a complicated lead character, even when she’s trying to do things right rather than wrong.

Gilligan tests audience’s faith in goodness

Creating Breaking Bad made Vince Gilligan realize that viewers will follow a rogue character’s journey as long as it feels authentic. However, he has also observed how times have shifted. Today’s audiences have already witnessed a multitude of antiheroes and dark, turmoil-filled plots. And so, through Pluribus, he decided to venture into something new: a story based on empathy.

Gilligan claims he was interested in seeing whether people still cared about a character who is simply trying to do the right thing. That doesn’t make Carol, the new lead, a saint. He portrays her as flawed, a person who faces many difficulties yet strives to retain her humanity.

Gilligan’s signature style is still intact in Pluribus

If the dark humor of Breaking Bad or the intellectually sharp characters of Better Call Saul appealed to you, you will still feel Vince Gilligan’s touch in Pluribus. The snappy dialogues, witty twists, and humorous-but-tense situations are all present. However, this time, the heart of the story lies elsewhere.

Pluribus is more about irony and absurdity: almost everyone in this world appears to be too happy, which brings both humor and discomfort. The irony doesn’t lie in asking what is right, wrong, good, or bad, as in Breaking Bad; rather, Pluribus depicts how peculiar and lonely false happiness can be. The character of Carol, portrayed by Rhea Seehorn, brings a dry, subtly frustrated charm that allows Gilligan to blend satire with sincere emotion.

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