The first season finale of Vince Gilligan's Apple TV series, Pluribus, titled "La Chica o El Mundo" (co-written by Alison Tatlock and directed by Gordon Smith), brought to a head the central conflict for its protagonist, the disillusioned romance author Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn): choosing between "the girl" (Zosia, played by Karolina Wydra) and "the world." The series, noted for its character-driven approach over typical sci-fi bombast, delves into Carol's journey of co-existing with the extraterrestrial "Others" while battling her misanthropic tendencies and underlying vulnerability.

The penultimate episode, "Charm Offensive," saw Carol engaging in a romantic entanglement with Zosia, an act complicated by Zosia's unwavering connection to the Others' assimilating hivemind. This episode explicitly states Carol's dilemma: she cannot have both Zosia and a saved world. Meanwhile, Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga), a staunch "Old-Schooler" from Paraguay, makes his arduous 60-day journey to confront Carol. Their initial meeting is fraught with tension; Manousos, having reacted unpredictably to the Others in the past, refuses to enter Carol's house due to concerns about surveillance. Communication is challenging, requiring Carol's translation app, which Manousos promptly destroys, fearing it as a listening device. After retrieving the phone, they compromise, conversing under an umbrella to evade the Others' drone surveillance.

Their conversation reveals a crucial divergence in their ideologies: Manousos believes in destroying the infected, while Carol, having witnessed humanity within the Others, seeks a cure. Carol also withholds information, specifically lying about why the Others returned after freezing her out, unable to admit she had begged them. Inside Carol's house, Manousos uncovers a movement sensor in her liquor cabinet, a relic from her late wife Helen (Miriam Shor), installed in May 2011 to monitor her drinking. This moment, though tied to Helen's memories now possessed by the Others, leaves Carol emotionally conflicted, unable to continue plotting with Manousos. She sets him up in a neighbor's abandoned house, promising to talk more tomorrow.

Later, Manousos contacts the Others to speak with Carol's prior interlocutor. Carol, waking from a drunken stupor, discovers Zosia's car at Manousos's house. Barging in, she learns Manousos has extracted "everything" from Zosia. Carol then interrogates Zosia, perturbed by the Others' insistence that they love Manousos as they love her, despite their inability to lie. Zosia then experiences a seizure, which Manousos reveals is linked to a mysterious radio frequency he isolated. He explains he's using the interference to try and pull another individual, Rick, out of the hivemind, an experiment Carol abruptly halts with a shotgun.

Following Manousos's thwarted efforts, Carol receives an angry call from Laxmi (Menik Gooneratne), mistakenly blaming her for the paroxysm. Zosia, resigned, admits the Others must leave again to distance themselves from Manousos. Carol releases Manousos from her borrowed Rolls-Royce trunk, where she had been keeping him. He challenges her once more to "save the world" his way. Carol, however, remains silent, providing him only with instructions for deliveries.

In the aftermath, Carol seemingly chooses Zosia, embarking on two weeks of luxurious globe-trotting adventures previously denied to her when with Helen. This period of intense happiness, however, is shattered by Zosia's revelation: the Others have found a way to assimilate Carol against her will. While they previously needed consent for direct stem cell extraction, they now have access to the eggs Carol froze with Helen in May 2011. Through a complex, months-long process, these eggs can be converted into stem cells, allowing the Others to "share their happiness" with her. Zosia's admission that another survivor, Kusimayu (Darinka Arones), has already willingly joined the hivemind, only heightens Carol's despair. Carol tearfully confronts Zosia, appealing to their alleged love, but the Others (speaking through Zosia) assert they *must* assimilate her precisely because they love her, an argument Carol perceives as weaponized, ultimately dissolving her fantasy.

The finale culminates 74 days, 18 hours, 30 minutes, and 21 seconds after the Joining, with Manousos still researching electromagnetic fields. A helicopter delivers a large container to Carol's driveway, and after a solemn exchange with Zosia, Carol emerges. Spotting Manousos, she declares, "You win. We save the world." The ominous implication is that the container holds the atom bomb Carol had previously requested, signaling her decisive turn towards confronting the Others.

Interviews with the show's creators and lead actress shed further light on these developments. Vince Gilligan, Gordon Smith, and Alison Tatlock explain that the Others' previous statements about needing consent for stem cell extraction were "lawyerly"; they need consent to intrude physically, but not for cells existing outside the body, such as frozen eggs. They can, therefore, mislead by omission. Rhea Seehorn emphasizes the profound nature of Zosia's betrayal, linking it to the future Carol envisioned with Helen and Carol's subsequent feeling of foolishness for letting her guard down. The ticking clock of her impending assimilation adds to this urgency.

The Others' motive for Zosia's kiss in Episode 8, according to Tatlock, was an "act of love" to comfort and pleasure Carol, though from a human perspective, it was manipulative. Seehorn acknowledges Carol was genuinely "enamored" by Zosia, fulfilling a deep need for companionship, blurring the lines between altruism and manipulation. Carol's evolving perspective on the Others is crucial; her earlier rage gives way to compassion, seeing them as humans with a neurological shift, not evil. Her concern for Zosia's well-being and the collective safety of the Others during Manousos's experiment underscores this shift. Manousos's eventual willingness to speak with Zosia stems from Carol's suggestion and his growing suspicion of her. The atom bomb's prominent role in the finale was a late-stage narrative adjustment, a suggestion from Apple and Sony executives that led to a more impactful and less subtle ending than originally planned, moving away from a covert double-agent scenario. The creators explain the Others' willingness to provide the bomb, despite wanting Carol's happiness, by noting that one atom bomb would not eradicate all 7 billion of them. The ultimate nature of the Others' converted world—a peaceful, efficient, pragmatic collective devoid of individual attachments—is left open for viewer interpretation, allowing each to decide if it is paradise or hell. Seehorn emphasizes Carol's portrayal as a realistic, flawed "everyman" hero, whose misbehavior and emotional vulnerability, including suppressed rage and the pain of exclusion, make her relatable and truthful in an insane circumstance.