Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the first three episodes of Apple TV’s Pluribus.
Bodysnatchers are back, and this time they’ve already won.
Apple TV’s new series Pluribus is garnering a lot of critical and fan praise for its innovative take on this classic science fiction nemesis. When an extraterrestrial signal gets decoded to reveal a genetic instruction manual, scientists eagerly build the new organism. A moment of methodological carelessness lets that alien virus loose. Initial exposure to the virus puts humans into a helpless seizure state. Upon recovery, these humans act as if they are slightly high. This is not some pleasant buzz, though. Exposed humans have joined a collective hive mind.
This entity, which sometimes calls itself “Us,” claims to have a caring and compassionate agenda. Don’t be fooled, though; this gestalt is a terrible menace that shares much with its bodysnatcher kin.
In the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, alien seeds fall to Earth and take root in the fields of the fictional town of Santa Mira, California. Soon, they grow large pods. Any human who falls asleep near one of these pods is duplicated. The original somehow dies. The replacement is a perfect physical and mental copy, except that the “pod person” is now dedicated to spreading more pods worldwide. The pod people are also devoid of human emotions, going through the motions of everyday life without much passion or purpose. Dr. Miles Bennell, the main character of the movie, soon discovers that he is one of the last humans left in Santa Mira.
The film is often considered a metaphor for the fears of Communism and the collectivity inherent in the Cold War-era Soviet Union. The 1978 remake of the film moved the setting to San Francisco, upped the special effects, and gave the pod people a terrifying scream/howl they used to call out untransformed humans. This new take shifted the isolation away from fears of Russian ideology and instead considered the impersonal quality of life in the big city. If you do not know your neighbors, you do not know they have been bodysnatched.
Like all sci-fi foes, bodysnatchers have evolved over the years. One truism of science fiction is that Doctor Who often does it first. While the venerable series did not invent the concept, it did take the bodysnatcher to the next level. In the 1966 episode “The Tenth Planet,” the series introduced the Cybermen. People often focus on their cyborg nature, but Cybermen are really just technology-coated bodysnatchers who transform humans into other Cybermen. Later in the series, the Cybermen will refer to this as “upgrading.” The process is not voluntary, and it often results in a horrific factory-style transformation of human bodies. Chillingly, though, the Cybermen see this as an improvement.
A similar foe first imperiled the Star Trek franchise when a 1989 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the Borg. Like the Cybermen, the Borg ruthlessly assimilate humans into their collective. With their merger of humanoid bodies and machine elements, lacking the sleek metallic stylings of their Cybermen cousins, the Borg menace feels more threatening because they use their hive mind to adapt to and neutralize opponents’ offensive strategies quickly. The Borg quickly became the ultimate menace of the Star Trek franchise.
I have to mention another old favorite that also exemplifies an important point about bodysnatchers. In Justice League of America #189-190 (April – May 1981), the JLA’s first enemy, Starro the Conqueror, received a major power scale-up. A gigantic, one-eyed alien starfish is problematic enough, but Starro got the ability to release smaller versions of itself. These stars would wrap themselves around the faces of ordinary humans and superheroes alike, taking control of their minds and bodies (if this sounds familiar, Starro was a major antagonist in the 2021 film The Suicide Squad).
Starro demonstrates that some bodysnatchers are defeatable. Taking on a mind-controlled Superman or Wonder Woman is challenging, but if a Leaguer can just prise that starfish off their face, then the hero is freed, essentially good as new. Other bodysnatcher victims can be freed, but at a cost. Doctor Who and Star Trek lore have examples of people rescued from their transformed states and returned to normal. In this sense, there is hope for a cure.
The old-school bodysnatcher offers no hope in that regard. Everyone in Santa Mira who was copied in was gone for good. Only an edited ending sequence injected some measure of optimism by suggesting that Dr. Bennell’s warning alerted the authorities in time to stop a further spread. In San Francisco, the bodysnatchers outright won, leading to a terrifying final sequence.
Right now, “Us” seems to be following in those classic footsteps. The virus has succeeded in bringing almost all of humanity into its collective. Our main character, Carol, is one of the baker’s dozen humans who were not affected. Before the invasion, Carol was a misanthropic curmudgeon. This brave new world has not changed her. “Us” has a benign stance towards the rest of the unaffected, constantly approaching Carol with kindness and empathy. Carol observes their reordering of the world, with humanity now capable of collective feats in just the relatively minor goal of helping Carol. “Us” does not seek Carol’s destruction, but there is a menacing undercurrent at work. “Us” is working to determine why Carol and the other unaffected individuals are immune. “Us” hopes to cure this immunity and welcome Carol into its unity.
And this is where Pluribus becomes most fascinating. “Us” may seem kind, even beneficial. But this union has reordered the world for its own motives and without consent. “Us” calls this a biological imperative, but the plan was executed in stealth. “Us” is a bodysnatcher. It delegates agency to its collective whim.
At this point, “Us” appears to have one weakness. Aggressive emotions can restart the seizure process throughout all members of the collective. Carol’s accidental outbursts have inadvertently killed multiple former humans. Strangely, “Us” entire existence depends on Carol’s courtesy.
Carol and “Us” are existential threats to one another. At some point, choices will have to be made. And it will be fascinating to see what happens.