David Bianculli

Apple TV Plus already has renewed Pluribus for a Season 2, and it's a smart move.

Vince Gilligan, once again, has come up with a boldly brilliant TV series.

The best way to describe Pluribus without revealing anything is to think of it as an episode of The Twilight Zone spun off into its own series.

It begins with scientists monitoring a radio telescope and discovering something new and exciting.

That's similar to the way another fantasy drama series, Three-Body Problem, began recently.

But this new series has other plots and plot twists on its mind.

Before too long, we meet the protagonist of Pluribus.

She's Carol Sterka, best-selling author of sexy, sappy sci-fi fantasy novels.

And she's played by Ray Sehorne, who was so unforgettably real and relatable as Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul.

We meet Carol at a Barnes & Noble in Dallas, reading from her book to her adoring fans, then signing copies and interacting with them before retreating with her agent and best friend, Helen, to a local bar.

At the bar, Helen, played by Miriam Shore, offers a toast to the new book tour.

A toast Carol rejects.

Carol has fame and money and a beautiful house back home in Albuquerque.

Yes, once again, Gilligan and company have returned there to film parts of this new series.

But all that doesn't seem to make her happy.

And when people around her suddenly start acting very strangely, she feels even more isolated.

Apple TV Plus, in its own press materials, describes the premise of Pluribus this way.

The most miserable person on Earth, it says, must save the world from happiness.

And even if I wanted to elaborate, the streaming service's press restrictions on spoilers make it next to impossible.

I've never seen such a long, detailed list of plot points not to reveal.