How Pluribus Pulled Off Its Biggest Stunt Yet — and Why “Think of Chocolate” Is the Key to the Series

At first glance, Vince Gilligan’s science-fiction series Pluribus doesn’t read like a stunt-driven show — it’s not built around high-speed chases or explosive set pieces. Much of its power is quieter: intimate, character-focused moments, like Carol (Rhea Seehorn) quietly watching The Golden Girls. Yet the visual and physical choreography is vital to the series’ language, and that’s where stunt coordinator Nito Larioza (credits include Avatar, The Suicide Squad, and I Think You Should Leave) becomes indispensable. When hundreds of performers must behave as a single, eerie collective, someone has to design the motion that makes the idea convincing.

That challenge was never clearer than in episode 4, “Please, Carol,” a sequence Larioza describes as one of season 1’s toughest stunts to stage. “We uncovered some incredible local talent in New Mexico for this,” he says, noting that the overhead compositions looked spectacular — but were hard-won. “It was awesome, and it was grueling.”

Spoiler warning: details below describe episode 4 of Pluribus.

Image: Apple TV

In “Please, Carol,” the protagonist tries a risky psychological gambit: she sedates her liaison, Zosia (Karolina Wydra), with sodium thiopental and presses for answers about how to separate individuals from the hivemind that now dominates humanity. Hundreds of extras — credited on set as “The Others” — converge on the pair, arriving from all directions to form a slow, ritualized ring. The Others chant, “Please, Carol, please, Carol,” their faces blank as the scene’s tension builds; the sequence crescendos when Zosia collapses and a defibrillator is rushed in. An aerial shot then reveals the circle parting on cue to admit medics, then closing again seamlessly once they pass.

“We did a ton of takes,” Larioza remembers. The conditions were hot and exhausting, so the team tried to keep performers shaded and rested. The success of the sequence came from obsessive preparation: timing, step counts, and repeatable precision — every move broken down into measurable beats.

To achieve that precision, Larioza organized performers into color-coded groups arranged like hours on a clock. Each group had an assigned number of steps from its mark to its final position, and production assistants called each release on cue so director Zetna Fuentes could anticipate when each performer would enter the frame. “I place my most reliable people up front where I need them to nail the marks,” Larioza says. “Then the ones who need more guidance follow behind so they can mirror what’s happening.”

Image: Apple TV

Gilligan has cited the synchronous motion of tropical fish as an influence — the way a school can change direction in an instant, faster than the eye can track. Larioza, meanwhile, thinks in terms of flocks of birds: a formation that breathes together, scattering and reassembling into a new shape. “I picture that connection,” he says. “I want the performers’ energy to feel like it’s moving as one organism.”

That cohesion starts at auditions. Larioza says he drilled performers on minimizing idiosyncratic behaviors: no hands in pockets, no exaggerated arm swings, and a simplified, pedestrian gait. “Everyone has a natural sway or tempo,” he explains. “I’d ask them to tone it down — maybe 20 to 30 percent less movement — so the group reads uniformly on camera.”

Image: Apple TV

For facial expressions and the subtle emotional baseline the Others needed, Larioza used a simple trick: put performers in a pleasant headspace. “I’d ask them what makes them happy — favorite foods, places — think chocolate, think Hawaii — to get a quiet, contented energy,” he says. That small, shared mood helped the extras hold a uniform, almost serene expression even as the scene’s emotional pitch rose.

New episodes of Pluribus typically air on Fridays; however, due to the Thanksgiving schedule, episode 5 is set to air on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.

Source: Polygon