Vince Gilligan Says Writers Are ‘Plugging Away’

While many who have seen Pluribus — Apple TV‘s biggest series to date — are clamoring for what’s next in the chilling utopian saga (especially after that explosive Season 1 ending), creator Vince Gilligan is tempering expectations on the release timeline for Season 2.

During a curated press day event for the streamer earlier this week, where Pluribus panels took place alongside those for other buzzy series like Margo’s Got Money Troubles and The Last Thing He Told Me, the Breaking Bad alum noted he and his writers are “plugging away” on a new installment.

Adding in the conversation — moderated by actor Samba Schutte, who plays the unserious and unbothered Diabaté in Pluribus — Gilligan said, “And please, for all the folks, God bless you, if you like the show, thank you. Thank you for getting us here on this stage. And it takes a long time to come up with these episodes. We are deeper into the process at this moment than I would like considering how few episodes we have figured out. But it takes some time, just as it did in the first season. And we appreciate everybody’s patience. But it ain’t gonna be The Pitt coming back every year. I wish it would be ’cause I think that’s an awesome show.”

Gilligan, who also serves as executive producer, writer and director on the Rhea Seehorn vehicle, previously stated that the gestation of the idea for the sci-fi thriller-comedy spanned a decade.

Of the HBO Max procedural-esque medical drama, the multi-hyphenate added, “And that’s old school, like we used to do it on The X-Files. We’d come back the same month every year. It will not be like The Pitt [laughs]. We’ll come back maybe the same month. Just the question of what year. So thank you for your patience.”

Ever before its blockbuster premiere, Pluribus had scored an early Season 2 commitment. After an alien-transmitted virus infects the world population with the disease of overabundant merriment, just over a dozen survivors remain. Among them: the cantankerous romantasy author Carol Sturka, who must begrudgingly find a way to cure the earth of happiness.

“I hate happy people. That’s why I wrote this,” Gilligan shared elsewhere on the panel. “Probably my whole life — almost 60 years I’ve been thinking: ‘What is it about happiness?’ We’re always chasing it. It’s elusive, more so for some people than others.”