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As Apple TV Plus series Pluribus enters its final weeks, it has just achieved a mighty record.
Coming in as a late contender for one of the best shows of the year, if not the decade, the apocalyptic sci-fi series from the mind of Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has scooped up rave review after rave reviews.
Described as ‘one of the smartest shows of 2025’ by the BBC, and ‘TV’s next great show’ by Looper, the series has already secured a hugely impressive 98% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes with 139 reviews.
After a debut that saw it blow past Severance season two premiere as the biggest drama launch the platform had ever seen (with 6.4million hours watched in seven days in the US alone), now it has an impressive new record to add to its title.
After six years of acclaimed show releases, the prestige streamer confirmed that Pluribus is the most-watched show in Apple TV history – bar none.
They announced the mammoth news in a small clip, which saw our protagonist Carol (Rhea Seehorn) light a sparkler, grab a beer and start singing as the news flashed on the screen.
Severance has been dethroned by Apple TV Plus’ latest hit (Picture: Apple TV+/ AP)
This means it has not only outpaced major staples on the platform like The Morning Show and Slow Horses, but it has even overtaken one of the buzziest shows of 2025 – Severance – once and for all.
The series follows Carol, the most miserable woman on earth, who must save the Earth from happiness when the vast majority of humanity is consumed by an extraterrestrial mind virus.
What does Metro think of Apple TV’s record-breaking series Pluribus?
TV Reporter Milo shares his four-and-a-half-star review…
With the looming threat of Artificial Intelligence in a world that is becoming increasingly more polarised, there’s an urgent message in here about not letting political systems dominate our thinking.
But within this, somehow, Gilligan manages to maintain this hilarious levity and life-affirming soul, largely through the powerhouse performance of Seehorn who is, expectedly, so multi-faceted and commanding as a leading figure here.
Pluribus may be no Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, but it’s a wonderfully singular and confident step in a new direction for an already masterful writer.
You can read the full review here.
The series, starring Rhea Seehorn, has accumulated rave reviews and the viewing figures to match it (Picture: Apple TV+)
Each episode reportedly has a budget of $15million (Picture: Apple TV+)
What’s even more impressive is that Pluribus has achieved this with two episodes remaining of this season to go with the finale airing on December 26.
Luckily, fans have already been promised a second season, although there will be hopes that it won’t be a lengthy wait.
Discussing the process of creating the series with Metro, especially compared to his Walter White days, Vince had nothing but praise.
‘It is wonderful, I’ve got so say. It was a step up budgetarily with Apple, but they’ve also given us the time. They haven’t been breathing down our necks, which to me is just as important, probably more important.
‘AMC was very generous to us on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but this show is at a whole different level, scope-wise. But even then, the budget was barely enough. At a lot of times we were running out of money,’ he said.
Quite the statement considering reports of $15million (£11.2m) per episode, according to Rolling Stone.
Pluribus season one episodes one to seven are now streaming on Apple TV Plus. Episode eight releases on December 19 and the finale on December 26.
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