S1E4Full:Please, Carol

Summary

Pluribus: The Official Podcast – S1E4: "Please, Carol" (Nov 21, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this in-depth roundtable, host and Pluribus editor Chris McCaleb welcomes show creator Vince Gilligan, episode writer Alison Tatlock, star Rhea Seehorn, and newcomer Carlos Manuel Vesca (Manusos) for a lively, behind-the-scenes exploration of "Please, Carol." The team dives into the introduction of the mysterious Paraguay connection, Carol’s disastrous truth serum experiment, on-set stories, casting insights, directing challenges–and plenty of laughs along the way. The episode is an engaging insider’s look for fans who want to dig beneath the surface of the show.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introducing Manusos & Carlos Manuel Vesca (02:06–11:53)

• First Impressions and Name Game
  The cast jokes about Vesca’s “rockstar” status, the pronunciation of his name, and how fans should address him.

  • "When you race down the street with a scrum of fans... address him as Carlos Manuel or Veska." – Vince Gilligan (03:27)

• The Infamous Dog Food Scene
  Detailed recounting of Manusos’ gross meal, including the on-set food concoction (haggis, broth, made to look dog-food-congealed), and the director’s push for heightened visual disgust.

  • "The original looked too dry. It needed light glistening off its oiliness." – Vince Gilligan (05:39)
  • Vesca describes eating four cans after lunch: "What was hard was eating so much of it." (05:07)
  • Crew reactions: boom operator nearly threw up, but the director ultimately dialed back the performance to leave room for Manusos' later arc.

• Set Details: Reality and Authenticity

  • The team discusses the construction of Manusos’ Paraguayan “storage office”—the inclusion of a traditional Colombian "Frog" game for cultural authenticity.
  • Discussion about Vesca's Colombian identity blending into the character's backstory, and efforts to honor Vesca’s accent while still setting the character in Paraguay.
  • Vesca’s panic at needing to adopt a rare Paraguayan accent is revealed:
    • "If you said Argentinian, Chilean, Mexican, I could have done something, but Paraguayan... I would have to quit." – Vesca (10:01)
  • The exterior shot in Albuquerque was cleverly redressed to mimic lush South American surroundings (10:27–11:53).

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2. Directorial Challenges & On-Set Realities (12:03–17:40)

• The Cockroach Problem

  • Director Zetna Fuentes’ only admitted weakness: cockroaches during an all-night shoot in Albuquerque. Special platforms built to help her cope. (12:32–13:20)

• Vesca’s First Day – Adjusting to US Sets

  • Vesca’s apprehensions about working on a US set are contrasted by his appreciation of the professionalism and warmth of the Pluribus crew. Notably, US productions give actors far more time for their work than Colombian productions, which might cover "18–20 scenes a day" (15:51).

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3. Special Guest Stars & Memorable Cameos (19:01–23:17)

• Albuquerque’s Real Mayor, Tim Keller
  The mayor's cameo as himself is discussed:

  • "We reached out and said, would you be up for this? And he showed up... doing work in between, taking phone calls, doing mayor stuff." – Vince Gilligan (19:53)
  • "He does look like an actor playing a mayor." – Allison Tatlock (20:23)

• Jeff Hiller Joins as Zosia
  The cast celebrates working with Jeff Hiller; they discuss his Emmy win, and laugh about his character's extremely short bike uniform.

  • Working in heat and unflattering costumes leads Hiller to quip:
    • "But Jeff does" [have vanity], under his breath, about his character's lack of vanity – recounted by Rhea Seehorn (22:05)
  • Costume designer Jennifer Bryan’s vision and Hiller’s humor are praised.

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4. Unpacking Carol’s Truth Serum Sequence (23:22–29:41)

• Philosophy and Writing Process

  • Carol tries to force a friend to tell her uncomfortable truths, raising big questions about authenticity in art and validation.
  • "It's just such a brilliantly written scene, Ms. Tatlock." – Rhea Seehorn (24:24)
  • The writing team poured their own artistic insecurities into this quasi one-act play.

• On-Set Preparation

  • Tatlock and Seehorn detail how the scene was shot like a play, with full run-throughs.
  • Insights on memorization from Rhea Seehorn:
    • "We start macro, and we go micro... most of us have just, like, I'm memorizing the beats of a conversation." (27:12)

• Actor’s Craft

  • Rhea and Jeff Hiller privately rehearsed at her rental before shooting, which Hiller described as a rare luxury (29:07).

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5. The Art of Playing “The Others” (29:41–31:01)

• Modulating Performances
  • Guest stars struggle to find just the right “smile” and demeanor for afflicted characters—how “real” vs. robotic to be.
  • "Funny you should ask. It's a very finely tuned modulation... you can't look high as a kite. You can't look like a robot." – Seehorn (29:47)

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6. Carol Gets High: Crafting the Breakdown (31:14–37:16)

• Filming Carol’s Drug-Fueled Breakdown

  • Rhea improvised and linked disparate script cues into a seamless, embarrassingly real episode of self-recorded mayhem.
  • "It was actually painful for me [to cut scenes], including the scripted me singing Melissa Etheridge." – Alison Tatlock (31:35)
  • The scene was originally shot as if Carol’s phone cam were the only source, requiring long, continuous takes:
    • "If there was video of Zetna and me, I would have... slack jawed. I was mesmerized watching you move from one piece of the event to the next." – Tatlock (35:15)
  • Tone was carefully managed to balance comedy and real heartbreak, especially during Carol’s moments of grief for her wife.

• Watching It Back

  • Rhea’s depiction of Carol watching her own breakdown is described as deeply authentic, generating both empathy and cringe.

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7. The Climactic "Convergence" Sequence (37:23–41:17)

• Rehearsal and Choreography
  • The convergence scene (others crowding around Carol chanting “Please, Carol”) required days of planning, a pre-rehearsed sound stage, and heat-mitigation strategies.
  • "The support of our movement expert, Nito... and teams figuring out how to get tears on people's faces." – Tatlock (38:26)
  • Carol’s sweat is memorialized humorously:
    • "I sweat like a boy who's been forced to go to camp to learn sports or something. I'm soaking. That's how I sweat." – Seehorn (40:04)

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8. Real-Life Resuscitation Parallel (41:31–43:23)

• Easter Egg Cameos & Real Life Drama
  • Writer’s husband, David Wyatter, and real-life medic Rosa Estrada (who saved Bob Odenkirk's life on "Better Call Saul") both appear in the episode.
  • The emergence of AED machines on set and in the writers’ room is directly attributed to Rosa’s real-life intervention, though the episode’s story wasn’t consciously inspired by the event.
  • The cast reflects on filming resuscitation scenes after actually living through a real on-set cardiac event.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fan Attention:
  “And it’s only gonna get worse.” – Rhea Seehorn (03:49)

• Recipe for Disgust:
  “Our brilliant props director, Mark Hansen, cooked up an even grosser version.” – Rhea Seehorn (05:33)

• Cultural Details:
  “I could not believe you had that [frog] game built… and you painted it with the flag of Columbia’s flag.” – Vesca (08:44)

• On Authenticity:
  “We wanted to...honor the fact that you are Colombian.” – Tatlock (09:25)

• On Cockroach Plague:
  “She really is not a fan...of the cockroach.” – Tatlock (12:36)

• On Memorization:
  “If you think about it, like, I’m memorizing a random list, eight pages of random words, then it would be impossible....I’m memorizing the beats of a conversation.” – Rhea Seehorn (27:12)

• On Acting as “The Others”:
  “It’s a finely tuned modulation...you can’t look high as a kite, you can’t look like a robot.” – Rhea Seehorn (29:47)

• Self-Empathy Gone Wrong:
  “For a second she's like, I'm glad someone else thinks the way I do. And it's like, it's you.” – Tatlock about Carol (37:08)

• On Sweating Through Scenes:
  “I sweat like a boy who's been forced to... go to camp to learn sports or something. I'm soaking. That's how I sweat.” – Seehorn (40:04)

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Essential Timestamps

• 02:06 – Carlos Manuel Vesca joins, Minsusos introduction, name pronunciation fun
• 04:14 – The “dog food” scene: on-set gross-out stories
• 07:58 – Practical and set details of Manusos’s office
• 10:01 – Vesca on accent panic and authenticity
• 12:32 – Cockroach infestations and director’s perseverance
• 19:33 – Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s cameo
• 21:51 – Costuming Jeff Hiller (“they don’t have any vanity. But Jeff does.”)
• 23:22 – Unpacking the “truth serum” scene: writing, acting, philosophy
• 27:12 – Rhea on memorization tricks
• 29:47 – Crafting the affliction: “how big a smile”
• 31:14 – Shooting Carol’s breakdown: improvisation, tone, technique
• 37:23 – Staging “the Convergence”–heat, choreography, and movement coaching
• 41:31 – Cameos: real-life medic Rosa Estrada and connections to Odenkirk’s on-set emergency

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Conclusion

This episode of the Pluribus podcast is a treasure trove of on-set anecdotes, technical insight, and philosophical musings on authenticity, art, and performance. Not only do listeners get unprecedented access to the creative process, they hear how much genuine camaraderie and care is involved in crafting the world of Pluribus. From gross-out props to emotional breakdowns, and from on-set crises to Emmy-winning guest stars, "Please Carol" is a testament to the collaborative spirit driving this acclaimed series.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Pluribus, the official podcast, an intimate insider conversation about the making of the Apple TV series with the cast and creators behind the show. My name is Chris McCaleb. I'm one of the editors of Pluribus and the host of this podcast. If this is your first time tuning into the podcast, this is not a recap show it. It's more of a freewheeling roundtable discussion, totally unscripted, about the making of each episode. And if you haven't yet watched this week's episode, I definitely encourage you to do that before you listen, because we'll talk about everything. Now, this podcast is about episode 104, entitled Please Carol. Please Carol. Please Carol. We know what that is. Written by Alison Tatlock and directed by Zetna Fuentes. On this episode, we meet our mystery man from Paraguay, Manusos. And back in Albuquerque, Carol acquires a kind of truth serum and tries to put Zosia into telling her how to put the world right. And that goes very wrong. Lots to discuss. But before we start, one technical note about this podcast. We had a few audio issues with one of our microphones, so occasionally you'll hear us transitioning in and out of our backup recording in order to hear what's being said more clearly. Not ideal, but we'd rather be able to keep those parts of the conversation in the podcast rather than getting rid of them, despite the slightly lesser audio quality. So I hope you can forgive us. And now, without further ado, I'd like to welcome our guest, executive producer and creator of the show, Vince Gilligan.

[B]

Hey, hey, hey.

[A]

Executive producer and writer of this episode, Allison Tatlock.

[C]

Hello.

[A]

Rock the Tatlock. Carol Sturka herself making a return appearance to the podcast, Rhea Seehorn.

[C]

Hello.

[A]

Hello. Ray.

[D]

Hi.

[A]

And making his official debut on the podcast for the first time ever and the first time in the show, Minusos himself, Carlos Manuel Veska.

[B]

Hola.

[E]

Buenos tardes. Hello, everyone.

[A]

Welcome to the podcast.

[B]

Wait, he speaks English.

[D]

What?

[B]

Hey. It's so good to have you here, man.

[E]

Yeah, it's lovely. It's incredible to be here, really.

[A]

And also with us on the ones and twos, the wheels of steel, our assistant editor, also editor and mixer of this podcast, Nicholas Tsai.

[D]

Hello.

[A]

What's great is everybody, or a lot of people who aren't normally necessarily in Los Angeles where we record the podcast, we really are in the writers room and we set up microphones. But everybody, a lot of people are in town right now because the premiere, just to give you a little behind the Scenes. The premiere is this week, which we're all really excited about.

[B]

So, yes. Two days, 48 hours from now.

[A]

That's crazy.

[B]

Thereabouts.

[A]

That's right.

[D]

Crazy.

[A]

At an undisclosed location in Los Angeles. But, yeah, this is a big episode. We have a new unafflicted person. I guess we sort of had the introduction to Minusos in the last episode when Carol was on the plane. But now we actually get to see the other side of that conversation. Let's talk about it. I mean, how did Veska and you like to be called Veska? Everybody calls you Veska.

[E]

Yeah, I think. I just think it's easier.

[A]

That's great.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Then. Then Carlos Manuel.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

Yeah. And my name is not Carlos, It's Carlos Manuel. So, yes, Easier.

[B]

Right, right, right, exactly. So, yeah, when you race down the street with a scrum of fans to get an autograph from this lovely gentleman here, address him either as Carlos Manuel or as Veska.

[D]

Yes, correct.

[B]

I've seen that, by the way. I've seen people go after this guy for autographs. You are much beloved.

[A]

Yes, this is true.

[B]

And it's only gonna get worse.

[C]

Just the beginning.

[A]

Like the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night. Just being hounded to hide behind a newspaper. Just like the Beatles. These are topical references, right? The Beatles.

[D]

Do you know how much attention you would draw to yourself hiding behind an actual print newspaper?

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Where did you get that? People are like, what is that?

[D]

What is that?

[A]

Where did you get that?

[C]

From the time of the Beatles.

[B]

Yes.

[E]

Yes, from the time of the Beatles.

[A]

So I think probably the first thing on everybody's mind watching, it's certainly the teaser of this episode is how could you possibly have eaten so much disgusting dog food?

[C]

I knew we were going to talk about that.

[A]

I mean, it is. It is. It is viscerally gross to watch. It's. It's one of those things, it turns your stomach, your reaction to it, which is, I mean, we're not eating the food, you know? I assume you're also not eating dog food, but do you want to talk about.

[D]

I think what he really ate is grosser.

[B]

I think you might be right.

[A]

You tried it, right, Vince?

[B]

I did. I'm going to let Vezgo describe it. I did. And you know that expression, the gorge? I could feel the gorge rising in my throat. Oh, no. I know what they're talking about. Yeah, yeah, I felt it.

[E]

I didn't think it was that bad. Not really.

[B]

I'm glad, because you eat a lot more of it.

[E]

What was Hard was eating so much of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And especially after lunch, I was full and it was like four cans that I had to.

[D]

Right.

[C]

You should have saved your appetite.

[B]

You have to say, Veska. That was bad planning on your part.

[E]

Not professional.

[C]

Also, just to note that we had a version of the dog food that was apparently not. Not gross enough. And Vince Gilligan. That gotta be grosser.

[D]

Gotta be grosser.

[C]

Our brilliant props director, Mark Hansen, cooked up an even grosser version.

[B]

It was too dry. The original looked too dry. It needed light glistening off its oiliness.

[C]

Viscous.

[B]

Viscous.

[D]

Tell the people what it was.

[E]

It was haggis, and I think it was broth. Is it called like. Like this creamy thing on top of it?

[B]

Yeah, there was some broth, some extra.

[D]

Broth, but congealed so that it was gelatinous, which is lovely in any food.

[E]

So nice.

[A]

And was it in the script, the sort of scraping of it with the lid? I mean, how did that. It's so you're selling the hell out of it. You're making it so uncomfortable to think about being in that situation.

[E]

I remember Mitch. Boom guy Mitchell.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Mitch. Yeah.

[E]

He was so lovely to me the whole time, and he's a great guy. Yeah. We came close and he said, that time you made me want to throw off. I was just watching you.

[B]

I went like, you don't want to make the boom guy sick because he won't be able to cover his hands because he's holding the boom and he.

[E]

Sees he's going to drop it on my head.

[B]

I know. Or drop something else on your head.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You don't want that.

[E]

But I remember Zedna coming over or director and saying, too much. What you're doing is too. What was the word? Excruciating. Is that a word? It's too much. And we need to leave stuff for what's coming to minuso. So you can't really start at.

[B]

Because I was.

[E]

I think I was overacting with the haggis.

[B]

I don't think it was acting. I mean, there's some wonderful acting in there, but that was just. That was just like, rank discussed. Right. With the thing.

[E]

Not really. I gotta. I gotta say, I wasn't grossed out or anything.

[B]

One of my favorite moments is when you actually kind of butch it up there, where it's like you start eating it and yet the look on your face is just, damn it, I'm just gonna enjoy this. I'm just.

[E]

But the telephone keeps ringing and doesn't allow me to Enjoy this as much as I want to.

[C]

It's true. We learn a lot about you in that moment, because some of us would maybe try to be stoic in front of others, but you're just by yourself and you' being such a. About it.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Where do we shoot that? The. Where Minusos is. Is. Is living in that sort of self storage unit. Is that all practical or how is that a combination of set and practical?

[E]

The office is. Right.

[C]

The interior was that.

[D]

It was an awesome set.

[C]

Yes.

[E]

Oh, my God. That was amazing.

[D]

Such a great set.

[E]

I mean, I know there's things that only Colombians will notice, but they built a game that people play in Colombia called Frog.

[B]

Yeah. That was because of you.

[E]

I could not believe you had that thing built.

[B]

I think you. Or did they build it or did they find one? But we had it because I think we'd said to you what would be.

[E]

The kind of things, the sort of things.

[B]

Yeah. And story wise, technically, it's supposed to be Paraguay, but your character is as you described us. It makes sense for your character to be Colombian, which you are in real life.

[E]

Correct, Correct. Correct. But that Frog game, it was like my. I don't know, my second experience shooting with you guys.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[E]

In a. In a new town, in a different country. I was like, wait a minute, where am I? There's a frog game here. And you painted it with the flag of Columbia's flag.

[B]

Right. We were thinking, based on your. Your discussions with me and with Allison and with Jen, and we. We talked about, you know, maybe it makes sense. We got to get a backstory in here where this gentleman or his family, you know, his background is in Colombia. Somehow he's transplanted himself to Paraguay. And didn't we talk about that? We did.

[C]

We wanted to be really specific and so that it would track with your accent.

[E]

Oh, nice.

[C]

The specific way that you speak Spanish would feel authentic to the story that we were telling.

[E]

That's amazing.

[C]

We wanted to set in Paraguay and also honor the fact that you are Colombian. And Denise Pizzini, of course, our incredible production designer, created this space. And then it was Ashley Michelle Marsh, our. Our set decorator, who came up with all those really specific details. Yeah.

[E]

I have to say, when I started reading the. For the first time, when I read the script and it said Paraguay, I completely panicked. And I wrote. I texted Jen straight away and said, is this guy Paraguayan? Because that's an accent that I would have to really work. And this was like a month before we started. And I completely panicked.

[D]

This is a.

[E]

Honestly, if you said Argentinian, Chilean, Mexican, I don't know, Venezuelan. I could have done something with those.

[D]

Is a very specific, difficult one.

[E]

And something that you very hard. Almost never hear.

[D]

Oh, really?

[E]

Almost never.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

Yeah. So that would have been. I would have to quit.

[D]

Sorry.

[B]

Sorry.

[E]

I can't do it.

[D]

You'd get a dialect coach and they'd give you time to study, if that's what it had to be. Yeah.

[C]

The exterior of the office, just to go back to your question, Chris was actually shot on location in Albuquerque at a storage facility that needed to be transformed from the dry desert climate of Albuquerque to be much more lush and damp. Like South America, Paraguay.

[B]

And I'm glad you brought that up. And it is. I could literally. If you walk up that road, you know, there's the chain link fence with the padlock on it. If you were to walk through that chain link fence and walk that road which you see into the distance, you know, when the woman is coming back and forth in the VW Beetle. If you walked up the road her VW beetle disappears on, you run into, I think it's 4th street in Albuquerque. From there you could throw a rock across the street to Vernon's, the bar restaurant. That is where Helen has her the terrible. The world ends in episode one. So it is literally. I mean, you could literally throw a rock across the street to Vernon's. And the other thing I love about the real self storage place that you're describing is the office that Vezka's character Manusos works in, the one he's holed up in. That's a second story built onto a real self storage unit. That is a second story made out of basically wood and fake facing vinyl. Stuff that looks like it's made out of cinder block.

[A]

Does it get a facade?

[B]

It's a facade. It's a facade. The second story where the offices does not exist. It was just. I think we put in the staircase too.

[C]

Yes, added staircase.

[B]

The magic of the movies. You know, it's cool.

[C]

We did an all night shoot. At least one. And the crew at one point was split so that there was a second unit that was specifically shooting the storage units itself. For that montage of searching through the storage units, our incredible director, Zetna Fuentes. Yay. Is that not intrepid person and amazing director and courage in so many aspects. There is one thing. She has one Achilles. An Achilles heel.

[B]

I don't know this.

[C]

What was this?

[B]

She seemed pretty bulletproof to me.

[C]

Exactly. Except for she's very tough and also very kind. Incredible combination. Really a dreamy person to work with. She does have one, a bugaboo, so to speak, which is. She really is not a fan and none of us like them, but she really is not a fan of the cockroach. And this was an all night shoot in Albuquerque and had nothing to do with the location specifically. It's just the climate and the timing. Let's just say by the middle of the night there were a lot.

[D]

A lot I heard about that.

[C]

A lot of cockroaches.

[E]

I would constantly tell her, don't look down.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I think we had a little platform for her to stand up.

[D]

Yeah. I asked her how she got through and she's basically like you eating the haggis. Like she just had to steel herself and say, we are doing this. There's no way around but through and move forward.

[E]

Wow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And she's lovely. She's a lovely lady. I'm sorry she couldn't be. She's in London, working in London. Otherwise she would have been on this one too.

[E]

She was so patient. That was my very first day.

[B]

Wow. That was your. So inside or outside? Outside the outside party.

[E]

That was your very first day, first day shooting. And I guess the first is always art, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

Imagine you're in a different country working with the industry that you never thought that you would work with.

[D]

Yeah. You and I had a lot of talks about like, it's a big. It's a change, every set is different. But you had not worked in the US on a set. And so there were a lot of things that you had to adjust to. What did you find was the biggest overall difference?

[E]

You know what, it was funny that I actually found a lot of things similar.

[D]

Okay.

[E]

That was like, oh, so we call this thing the same thing and we do this the same way. The time. The time to do your work. Over here you're given time to do your work.

[D]

Which I then spoiled it for him and said, that's just this show. That's not all American production.

[E]

All right. Okay. But I do remember the Rich did an introduction for me.

[D]

Rich Sickler, Our first AD just at.

[E]

The beginning of the night. He was, well, we're going to do this and we're going to do that. And with us tonight is Bezga. And everybody was plotting and it was like, man, these people are really sweet. These people that are top notch. I got to know everyone after that. But at the time I just assumed if these people are here, it's because they're top notch and they are being so welcoming and so lovely and warm to me.

[B]

You know, in addition, we kind of wanted. Always want to repay the favor. I wish Gordon Smith was here because he went down to Colombia years ago.

[D]

Yes, he did.

[B]

To do. There was a Colombian spinoff of Breaking Bad called Metastases.

[E]

Yes, yes.

[B]

And he was sort of our guy on the ground there and did a wonderful job. It was a wonderful emissary for us. I was sorry I couldn't make it. I hate to admit I've never been to Columbia. I've had two chances now and then.

[E]

Hopefully this time you'll come.

[B]

Yeah, I would love to. But everyone was warm and wonderful to him. He did mention that things move a lot faster in productions in Colombia.

[E]

Yeah. At that time, they'd probably be doing, I don't know, 18, 20 scenes a day.

[D]

Specifically for telenovelas or.

[E]

No, this was a series. Like a series kind of.

[D]

Oh, for that. Oh, for that.

[E]

No, but I think every genre.

[A]

It was like. It wasn't. It was a remake of. Of Breaking Bad.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

In their own.

[E]

Well, they landed it in the context. In the Columbian context.

[A]

I remember when Gordon came back from.

[B]

He had a great time and he loved everybody down there and they were wonderful to him. And I thought we were going to do more of those. Columbia was the country who said, we'd like to make a country specific remake of Breaking Bad. And they went to Sony and Sony came to me and I thought, that's really cool. And we thought there'd be more, but no, but it was fun doing that one. It was a neat thing. They remade all 62 episodes. Yeah.

[A]

You know, you're talking about having the time to do things. I was told that in Minuso's notebook, when he's tracking all of the radio frequencies, that that's actually your handwriting.

[B]

It is.

[A]

And that. How. How long did it take you to do that? I mean, you were. There's a lot of writing in those.

[E]

Books, but before I started shooting that I had a lot of time, you know, in my hands, so I could do it. The thing is, I. I could tell that I was sorry when my hand. I couldn't move my fingers when I was writing those. Those frequencies. See, the thing is, for Manusu and Manusu's. The first time we see him is that I couldn't really rehearse the scene because it was all actions. There was no text. I knew what was going on. I knew, okay, so he's gonna dial this thing and he's gonna be listening to the clock and all that. But I couldn't really prepare. I had to wait to get to set and the director tell me, okay, so this is how you are going to.

[B]

I hadn't thought of that. That'd be tough. That'd make you more nervous, right? Absolutely.

[E]

I was a nerve wrack. I was like, okay, so I'm. I didn't prepare for this because I couldn't. I couldn't. I would think if I. If I rehearse this this way, it'll be fixed and I'll come to set and gonna tell me, no, it's this way. You know, the radio is not here. It's gonna be there.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[E]

So it was. It was quite the. Like the music sheet that you have to learn on the spot.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[E]

It was lovely. It was lovely.

[B]

Did a great job.

[E]

What a challenge. It was great.

[D]

Speaking of, I love the music. That's all through minusos introduction. Yeah. I loved all the music that Thomas G. As well as Dave Porter put in there for all of the Minutsos intro stuff. It's just all so great. I mean, I've always loved what they do with music, but there was something just really cool about the story introduction of your character and how the music was illustrating some of those points without ever telling you exactly what to think. It was awesome.

[C]

I agree. And everybody, when you got that warm welcome, this is partly because it's a great group of people who do welcome, you know, new folks warmly, and also because I think there was a genuine excitement to establish and introduce this whole new flavor character. Like, we're taking you now, audience to a different world and everybody was rooting for you and also genuinely fired up about it.

[A]

Yeah, true.

[E]

I mean, I felt like, okay, they're not just welcoming me, they are bringing me into the family.

[D]

Yeah, exactly.

[E]

It's so moving. I still think about it.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

That needle drop, by the way, is called Sumac by an artist called Loris L O R I S Loved it. I was, I'm sure, like many people, very surprised to see the actual mayor of Albuquerque. Yes, Tim Keller. How did that happen? How did. Where did that idea come from? And at what point was he brought into the process and having to clear that?

[C]

Well, Vince Gilligan is the unofficial mayor. So obviously the unofficial mayor reached out to the official mayor, and finally they came together.

[B]

Tim Keller's a cool guy. I had met him once or twice over the years, spent a little bit of time with him. He might be America's most handsome mayor. He looks a lot like Aaron Eckhart.

[D]

He's a very handsome mayor. He is.

[B]

And we reached out and said, would you be up for this? And he showed up. He spent the day on the set, and he had some folks with him, and he was doing work in between. He was, like, taking phone calls and doing, like, mayor stuff. Mayor stuff. Mayor work. And he. He's. He's really good. He's like a natural. He was really funny.

[D]

He did a great job.

[C]

Totally game. It was very hot, and he had to be out there sweeping asphalt and cleaning up with the rest of the cleanup crew. And he was totally in it.

[D]

Yeah, he was great.

[C]

Great. He does look like an actor playing a mayor. Even he does an actual.

[A]

It is crazy.

[B]

He is the real. Yeah. For folks watching, that was the real mayor of Albuquerque.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

Yeah. The current mayor. Absolutely.

[C]

As pictured in the airport.

[A]

That's right. That's how you know.

[B]

That's right. He's.

[D]

Whenever I go back, I see his face coming down the escalator and it.

[B]

Sits in the first episode. That's right. That was just.

[D]

Oh, that's right.

[B]

A fluky bit of happenstance, but it worked out great. Yeah.

[D]

That's awesome.

[A]

Another person in that scene is Jeff.

[D]

Hiller, the brilliant Jeff Hiller.

[C]

We were so excited to be able to work with him. And, man, was he a dream.

[D]

And, man, did he deserve that Emmy. He just.

[C]

Scott. Yes.

[B]

Yes. Congratulations, Jeff.

[D]

He's so great. He is wonderful. And I've loved his work for a long time, and I loved him as a human. As soon as we started chatting and hanging out, and when he told me, wait till you see what I'm wearing. And then came to set in what I think is a singlet masquerading as a bike uniform. And he's a very tall guy, and it's a very short costume. I was dying laughing, and he knew it was quite funny as well. But it's also telling the story of these people were in the middle of whatever they were in the middle of when this thing happened, and they haven't gotten to a place of changing those clothes yet. We were laughing about his costume, and Vince, you happened to be, like, wandering by or overheard it, and you offered appropriately. So, like, well, your character doesn't have any. Because he was saying, it's also hot, and now it's starting to ride up in the front.

[A]

Oh, no. Vince was saying, that's not where you want things to ride on.

[D]

No. And Vince was like, but these people, they don't have any vanity. They don't care. And Jeff, under his breath, he goes, But Jeff does.

[C]

He was such a good sport.

[D]

He was a trooper.

[B]

He was a trooper.

[C]

This was awesome. Our brilliant costume designer, Jennifer Bryan. She had a vision.

[D]

It was so good.

[C]

Her vision was realized.

[D]

It was.

[A]

Yeah, it was the first time I watched that scene. I couldn't. With that fantastic scene, which I do want to talk about the content of that scene.

[D]

Oh, God.

[A]

But I just couldn't figure out why he looks so familiar to me. I mean, I've seen him in things, but, like, I feel like, do I know him? And then months later, like, not that long ago, Jen sent me some pages from his memoir that was recently published. And he talks about an experience he had. And I realized he was in this, like, big national Snickers campaign many years ago.

[D]

Really?

[A]

With my good friend Chris Sullivan. Friend of the podcast Chris Sullivan. For no reason in particular, two of.

[B]

The tallest snicker eaters ever. Both those guys.

[A]

Yes. They were like. One of them was a Viking, and one of them was. It was this very funny ad campaign that they did, like, many different spots, and they were at the super bowl and all that. And then I realized, oh, that's why I know his face. Because I had seen all of Sully's ads, so that's awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Small world. But that scene. Let's talk about that scene. The writing of it, the shooting of it.

[D]

Yeah. I had seen Jeff in somebody somewhere, as well as some other things that he's just so. He's so great. And we got to talking about the scene, and that scene, from the second it came out in the script, was making any of us in the arts cringe. It's like your worst nightmare to find out that people actually think you're just doing popcorn fare or you're a hack or that your partner actually doesn't think as highly of your work as you thought. Although I think Carol suspected some of what she's asking. And the whole point is, it's just such a brilliantly written scene, Ms. Tatlock. She is trying to figure out, is it possible for these people to lie? And she knows that they have this imperative to please her. So she's trying to ask things that would not please her to hear, but she suspects might be truths, that how are they gonna tell the truth while not upsetting her and which one will win out? And so the fact that she drills down on that particular subject, I think means she suspected some things. Yeah.

[C]

We were very excited to see you to imagine you and then see you realize this scene, it's one of those scenes was first of all a pleasure to write. It's almost like writing a little play in the middle of a script and have two people kind of getting into it, across from each other.

[D]

It was. It was like a one act play.

[C]

Yeah. And that's how Zetna shot it. Like you guys played it all the way through many times over and over and over before she started getting pieces. So both of the actors had to be uber prepared, which of course, you both were. And then, yeah, be able to run it as its own little kind of experience together as you went on this journey. It was extra fun to write as a theater nerd because Carol also seems to be a little bit of a theater nerd. Worrying about Shakespeare and thinking about the different Shakespearean plays. And. Yeah, we. We talked so much in the room about our own narcisses and insecurities as writers, and to be able to kind of pour that into the scene and then see it realized like that.

[D]

And also these really, like, interesting questions of, like, I understand Carol's point of view, although it's quite the philosophical thing to extrapolate. To ask yourself is a compliment a compliment if somebody feels the same way about something else. Why do we need your love of anything to be unique to just your thing? And so she's asking that, but at the same time asking questions of, like, what makes some art important and some art not important? And that Jeff's character is saying, like, as long as you made somebody happy and they loved reading it, why. Why is that less important than high art? You know, and that kind of stuff, which really. We had some fun conversations in the crew on set all of these episodes really, like, what do you think about that? And they're big questions. And he's a theater nerd himself. And so he was like, we're just gonna sit here and do this, like a one act play. And then we get to do it over and over and find, like all these different nuanced ways to do it. Because that's also the first time we see these characters having to wrestle with saying an uncomfortable truth to Carol. But they aren't liars. But how much can they lawyer their way out of how they articulate what they need to say? And he just. We were both like, in tears afterwards. And he was like, this is. I don't remember the last time I was given the luxury to just, like, work on something like this. And I was like, it's kind of Heaven, isn't it?

[B]

Oh, my God. Really?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Wow. Luckily, I got to visit that day, and you guys were so good. Allison gave you such good stuff, and Zetna did such a good job directing you, and it was just a pleasure watching you guys. I've asked you this before. How do you memorize all that stuff? Like, it's amazing. Then that was one day of shooting, right? Did that whole scene in one day.

[D]

We did. We did that scene for the whole day.

[B]

Wow.

[D]

Yeah. It's so funny. No matter what you do or how long you do it, like, I still think. Vesica, you could tell me if you feel differently. I still feel like the number one question you do get from people outside of our business entirely is, like, how are you guys memorizing those lines? Because in their head, they're thinking, I couldn't do in excess of eight items at the grocery store without writing it down. Do you know what I mean? But I tell them, if you think about it, like, I'm memorizing a random list, eight pages of random words, then it would be impossible. And we start macro, and we go micro. I think most of us have just, like, I'm memorizing the beats of a conversation. And so if I ask somebody to, in general, repeat the different points of conversation we've had today since we started the podcast, introducing, you know, Veska, introducing each of us, and go through. And obviously, we exercise that part of our brain quite a bit doing what we do. But you're doing the chunks of what was the conversation and when did it shift and to what degree. And then you're getting more and more micro of what are the sentences that were in that chunk. It's easier if somebody's other line cues your line in a direct way of like, where do you want to go to dinner? Let's do Thai food is easier than where do you want to go to dinner? I've never seen those shoes. Like, that's always harder because you're your own internal monologue. I do them over and over. I hand write them over and over. Some people listen to their lines over and over. And then I also. Unless somebody chains me to the floor and won't let me, I go and find my scene partner and run it with them because I truly think anybody. And we've all been there. Like, you're an actor in a hotel doing your lines by yourself, and the first time you say them out loud is when you got to set and they yelled, action. It's just such a huge, giant additional Obstacle to trying to do a good job, it's better to say them out loud with each other.

[B]

I think that's awesome how you do that. Did you and Jeff get to do that? Did you get to. You ran lines, like, at your house?

[D]

I just came over to my rental place and we talked about the scene. And I said, we're not gonna lock in anything. You're gonna discover with Zetna and with Allyson and Vince, like, what this brand of the others is. What are we seeing that's new? What are we seeing that's established? But he was just excited to talk about character and talk about episodes that he had not seen. Cause he's just arriving with us and then run the lines. And run the lines and. Yeah, he did say it was like, I don't remember the last time I was able to do this where you could go and run the lines and rehearse things beforehand. And I was like, well, it's only gonna make the show better. It's only gonna make me better too.

[B]

That's awesome. I gotta imagine a big part of the conversation was, what in the hell is going on in this show?

[D]

Oh, for sure. And I had to, like, I got a lot of that from guest stars. I'm like, do you know what's wrong with these people? Do you know how big a smile is? And I was like, funny you should ask. It's a very finely tuned modulation going on with how much these people smile. Because you can't look high as a kite. You can't look like a robot. You can't look sinister. You have to look like you're thinking. But it was a lot. A lot for those people to dial in. But, yeah, most of the time he had questions about exactly what was going on. I was like, I'm just gonna. I'm gonna let somebody else answer that, because I don't actually. I have the pleasure of playing someone that has no idea what's going on.

[C]

And these are very fair questions. It's very difficult. The job that Jeff and these other guest stars have to do is, yes, to find this balance of. I'm a very good natured person. And I'm also authentic. I don't feel fake in my smiling. And I also takes a lot to bring me down. I mean, to find that right balance. And then in a seven page scene, the scene we're talking about, I believe is seven pages. So to find the sort of variety to play different beats within the scene when you know that this character is wired so specifically, it's quite challenging.

[D]

Very challenging. And yet the mayor got it right away. One line just killed it, crushed it.

[B]

Now there's a pro.

[D]

Right?

[A]

You know, Rhea, you said something. You said the phrase high as a kite, which is something that Carol does in this episode.

[D]

She does.

[A]

Carol gets quite high. Do you guys want to talk about writing and shooting that? I assume you had some fun coming up with some of the crazy things.

[D]

I know there's a ton of material for the extras on dvd.

[C]

Lots of good outtakes, a lot of great outtakes. We couldn't use everything, which was actually painful for me, I understood.

[D]

Including the scripted me singing Melissa Etheridge.

[C]

Yes. Rhea sang Melissa Etheridge at the top of her lungs. And it didn't make it into the show. That's how much good stuff we had.

[B]

There was a lot of good stuff.

[D]

It was fun. It was very funny. And I would say, though, in all seriousness, some of the technically challenging stuff was finding the tone. How comedic can it be? And so I think we did a lot of material partially so that it could be found of, like, this constant balance in this show of how comedic can a moment be and be supported with this very dramatic moment happening over here. And where is this tone? And it shouldn't be cutesy. And I think sometimes it was getting cutesy, probably because of me, but we were given the space to push it as dramatically. I think we all were really happy that when I was given license to also let some of it be very real and very dark, that her I miss you and crying about her wife. It didn't say it was about her wife, but I thought clearly you would go to that place as well, like, drunk, crying kind of feeling. So it was really great to find those things. So that was technically challenging. And then the other thing was on the day I was told, or maybe the day before, probably like even the week before, but this idea that some of the footage would be the footage that Carol was doing herself, right? And then I was told that's the only footage, that it wouldn't be covered by other cameras. I was like, oh, that's cool. That's really interesting. It wasn't until, like, two days before we filmed it that I thought, oh, well, then it would have to be a continuous take, I thought. Cause what was it? Was it two or three pages of pieces you'd written, like singing Melissa Etheridge and then it was reading from her own book?

[C]

Yeah, it was quite a bit.

[D]

It was a lot. And I thought they were disjointed pieces. And then when I realized you need the option of being able to take full pieces of the take with those things together. I was like, oh, well. The funniest, while still being the most grounded way and heartfelt way for her to be in that space is to connect these seemingly very disparate things. Because someone on drugs or like if you drank too much, like you're connecting two thoughts even though everybody else looks insane to the drunk, it totally makes sense to talk about this thing and then that thing and then that thing. So that was challenging but really fun. I had written in the connective tissue between each of these things of why she would start reading from her book after whatever, singing Melissa Etheridge and stuff. I would add things in. I think I put the sweater on and then was like, I'm a professor. Which led her to like reading from her book. I was doing anything I could to like. Because I also had to memorize. Like we were talking about memorizing lines completely disjointed chunks that are not taken off any cue. So that's what I did. I wrote the middles.

[C]

Yes. This was an incredible collaboration between writers, director and actor. And it was kind of wild to watch it come. We were watching in real time as the incredible Rhea Seehorn found her way from one piece. There was like a lot of planning.

[D]

Things that were crew inside jokes.

[C]

There was also some improvisation.

[D]

There was some improv. Yes.

[C]

And it was hard not to laugh. We were all tamping down. Tamping down. There was a lot of church giggles at the monitor and video village and a huge round of applause when it was over because it was.

[A]

It was what I was about. Yeah.

[D]

Long. Long. I mean, those were long.

[C]

Yes, More than one and long. And then also there were piece.

[D]

You know, then we. Then we.

[C]

Pieces were picked up.

[D]

But there was some shock continuous thing was incredible.

[C]

And I was so 10 minutes dazzled.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

I feel like if there was video of Zetna and me, I would have, you know, my, like the slack jawed. I was mesmerized watching you move from one piece of the event to the next. And some of the funniest stuff I thought came out of that because your voice would stop doing.

[D]

Yes, it was fun. It was fun.

[A]

And then later when you're shooting the part with you watching it.

[D]

Horrifying.

[A]

Did. Did you actually watch what it was or were you just.

[D]

They did make a. They made a cut, a mini cut for me to watch for that. That I had not seen. Yes. Skip.

[C]

A feat of editing as well, we should say, because skip did have to cull through all of this stuff and then help us.

[A]

Yeah, but I love your. The way that you play that. I think anybody who's ever seen a video of themselves drunk or doing something, maybe you don't even remember, perhaps.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, I can't say for sure that that is my experience, but. But it's just like, oh, no. Oh, no, I don't want to. I can't.

[D]

No.

[C]

It's embarrassing. And the crying is tragic. I mean, Vince and I both felt very sad watching that. And then just the fact that you were able to go there while also being in these other kind of.

[B]

Well, then Carol's. I mean, it's both. Carol. But then your reaction, watching it sober, it really. It chokes you up. It's just the viewer. I mean, because your reaction.

[D]

Oh, her reaction to the fact that she cried.

[B]

It's really good. I mean, it's really good.

[D]

She's not really allowing herself that sober. So the fact that she's like, yep, that lives in me. I'm aware. I keep swallowing it every day.

[C]

I really like it when you agree with yourself. That's one of my favorite moments. I think we even wrote in the script, like, yay, me. Or I good job, me, or whatever in the stage direction. So it was very gratifying.

[B]

It's like, how annoying is that chick? And you're like, yes, yes, I am.

[D]

I know. For a second she's like, I'm glad someone else thinks the way I do. And it's like, it's you.

[C]

You really adamantly agree with yourself.

[D]

That's how sad her life is at this point. She's like, someone's on my side. It's me.

[B]

It's me.

[A]

This episode ends with what is referred to, I think, in the script and around the office as the Convergence.

[D]

Oh, God.

[A]

Of when she affects Zosia and they all crowd around her. Those please, Carol. And kind of leaving us on this note of, where is this going next? I know that that sequence, that Convergence. I know that they started rehearsing that days before to try and get all of that, you know, how involved were you?

[D]

The background artists were incredible.

[A]

Amazing, Incredible.

[D]

We had to shoot it for multiple days. And it was.

[C]

It was very hot. Very, very hot. So hot. Well, Rich Sickler, our AD had the great idea to map it out inside. So we did kind of a pre. Rehearsal. Rehearsal.

[B]

Right.

[C]

On a sound inside on the stages. Yes. And taped it out. And so to give a sense of what it would be like without being out in the Blazing heat. So there was like the pre rehearsal and then rehearsal and then shooting. And then of course we had the support of our movement expert, Nito.

[B]

Nito.

[A]

Yeah, we had Nito. You may have heard Nito on the bonus episode from 101.

[C]

Right.

[D]

And then Sherry Montesano and Ashlyn Padilla and their team trying to figure out these tears that are running down these people's faces. A shout out to Carolina as well. How to cry without looking pained is a very difficult thing because they aren't experiencing the emotional anguish as much as just the tears are flowing. And then all the other people. Because Carolina's character has been altered by the drugs that Carol has given her. So she's feeling more than they are in a way. Or at least allowing her physical body is allowing itself to do things that the rest of them are not. And then they had to figure out how to get tears. I think it was vitamin E oil and stuff. Because they have to stay there. It's not like people are squeezing their eyes and crying. And then how do you get that to show with bright sunlight on their face was quite the feat. And running around doing 150 people.

[B]

I voted for onions. Bags of onions. Stick em in everybody's face right before we.

[C]

Carolina did have a combination of real tears.

[D]

She did. And so did many people there. Yeah. I'm not taking that.

[C]

I mean, I wanted to cry just cause it was so hot.

[D]

No, it was more. Her character was at least going through a thing and well, so are they. Cause they're all of one mind. Yeah. I don't take anything away from what any of them were doing. But it was mostly the background artists that would need to have this sort of almost continuous look that would be impossible to create as a human being for the takes and the angles and everything.

[C]

Oh yeah, absolutely.

[D]

No, Carolina was brilliant in it. Yes.

[C]

Everyone to be generating real tears under those circumstances.

[D]

I was generating real sweat though. So that was the reason. The behind the scenes photos of how many people had battery operated fans on me. And it was not because like, oh, number one has to be kept cool while the rest of you sweat. It was because I sweat like a boy who's been forced to like go to camp to learn sports or something. I'm soaking. That's how I sweat. It's not perspiring, it's not glowing. It is soaking wet hair within seconds. It's the resets. It kills people. Because my hair's soaking wet now. You've got to dry it to look like the beginning. I Have multiple shirts for so many costumes that shouldn't need multiple shirts because of the amount of sweating.

[C]

Well, I say good for you for sweating on camera. Women sweat. And as Vince knows, because I called it out during the edit, I love the moment where you decide to sniff your pit when you get into that funky smelling car.

[D]

It was part and parcel of this idea of, like, in these very dark moments like that, there's just something that's very observationally human, funny. And I was like, so I drive this car now? And you're like, no. Even at the depths of her despair, she decides, this smells too much. Even I am above this.

[A]

Well, as we wrap up, I just want to give two shout outs. One, a couple of people that appear on screen. One is Allison's husband, David Wyatter, who is a hospital worker who Carol asked for heroin from.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

And then right at the end there, the person giving CPR using the AED machine, the defibrillator, is Rosa Estrada, who was the fabled medic from Better Call Saul who, you know, saved Bob Odenkirk's life.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

That was a crazy day. Was any of that inspired by that, like, narratively? Because I had never even thought about those machines. And then once that happened, we all took training and we have one in the kitchen, and it's just here in.

[B]

The writers post production offices. We have one in the kitchen now. An AED machine. I mean, I'll never forget that, Ray. I know you won't either. It was the day that happened and. And it was Rosa Estrada and it was Angie Meyer, our first ad, who was doing chest compressions. Yeah. I mean, who better to play that scene in Episode than Rosa? So. Yeah.

[C]

And I don't. I don't think we didn't consciously push the story in that direction because of that experience, but once we decided that this was where the story was going, we were very aware that people, including you, Ray, had been through this traumatic experience on the set. And I do remember we all felt a little bit protective of you that you would have to go through this scene having been through this real life experience.

[D]

You guys were very sweet. When I am trying to resuscitate my wife as well in the pilot.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

And we've had a bunch of that in this thing so far. Yeah.

[D]

No, everybody was very kind about it and helpful and all of that. I felt okay about it. Would have felt wrong to prostitute that experience into this. It was not something that I sat off to the side and thought, like, okay, here's how I'll squeeze fear or tears out having. I'm aware of the variety of reactions one can have that people have when something like that is happening.

[A]

Well, we'll have to wait until next week to find out what happens, but thank you all for coming in on a Sunday to record this and thank you all for listening.

[D]

Thank you for having us.

[E]

Yeah, thank you, thank you.

[B]

This was awesome.

[A]

All right, thank you so much to Carlos Manuel Vesca, Ray Seehorn, Alison Tatlock, and Vince Gilligan. And thank you for listening to the official podcast, an Apple TV podcast produced by High Bridge Productions and Sony Pictures Television. Be sure to follow on Apple Podcasts to get the next episode in your feed, including those bonus episodes. And watch Pluribus on Apple TV where available. Our editor and mixer is Nicholas Tsai. Theme music by Dave Porter. Associate producers are Alana Hoffman, Justin Verbeeste and Nicholas Tsai. Executive producers are Jen Carroll and me, your host, Chris McCaleb. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.