It took no time at all for Pluribus to become an essential piece of Fall TV. After just four episodes, it’s been crowned the buzziest show of the season, bringing back the sensation of watercooler television. Its weekly drops feel darn-near unmissable — and after the revelations and traumas unleashed in Episode 4, “Please, Carol,” the next chapter of this alien invasion drama could be the most important thus far. It’s certainly being positioned as such by Apple TV.
New episodes of Pluribus technically premiere on Fridays, but Apple shows notoriously make new episodes available to stream hours before that official release day. That means that Pluribus is really available to stream on Thursday nights. Apple is tweaking that schedule further for Episode 5, cheekily titled “Got Milk.”
Originally, Pluribus Episode 5 would have premiered on Thursday, November 27, at 6 p.m. PT or 9 p.m. ET. Rather than compete with Thanksgiving festivities, however, “Got Milk” will be available to stream two days earlier, premiering on Tuesday, November 25, instead.
Pluribus Episode 5 will premiere two days early, so another bombshell is likely imminent.
Not much has been revealed about Pluribus Episode 5, save for a cryptic synopsis. Following a gutsy attempt to discover if the world’s “peaceful” alien invasion can be reversed, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn) “doubles down on her investigation — loneliness be damned.” She doesn’t get the answers she sought at the end of Episode 4, despite drugging her companion, Zosia (Karolina Wyndra), with a truth serum. Her Plan B will likely be even more reckless; meanwhile, “howls in the night reveal a new source of danger.”
“Got Milk” has to be a huge new chapter in the series for Apple to push up its premiere date. This is a first for the streamer; it’s rare for any series to adjust its premieres to avoid a holiday. Typically, it’s the other way around: Netflix, for instance, is timing the release of the final season of Stranger Things to Christmas and New Year’s Eve. That Apple is loath to share Pluribus’ spotlight with anything, even Thanksgiving, seems pretty telling. Episode 5 is poised to drop the kind of bombshell one discusses around the dinner table, rather than the one you watch after feasting on turkey and stuffing.
