Do You Think the Atom Bomb in the 'Pluribus' Finale Is Real or a Metaphor?

Let's drop the big one and see what happens

Such a sad and longing look. Apple TV+

I’m a week late on this and perhaps everyone has already had this conversation and I’m a Johnny Come Lately, not a Johnny O’Clock, but I want to talk about the finale of Pluribus. My question is exactly what the title says: Is the “atom bomb” our dyspeptic pal Carol Sturka gets delivered to her own driveway a literal nuke, or a metaphorical one?

Earlier in the season, she asked her lovely pod person chaperone Zosia if the Weirdos would give her an atom bomb if she asked for one, and Zosia said that if it would make Carol happy, they would. Then at the end of the season, after developing real affection for Zosia and then finding out that the alien hive mind Zosia is the face of is trying to figure out how to turn her frozen eggs into stem cells so they can force her to join them and that Zosia’s companionship is mostly a manipulation tactic, Carol returns home to Albuquerque in a helicopter carrying a metal shipping container. It’s not as big as the kind of container you see in a shipyard. It looks to be about the size of a weapons shipping container you could buy on spacesaver.com. Manousos, the severely serious man who traveled all the way from Paraguay to help Carol figure out how to turn the world back to normal, is there watching Zosia drop Carol off (it really looks like actress Karolina Wydra — who actually did taxi a plane earlier in the season — is flying the chopper, and however they faked it is really impressive). He asks what’s in the crate. “Atom bomb,” she answers.

I took her answer figuratively. It’s a metaphorical atom bomb, a “nuclear option” that she can use to get the Weirdos to do what she wants. Because what would she do with an actual nuke? But most people online seem to be taking Carol at face value. After all, we know she can get a nuke if she wants one. Vince Gilligan is TV’s most meticulous planner, and Carol’s question is unlikely to be a throwaway line. But seriously, if that’s what it is, what is she going to do with it? The most common theory I’ve seen on Reddit seems to be that she’s planning to trigger some sort of EMP that disrupts the electromagnetic fields they use to communicate with each other. Seems a little scientifically advanced for a romantasy author, but sure, maybe. We know she doesn’t actually want to hurt anyone. She was devastated when she found out her bouts of rage resulted in actual deaths. Whatever she’s planning, it’s not blowing up the sleeping Weirdos at the Rio Rancho Events Center.

I have no theories beyond that. I’m not much of a theorizer. Whatever I could think of, it won’t be better than what Vince Gilligan comes up with. I’m happy to wait and see what it is (unfortunately I’m going to be waiting a long time; the writers only recently started work on Season 2). But people seem to think that Gilligan has confirmed that it’s an atom bomb. They cite a few public statements, like an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where he refers to it as an “atom bomb,” as proof. I’m not totally convinced, though. Unless he says “it’s literally an atom bomb,” I will think it’s possible that he’s preserving the reveal of what it actually is. Because wouldn’t it be more surprising if it’s not actually a bomb when everyone is convinced it is? (I am open to the possibility that I’m being dense. If you’ve seen an interview where he totally confirms his intentions, please share it with me; I will be embarrassed for writing a post that’s so easily disprovable, but grateful to have complete information.)

So what do you think? A-bomb or nah?