Apple TV just surprised fans by announcing that its highly successful sci-fi series will get a new release date this week. Unlike streamers like Netflix, Apple TV knows that the best way to build anticipation for a series is by releasing it weekly and not dropping it all at once. The service has created sensations out of shows like Ted Lasso, Silo, and Severance by the slow drip weekly releases, with fans growing in their anticipation for waiting to see what is next in the story. After the last episode of Plurbus ended in a cliffhanger, Apple has surprised fans with the announcement of an earlier drop for the next episode.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Pluricus, the new Apple TV series by Vince Gilligan (Better Call Saul), typically drops on the streaming service on Fridays. The first two episodes arrived on November 7, followed by the third on November 14, and the fourth on November 21. In a social media post, Apple TV announced that the fifth episode would arrive two days early, on Wednesday, November 26. The post read: “Hi, Carol. We’ll be seeing you a little bit earlier than normal this week. Looking forward to Wednesday.”
Following this, things will get back to normal next week, with new Pluribus episodes coming every Friday on Apple TV until the finale arrives on December 26.
Pluribus Has Strong Competition On November 26
There is a really good reason for this move. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, and Friday is a massive shopping day in the United States known as Black Friday. By dropping the new Pluribus episode on Wednesday, it allows people to watch it before the Thanksgiving weekend overwhelms most families. It also works out well since the last episode ended with a cliffhanger, and fans can see the fallout much quicker. However, this also means there will be a longer wait (9 days) for the next episode on December 5.
That said, this could also hurt the viewing numbers for Pluribus this week. The show will have the biggest competition imaginable when Stranger Things releases its first four episodes from its fifth and final season on Wednesday as well. With every episode in the final season looking to be close to feature length, this could result in about eight hours of Stranger Things viewing for fans throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, all starting on Wednesday. That doesn’t leave much time for Pluribus, although that would have happened if it had been released on Friday anyway. Stranger Things will drop its next three episodes on December 25 and then its finale on December 31.
Pluribus tells the story of an author who is one of only 13 people in the world who was not affected by an alien virus that connected every human on Earth into a peaceful and content hive mind. Rhea Seehorn plays the author, Carol, while Karolina Wydra plays Zosia, one of the Others who serves as Carol’s companion. Pluribus has a 99% Rotten Tomatoes rating, with the tag line “The most miserable person on Earth must save the world from happiness.”
The last Pluribus episode ended with a massive cliffhanger, where Carol injected Zosia with a truth serum to ask if the “Joining” could be reversed to bring humanity back to the way it was. However, Zosia began to have a heart attack, and other members of the Hive Mind arrived to try to save her. There will be nine total episodes in Pluribus season 1, with the finale coming on December 26. That episode will also have the strong competition of the next drop of Stranger Things, which hits one day earlier.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of HBO -
Courtesy of Netflix -
Courtesy of TOHO Animation
