Multiple buses Episode 4 debuted on Apple TV and introduced a new character that I believe could be instrumental in solving the main mystery of the sci-fi series.
The latest Apple TV Original episode, titled “Please Carol,” continues to follow the title character, aka Rhea Seahorn’s Carol, as she tries to find a way to undo The Joining.
Who is the mysterious man introduced in episode 4 of Pluribus?
Say hi to all the Manusos
It will be Manousos Oviedo, played by Carlos-Manuel Vesga. This is the person whose voice Carol and we, by proxy, hear over the phone. Multiple buses Episode 3, also known as “Granada”. Yes, Manousos is the temperamental Colombian living in Paraguay – this is confirmed in episode 4 of the official Pluribus FYI podcast – who bluntly tells Carol to leave him alone when she repeatedly tries to contact him at the beginning of “Granada”.
Multiple buses The first act of episode 4 reveals that she is not only an even more secretive person than Carol, but she is also much more suspicious of the others.
This is evident in the first ten minutes of “Please Carol”, where Manousos cowers in the main office of his workplace (a warehouse company) and refuses to interact with others. In fact, he is so skeptical of them that he locks the office windows and destroys the food they give him. Manousos would rather eat dog food and sugar packets taken from his customers’ locked safes than interact with others.
Carol spoke briefly with the Manousos in episode 3 when she returned to the United States.
At least that was the case until Manouso’s landline encounter with Carol. Act 1 of Multiple busesThe fourth episode recalls the moment in episode 3 when Carol and Manousos were talking (read: yelling at each other) on the phone. “Grenade” gave us Carol’s perspective on this blasphemous moment, so it’s fitting that “Please Carol” gives us Manouso’s version of events.
It is important that it is so. After a rude Carol hangs up, Manousos realizes that he has just spoken to one of 13 people, including Manousos and Carole, who are apparently immune to The Joining. After all, others don’t have the ability to get angry, let alone swear, so it’s a clear sign to the lonely Manouso that there are others like him.
Why Manousos could be the key to answering Pluribus’ biggest question
What is the frequency, Manousos?
Multiple buses has raised more questions than answers since its premiere on Apple TV. However, there are two main questions that require explanation: Who or what caused the adhesion? And is there any way to undo this?
The end of Multiple buses Episode 3 asked a big question about The Joining: why doesn’t Carol ask the others to find a cure? After all, others cannot lie to you, as I predicted in the previous article. “Please, Carol” confirms that this is also true, while Carol tries (and fails!) to use this to her advantage when she discovers that they can’t even tell little lies.
This is where Manousos comes into play. He may be a landfill manager, but as episode 4 shows, he’s also very good with radios and the frequencies they transmit.
The last time we see Manousos, Carol is writing her name on a piece of paper. Therefore, chances are you will try to find them with the radio equipment you have at your disposal.
What if Manousos is an even more knowledgeable radio expert than we think? Sure, anyone can turn a dial on a radio to locate a terrestrial frequency, but I think there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Manousos doesn’t seem like the type to look for other immune systems. So why does it circulate through these frequencies?
First, the others didn’t find Manousos as quickly as the rest of the immune people. At first, Carol discovers that she is only one of twelve people unaffected by the Union. However, Zosia informs Carol that a thirteenth person has been found living in Paraguay (i.e. the Manousos).
This immediately piqued my interest. If the others located the other human resistance fighters immediately, why did it take them longer to find the Manousos?
I suspect he was using radio signals to disrupt the collective consciousness of the hive mind in an attempt to make himself invisible. While it may have worked at first, it apparently didn’t take long before they succeeded in foiling his plan. Remember that “The Joining” is the result of an RNA sequence based on a radio signal. Therefore, it is likely that the Others could have detected what Manousos was doing, shut down the frequency he was using to jam him, and then detected him.
If – and this depends entirely on what I have assumed in the previous four paragraphs – Manousos is a radio and/or signal specialist, he could play a critical role in the dismissal.
Think about it. The collective mind is held together by a “psychic glue” created by a reverse-engineered virus created in a laboratory using the RNA-based radio signal that humanity discovered in the first episode of one of Apple TV’s best shows. Therefore, it is crucial to unravel the mystery of this radio signal in order to decipher it and possibly find a cure. Who better to solve this mystery than a man who happens to be a radio enthusiast?
Okay, I agree that someone with a scientific background should work with Manousos to decipher the RNA part of this alien signal. At this point, we don’t know if such a person hasn’t succumbed to The Joining. But if they were, I’d be surprised if Carol, Manousos, and this potential candidate didn’t band together to try to opt out.
Pluribus episodes 1 to 4 are now available on Apple TV, one of the biggest best streaming services. New chapters appear every week.
