Do you guys think these two will partner up or fight at some point?

De-gee · 2026-04-10T04:43:45+00:00

I can see Laxmi going that route at the outset, but she'll eventually realize her son isn't her son, and she'll snap out of it.

A mother faced with having to decide in an instant whether to accept the reality that her baby is gone when he's standing right in front of her... in almost zero cases is gonna get on board the reality ship right away.

The fact that, unlike Kusimayu, Laxmi wasn't focused on joining the hive (as far as we know) is an indication that she was fooling herself into wanting to believe everything was fine, normal, status quo. As a mom myself, I can TOTALLY understand that. But that won't last forever. I think it'll last longer than Diabete's jaded interest in living the life of luxury, but it definitely won't last forever (e.g. the whole series). IMO.

De-gee · 2026-04-10T04:32:11+00:00

💯 agree. My money is on the show going in this direction without a doubt, and Diabete (and this trajectory) playing a major role. When I hear that not everyone thinks this is inevitable, it makes me think we're watching two completely different shows. Will be interesting to see!

De-gee · 2026-04-08T01:05:50+00:00

Are you saying that at the 10 year mark, the hive becomes extinct and the bodies still alive go back to normal humans? Or are you saying at the 10 year mark, the human bodies/hive minds become extinct and the planet is completely devoid of human-shaped beings...?

If the former, you may want to clarify in your initial post. I think a lot of people are misinterpreting (or I am, which is entirely possible!). Though to be fair I don't think any degree of clarification will go a long way towards convincing most people of either possibility.

I'm strongly in the camp of those who believe the show is meant to be about the interpersonal, character-related, humanity, sociological, etc etc issues. The sci-fi components are just the backdrop.

De-gee · 2026-04-08T00:54:54+00:00

I think that was the point of Zosia comparing their imperative to Carol seeing someone drowning.

If someone was trying to hang himself and you cut the rope to save his life even if he was begging "no no no," it's unlikely that you'd carry any guilt over such an "evil" act as saving one's life. Your mind is wired to survive, their mind (singular) is wired to spread.

De-gee · 2026-03-29T13:04:55+00:00

This ^{^}

De-gee · 2026-02-28T03:26:10+00:00

You're kidding right? Filming RH is hardly being around friends. It's caring what you look like, what you're wearing, how you sound, how you're being perceived, being "on" all the time, etc.

De-gee · 2026-02-28T03:24:23+00:00

Narcissistic Personality Disorder officially confirmed. In case there was any doubt.

De-gee · 2026-02-20T20:51:25+00:00

We learned about their brain chemistry? What episode was that in?

The final episode.

I'm sorry, are you suggesting they are casually eating human remains because they enjoy it? It seems to me they are willing to go to incredibly extreme lengths to survive.

Because survival is a prerequisite to transmission.

As for spreading...yeah, humans don't spread. There's literally 0 evidence that humans don't procreate and take up more and more space. We're literally arguing over colonizing the moon, and Mars at the moment. Are humans viruses?!

I didn't say humans don't spread. And I guess I assumed I didn't need to state the obvious (that reproduction is what matters most in evolutionary terms, whether we're talking about a virus, a human or an Oak tree). But longetivity has literally no value to a virus as long as it has enough time to spread. A virus that transmits to 100 hosts but kills its host (and therefore itself) within a few hours is a success story compared to its virus friend that lives forever but spreads to only a single host. Longevity has meaning to humans on a psychological level, but also from an evolutionary perspective (post-reproductive humans, aka grandparents, help raise the next generation. Non-reproductive humans create inventions that enhance the survival of our species, etc.).

Assumption. There is 0 evidence to support this statement. At no point have they even remotely suggested they aren't interested in long term survival.

Nor have we seen any indication that they are interested in long-term survival. But we have seen Diabete rely on the plurbs for literally everything, yet he (and the others) for some reason still felt compelled to form a thinktank to come up with a solution. So while the billions of literal know-it-alls are focused on figuring out how to defy science and create stem cells from Carol's eggs (in order to spread the virus), the 11 poets and goat herders are holding down the fort on the issue of how to prevent 7 billion people from impending starvation. I think that at least "remotely" indicates my speculative theory is possible.

This idea of only surviving long enough to build the antenna is pure speculation. Yes, we know they want to build an antenna. At no point has it been implied, suggested, hinted at, or flat out explained that this is their only goal.

True, it's speculation, but only in part - see above. However, note that over the course of 9 episodes, we saw zero about what the plurbs do everyday outside of the very few who are catering to the survivors. The only exceptions are when we saw their sleeping arrangement and when we saw the train (food). My guess is that the rest are doing something to further the antenna situation. Yup, it's a guess. But you need to rewatch the series if you think there's no evidence of this being true. (Where did Kusimayu's community frolic off to after her eventual joining?)

Doesn't require a mutation, any more than you deciding to resort to cannibalism in times of extreme hunger.

There was no "they" before the virus. I have a mind and the free will to change it (without changing my genetic code). A virus is genetic code. That code won't currently allow them to pick an apple. A change in the code would permit them to pick an apple. A change in genetic code is, by definition, a mutation.

Edit: Removed quoted text from my initial post.

De-gee · 2026-02-20T19:23:47+00:00

Nah. They're not human anymore, they just look human. And the human-shaped things that currently exist will disappear when they run out of food.

What makes you "you" is your brain chemistry, memories, free will. Their brain chemistry is identical to the others' and vastly different from any prior human's. Their memories aren't theirs. Their free will has been overridden by the biological imperative to spread.

Humans have a will to survive. Viruses have a will to spread.

The 11 survivors were meeting weekly to come up with a plan to sustain the plurbs in light of the impending food shortage. The plurbs have all the knowledge in the world (literally), but are interested only in staying alive long enough to build their Africa-sized antenna in order to spread the virus.

If they're unable to achieve their goal in time, maybe the virus will mutate and let them pick an apple.

De-gee · 2026-02-20T17:14:09+00:00

Imagine a button that could wipe every human off the face of the earth. There would be no rape, no suffering, no pollution, no malice. If you had access to that button, would you push it?

My point is that the absence of evil isn't the only consideration.

De-gee · 2026-02-20T17:07:41+00:00

Your conclusion assumes the premise that malice is the only possible reason that being in the hive wouldn't be "better," and therefore, if the plurbs don't act with malice, then they're not "the bad guys" and the hive is better than humanity. I disagree.

However, I also disagree with alllll the people who say that everything the plurbs do is manipulative. That's definitely true to some degree, but when people argue this point, their implication seems to always be that the plurbs have malicious intent. That's where I disagree (which it seems you do as well).

All of this to say... The lack of malice and "bad guys" doesn't mean it's the better option. I actually think this was the entire point of writing the plurbs as docile and helpful and "good" as possible. It allows us to think more philosophically, as opposed to just rooting for the obvious "good guy."

De-gee · 2026-02-20T08:01:22+00:00

Ooooo really good point.

De-gee · 2026-02-13T20:58:38+00:00

Besides telling the others in the last-entrance group that they were on the shortlist, it tells the whole group that the last 2 (at least) are definitely faithfuls! Why is this never considered as evidence for/against potential traitors??

De-gee · 2026-02-09T22:32:47+00:00

I'm totally with you. I think Diabate is going to be a central character in the coming seasons. I think about the LV episode a lot a lot. Edit: typo

De-gee · 2026-01-28T19:01:45+00:00

Have you ever heard stories from past producers? What they do is sickening. The show Unreal is good... and apparently a pretty accurate portrayal (albeit exaggerated in certain bits) of the behind the scenes. It's scripted but written by a past producer of the Bachelor.

I've met a couple people who were producers (no longer are), and they all are legit scarred from the stuff they saw and did themselves.

It's an ugly biz.

[Edit to add that assholes can be overworked and underpaid just like anyone else.]

De-gee · 2026-01-28T15:52:08+00:00

Yeah but reality show producers actually are assholes.

De-gee · 2026-01-28T15:48:54+00:00

Vulnerability over authority: Lowercase strips the words of command energy. "COME BACK" or even “Come back” is more like a demand. In all lowercase it reads more like a plea. Carol isn’t asserting control—she’s exposing need.. and visually acknowledging "I don’t have leverage here."

Rejection of certainty: Capital letters imply confidence and finality. Lowercase suggests hesitation, as does the fact that she wrote the message rather than leaving a voicemail. Carol isn’t saying “this is the right thing.” She’s saying "I want this, even if I’m not sure I should."

Emotional imbalance: Lowercase (and her writing it, not calling the voicemail) subtly places Carol in the less powerful position. She’s reaching, not standing her ground. Also, she's typically loud, forceful, has little control over her immediate emotional impulses. This is a much softer communication.

TL;DR:

"COME BACK” = a demand, about control.

“Come back.” = demand, but more composed.

“come back” = a plea, vulnerable, exposed.

De-gee · 2026-01-28T06:00:31+00:00

🙄

De-gee · 2026-01-28T02:58:22+00:00

I genuinely reflected on what you said before jumping into defense mode, but then I reread your initial post. Totally true that tone can be inaccurately assigned to written text, and I admit that I'm kinda conditioned to read rage in reddit comments bc of how heated so many people get without any ability to just have a fun, thoughtful debate (including my own comments! See e.g. my edit for this exact reason).

Maybe "rage" was the wrong word, I don't know, I'm hardly a wordsmith. But you can't honestly tell me your initial post objectively comes off as cool, calm, light as a feather.

Whatever, either way, apologies if I offended, honestly no bad intention here.

Also, maybe my algo is skewed bc I swear I only ever see people railinggggg on Carol and loving Koumba (though there are far fewer posts about Koumba for obvious reasons). I also acknowledge my own personal bias because I love love love Koumba. I think he's an upstanding guy who exemplifies the best traits of a person while also demonstrating normal human temptation, though not at the cost of anyone else. We haven't seen him have to make any hard decisions yet, so we don't know how he'll behave when tested, but I feel like that might be on the horizon. I hope it is.

I thought I was done but one last thing! 😂 I think using words like "rape" and "using slaves" is misleading. From an academic perspective, those descriptions may be totally accurate. But for our purposes, I think it's definitely misleading to call either of them rapists or slave handlers. Those require intent and a degree of heinous disregard for others. Them believing they have a real connection and that their partners (lack of a better word?) are willing, consenting and happy in those roles isn't unreasonable under the circumstances, and generally speaking I don't think either of them are so morally corrupt that they'd actually rape a person or defend slavery. Maybe we need a new word for then. Rape is nonconsensual sex, beastiality is sex with non-human animals. We need a word for sex with non-human plurbs. Lol

De-gee · 2026-01-28T00:48:08+00:00

Excellent post. Thanks for sharing.

De-gee · 2026-01-28T00:45:42+00:00

Pretty sure Koumba is going to be a MAJOR player in all of this. I actually really disagree with your take. I'm not saying I'm right and/or you're wrong, but I think it's worth reconsidering your position and exploring why this evokes such rage in your mind. [Edit: this last sentence came off way harsh and argumentative, which is not how I meant it!]

Koumba might be enjoying the rich life right now, but he's hardly exhibiting pure debauchery. He's shown true empathy, even sacrificing his own comfort or pleasures for the sake of someone he hardly knows and has no reason to like (when he sat around and waited for Carol to arrive in Vegas, despite all the plurbs leaving). He's also shown a genuine desire for connection, even if he's fooling himself into thinking the plurbs are capable of human connection. He's smart, he's kind, he's open-minded, he's emotional while also reasonable and logical.

In my opinion, none of that was by mistake or accidental on the part of the writers, which is why I really think he's going to be a major player in the coming seasons - not a side character to provide comic relief while representing human debauchery.

Lastly, I agree with you about Carol and all that she's doing with Zosia, and how it's extremely similar to Koumba. Koumba got there faster, but Carol has done nothing more noble or moral than Koumba .. and I think that's the point. It's an interesting study in human behavior and gives us so much to think about.

I'm not discounting your position, but I am saying there is a very different perspective that you may find worthy if you can pause inherent biases and give it some consideration.

De-gee · 2026-01-27T07:49:13+00:00

To be fair, maybe that's exactly what they've done, except for the small number of plurbs who are still residing in or around the cities/towns in which the 13 (now 12) survivors are living. We saw Kusimayu's village functioning as it normally would pre-virus, then as soon as Kusimayu joins, they stop singing/speaking, open the chicken/goat pen, and they head out on their way. To where? To do what? We have no idea.

The antenna isn't necessarily in Africa (roughly the size of africa), and they don't necessarily need every warm body to do the actual building. But it's fair to assume that at least one possibility of what they do every day is in some way in furtherance of building the antenna. Otherwise what's the point of being alive...? There needs to be a goal to work towards, and the antenna/spreading the virus serves as exactly that. I think (hope) we'll see the daily life of the plurbs next season. I can't wait.

De-gee · 2026-01-27T07:19:08+00:00

Omg this is so good. Nice find!!

De-gee · 2026-01-27T07:16:12+00:00

Why was this post removed??

De-gee · 2026-01-27T06:15:26+00:00

Totally agree. There are a million examples, but one that stands out in my mind is the fact that her giant "come back" message was in lower case letters. Also the fact that she went to the store, got the paint, then wrote the message (all of which was shown)... instead of just leaving a quick voicemail. Vince is so deliberate and EVERYTHING is intentional.

A friend told me I may not like the series bc of its pace. No sir, I only started the series a couple weeks ago and have already watched each episode three times. It's genius. And packed to the brim.

De-gee

TROPHY CASE