Image Credits: © 2025 – Apple TV+ via IMDb
Since the bombshell premiere of Episodes One and Two of “Pluribus,” fans desperately waited to see how this hit show would follow with Episode Three. With this one not being written and directed by Vince Gilligan, unlike the previous two, I was hoping to see not much change, and to that end I was very impressed. Episode Three definitely serves as a more laid-back episode compared to the last two, but that doesn’t mean this episode doesn’t offer a lot.
Episode Three: Grenade
Unlike the previous episodes, “Grenade” starts off with a flashback set years before the main events of “Pluribus.” Here we see Helen and Carol in Norway at a hotel almost completely made of ice, in what has to be one of the coolest visuals of the show so far. Though Helen is absolutely fascinated by how different everything is, Carol thinks the exact opposite. She is not only annoyed by how cold everything is, but also seems to go out of her way to be miserable. Her attitude feels very similar to how we’ve seen her in the last two episodes, dictating that she has always been this negative, even when the world wasn’t ending. This flashback ends with a lovely scene of them staring at the northern lights together, in one of the only moments we see Helen and Carol genuinely happy together.
After the intro title sequence, we then cut back to Carol on the plane, where things ended off last episode. We see she was successful in taking back Zosia from Koumba’s haram, and though Zosia will never thank her for it, both Carol and the audience know that she did the right thing.
After realizing she probably can’t talk to any of the other English-speaking survivors again after the last episode, Carol has Zosia describe the rest of the survivors. Carol is disappointed to hear that none of them are scientists or doctors, but realizes that Zosia didn’t describe to her the newly discovered survivor from Paraguay that they apparently found last episode. His name is Manousos, and while he doesn’t have a helpful profession, Zosia explains how he has yet to communicate with them. Carol, understanding this desire not to talk to this hivemind, asks to speak with him. Zosia warns her that he only really speaks Spanish, but Carol still wants to talk with him.
Carol calls Manousos using the plane’s phone, and while he doesn’t pick up the first two times, the third time, he answers. Carol tries speaking to him with her somewhat fluent Spanish, which is better than I thought it would be. Before she can finish her sentence he hangs up, so Carol calls again, but unlike last time, as Carol tries to introduce herself, Manousos speaks, yelling, “¡no me jodan más! ¡Dejenme én paz, putas!” This translates out to: “Stop messing with me! Leave me alone, you b**ches!” While it is unclear if Carol fully understood what he said, she knows it wasn’t anything nice, so she makes Zosia call him back. When he picks up this time though, Carol doesn’t even let him say anything before she yells “¡chinga tu madre, cabron!” This translates out to “F**k your mother, b**tard!,” as yet again, Carol burns another bridge.
The plane lands and Zosia drives Carol home, where she gets out immediately, not looking even remotely to say goodbye. Zosia stops her though because she reveals that they had collected all the mail in transit, and found that there was a package being sent her way. While Zosia is very excited for Carol to open it, it is clear Carol has no idea what could be inside. Carol goes inside and opens the packaging to see a Theragun inside. Confused, she calls Zosia to understand why she was so excited earlier. Zosia recalls a memory where Carol tried a Theragun in the Atlanta airport but didn’t buy it because it was too expensive, and since the tour had been so stressful for Carol, Helen bought one online for her as a homecoming present. Carol then sternly tells Zosia to never think about Helen again and to get her memories of their head, because Carol wants them all to herself. I understand Carol’s anger here, as no matter how hard Zosia tries to be nice and helpful to Carol, those aren’t their memories, and Carol rightfully believes she has no right to know them. Carol hangs up the call before Zosia can respond, and looks off to the grave in her backyard, a constant reminder of what she has lost.
After getting sent food from the hivemind that she doesn’t want, and realizing her fridge is empty, Carol takes it upon herself to go to the grocery store, Sprouts, herself. When Carol gets there though, she creepily finds the entire store is completely empty of all groceries. Now, even more angry, Carol calls Zosia, hilariously asking her if she is the “Grinch who steals supermarkets.” Zosia apologizes, saying they are “consolidating resources,” and informing Carol once again that she can just call whenever she needs something. While this is incredibly convenient, it only fuels Carol’s anger even more to the point she has to make things extremely clear. Carol tells her exactly what we’ve been picking up on since the show started: that she is very independent and that she knows how to fend for herself. All she asks of Zosia is to get her Sprouts back, to which Zosia is very understanding. While Carol assumes it would take days, Zosia says that they’ll be there very shortly.
From here, we get a very fun montage of a lot of people in the hivemind working to restock the grocery store. This is by far the most entertaining moment in the episode, as Carol stands in shock at all of the people doing her bidding. Once they leave, Carol finally can do her grocery shopping. We then cut to her watching “The Golden Girls,” as we see her shockingly eating a microwaveable meal. This displays perfectly how Carol would rather do something herself and it be mediocre, than have someone do something for her.
As Carol is eating though, the power randomly goes out. Carol, of course, calls Zosia and while she tries to explain herself, Carol’s responses get as rude and sarcastic as possible. It gets to the point where Zosia asks how they can cheer her up, and Carol responds with: “There is nothing wrong with me that a f**king hand grenade wouldn’t fix. You got one of those?” While any normal person could pick this up as sarcasm, with the title of the episode and knowing the hivemind’s want to serve, I could tell where this is going.
As Carol, at her breaking point, starts to mix her medication with alcohol, Zosia arrives at Carol’s house, and just like she asked, she holds a hand grenade. As Carol stares in disbelief, Zosia tells her that they “thought [she] was probably being sarcastic, but [they] didn’t want to take the chance.” Seeing her smile through this line, and then frown right after realizing it was sarcasm was honestly really sad to watch. There is something to be said about how perfectly Karolina Wydra plays Zosia, as we want to hate them since they are responsible for literally enslaving the whole planet, but her constant optimism makes her so likable. She is the perfect contrast to the constant negativity that is Carol.
As Zosia begins to leave, feeling kind of stupid, Carol asks if they drink, to which Zosia walks in with the hand grenade. As they knock a drink back while Zosia tells Carol numerous facts about alcohol that Carol clearly finds relentlessly boring, Carol eventually asks how long until she joins the “collective.” Zosia can’t give her a straight answer since she really doesn’t know, but this only angers Carol even further.
It gets to the point where Carol is confused as to why they even want her to join the hivemind. Zosia responds, asking, “If you were walking by a lake, and you saw someone drowning, would you throw ‘em a life preserver?” This strange analogy is honestly very understandable from Zosia’s perspective, even if in this scenario throwing a life vest is equivalent to erasing a human’s identity.
Carol then seeks to understand why being in the hivemind would even be desirable at all, as she mocks how great it would feel in all these beautiful, peaceful scenarios. Carol continues to make fun of it until she relates it to being in Norway in the Arctic Circle, and as she stops her sentence, Zosia picks it back up by saying, “in a hotel made of ice.” A call back to the flashback opener earlier this episode.
Carol reminds Zosia that Helen’s memories are off limits, as she picks up the hand grenade and starts playing with it. As Zosia warns her to be careful holding a hand grenade, as drunk as she is, Carol seems to be under the impression that it is fake. That is until the clip flies off, and though Carol stands in shock, Zosia quickly throws the grenade out the window. As it very quickly explodes, Zosia tackles Carol and shields her from the blast.
Carol eventually gets up to see the front of her house damaged and on fire, but as Zosia follows her out, she falls to the ground. Carol very immediately tries to help, and even in her drunk state, she knows to apply pressure to the wound, as an ambulance can be heard in the background.
We then cut to the morning, and as Carol is waiting in the hospital, a man with no medical attire on at all sits in front of her. He, as the hivemind, tells Carol that Zosia is okay with only a mild concussion. Carol looks past this though, as she asks why they gave her a real hand grenade. The man responds saying simply that she asked for one. It is here that Carol realized what Koumba found out very quickly in this new world, that if you ask for it, they’ll give it to you. Carol goes down a string of weapons ranging from a bazooka, to a tank and even an atom bomb, and every time, the hivemind agrees to give it to her. As Carol tells the man to leave, she starts to fully understand the power she has, and how she can pretty much do whatever she wants.
Episode 3: “Grenade” is just a repeating cycle of Zosia trying to do something nice, and Carol responding with ruthless anger and sarcasm. While sometimes it is definitely reasonable, I think Carol needs to understand that this situation could be much worse, and the fact that the hivemind is as helpful as they are is crazy. Not saying Carol should consider herself lucky by any means, but it could definitely be worse.
While the plot didn’t move a whole lot up until the very end of the episode, this episode still revealed a lot of character, as it began to plant the seeds for some crazy stuff to happen in the next episode. Especially now that Carol is starting to realize her full potential in this apocalypse, I am very excited to see what this is leading up to.
Episode Three: “Grenade” – 7/10
Samuel J. Beadle is a second-year English major. SB1033446@wcupa.edu
I think you may be missing a bit of context in that Carol is realizing that by giving her anything she asks for, that is the way to defeat them. At least, that’s how I read her expression on the last shot.