Pluribus Episode 8, "Charm Offensive", brings Carol's attraction to Zosia to a head in its third act. The seventh episode ended with Carol reuniting with Zosia after being isolated by The Others for 40 days. This episode saw Carol adopt a different approach to her investigation into the hive-minded people. But the highlight of this episode is in the third act, as Carol and Zosia have a tense conversation.After that tense conversation, Zosia surprisingly kisses Carol, and they spend the night together. While some initially believed that Zosia, who is one of the hive-minded people, was manipulating Carol. Vince Gilligan had informed Zosia actress Karolina Wydra that the hive-minded people in Pluribus don't have:“Have secrets, they’re not secretive, they’re not manipulative, they’re genuinely good, loving, kind, unflappable beings.”Based on this description, it probably means that Zosia and the rest of the hive-collective do genuinely love Carol. However, Vince Gilligan, in a recent Deadline interview, revealed he wanted fans to untangle this question for themselves, saying:“I know this is never the most satisfying answer, but I really — with this show more than any show I’ve ever worked on — want the audience … to come to their own conclusions. I want the audience to decide: Is this true love, or is it artifice? What does it represent?”What do Pluribus showrunner Vince Gilligan's comments mean? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIt basically means that Gilligan wants fans to draw their own conclusions. This is not surprising, as a lot of fans have theorized that the Apple TV is less about surviving the apocalypse and more about adapting to the new world. Until the closing minutes of Pluribus Episode 7, Carol was hostile towards The Others, but it looks like her attitude has changed, as shown in Pluribus Episode 8.Thus, it seems that the hive-minded people might genuinely love Carol and simultaneously not want her to look into ways to reverse the situation. The show's EP and the writer of the eighth episode, Alison Tatlock, addressed Carol and Zosia's intimate moment in the same recent Deadline interview:“I feel like it’s sort of a perfect storm for Carol to be vulnerable enough, after being deprived of human interaction for such a long time and having gone through the trauma of the first couple of episodes of losing her wife in such a horrible way and then being abandoned. She is desperate for some kind of human connection, and we all have the ability to trick ourselves or to tell ourselves a story that suits the moment, and her story for the moment that she needs is this is a person, this is an individual and I can make a connection.”It is clear from the first act of the seventh episode that Carol is feeling lonely, and she tries different devastating activities to get The Others' attention. But the only thing that gets their attention is a simple message in front of her house. Thus, Carol is already in a vulnerable place after being isolated for over a month.Carol had also expressed attraction towards Zosia in the fourth episode. Therefore, it is not surprising that Carol acted on her attraction finally after a month away from Zosia.What's next for the Apple Plus series?The Pluribus Season 1 finale is officially scheduled on Christmas Eve, i.e., December 24, 2025. However, Apple TV released the previous seven episodes a day earlier; therefore, we may get the finale on Tuesday. So, here's when we may watch the episode across the world:Pacific Standard Time: 06:00 PM, December 23, 2025Eastern Standard Time: 09:00 PM, December 23, 2025Indian Standard Time: 06:30 AM, December 24, 2025Greenwich Mean Time +1: 01:00 AM, December 24, 2025Australian Eastern Standard Time: 11:00 AM, December 24, 2025Central European Time: 03:00 AM, December 24, 2025Make sure to refresh your Apple Plus page on the coming Tuesday for the Pluribus finale.