Pluribus creator Gordon Smith talks about filming “Incredibly hard” grocery store sequence in Episode 3

Pluribus stops you right in your tracks the second you hear what went into Episode 3’s wild grocery store moment. Fans already know the vibe this show brings to the table and how it has always been intense right from the very first get-go.

However, this time around, the creator Gordon Smith said something that instantly made all of us lean in. In an interview with Gold Derby, he said that filming the grocery store scene in Episode 3 was:

“Very, very hard. Incredibly hard. Way, way harder than I thought it would be.”

So what made that grocery store sequence such a nightmare to film? Short answer: everything.

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How the Pluribus grocery store scene became the toughest thing Gordon Smith ever tackled

If you watch Pluribus and pay attention to the tiniest of details, you already know Episode 3 has a different kind of vibe attached to it. The grocery store scene looks simple on screen, but Gordon Smith explained that it was honestly a giant puzzle that had to be solved the proper way.

The show depends so much on the tiniest details, and this sequence had almost too many things happening at once. Smith admitted to Gold Derby that even while writing it, he had no clue how huge it would become. He laughed about how he first thought it would be no big deal, then realized the actual truth. He said:

“When we were writing it and breaking it, I’m like, sure, it’ll be a big deal, but it won’t be that bad. It was very, very hard. Incredibly hard. Way, way harder than I thought it would be.”

The storyline in Pluribus Episode 3 needed an actual emptied Sprouts store to match Carol’s emotional state. Smith said the team cleared out every store to save resources for humanity.

That meant the crew had to clear real aisles, stay on a tight store schedule, and somehow restock everything for the next part of the scene. The art department, VFX team, and stunt teams were all literally on their feet for days to get this one location right.

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Why the Apple TV show needed real shelves & real trucks to nail the grocery store scene

Pluribus could have faked the location inside a warehouse, but Smith said that would have been a totally different story. He wanted viewers to feel like Carol was walking into a real place, not some model set that felt too clean. He explained that Sprouts let them close the store for only a tiny stretch of time.

Even then, the crew had to buy tons of the food they touched since none of it could go back on sale. Smith talked about how the team emptied only the parts Carol would walk past and then leaned on VFX to erase the rest.

This whole thing turned into five or six days of nonstop filming. He also shared how he planned and ran down everything, down to the timing of the trucks driving in.

The trucks in Episode 3 were real trucks with real drivers. The scene where they slide into the parking lot had to be rehearsed over and over until it synced up.

Smith told Gold Derby that they ran it a few times and later fixed tiny timing issues in post. He originally wanted a full Busby Berkeley-style unloading sequence, but Pluribus needed to save the budget for more important shots, so he cut it.

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Pluribus Episode 3 looks slick and calm on screen, but Gordon Smith’s behind-the-scenes story shows how intense it really was. The show needed real stores, trucks, and teamwork to make one short sequence feel honest.

Smith’s honesty about how tough it was just makes fans appreciate the show even more. If this is how hard Episode 3 was to make, the rest of the season is about to be unreal.

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