Vince Gilligan’s latest venture, the sci-fi enigma “Pluribus” on Apple TV, has become a smashing success for the streaming service. As the inaugural season unfolds, there are a few unusual mysteries we’re eager to see unraveled.

For a deeper dive, be sure to watch Looper’s video, but here’s a snapshot: “Pluribus” features Rhea Seehorn, known for her stunning role in “Better Call Saul,” playing Carol Sturka, a celebrated author who suddenly finds herself as the lone “survivor” following a global event that unites humanity into a single hive mind. Stranded in this bizarre new world, where children know intimate details she once shared only with her partner and everyone can fly a plane thanks to the hive mind’s shared knowledge, Carol is uniquely aware of the potential perils this collective existence poses.

Now, what about those peculiar questions? Let’s delve in, and fair warning — they’re quite unusual! First, what exactly became of household pets during the mass conversion — initiated through saliva — that assimilated everyone except Carol? Are they part of this collective consciousness or left behind? Curiously, as Carol and other characters traverse this transformed world, there’s no sign of stray dogs or cats. So, where have Fido and Fluffy disappeared to in this scenario? And that’s just scratching the surface.

Perhaps the pet mystery isn’t so bizarre, so consider this: how does intimacy function within the hive mind? Can everyone collectively feel another’s intimate experiences? This question arises early in “Pluribus” when Koumba Diabaté, portrayed by Samba Schutte, chooses a hedonistic lifestyle with the hive mind and seeks Carol’s approval to engage romantically with Zosia, played by Karolina Wydra, a representative of the hive mind. Given that the hive mind shares experiences — evidenced by groups collapsing when Carol’s anger targets a single individual — this presents a particularly intriguing conundrum!

Okay, maybe the pets question isn’t all that weird, so how about this — how does intimacy work within the hive mind? Can every human on earth experience another’s carnal pleasure? This becomes an issue early in “Pluribus” when one of the few other unaffected humans, Samba Schutte’s Koumba Diabaté, elects to live a debaucherous life alongside the hive mind and asks Carol’s permission to take hive mind representative Zosia (Karolina Wydra) as his lover. Because the hive mind does seem to experience many of the same things together — like how groups of them collapse when Carol gets too angry at just one of them — this is a particularly odd issue!

This is a truly unsettling follow-up question, but seriously: what’s it like being a kid as a part of the hive mind? Instead of growing up and learning things in a “normal” way, are you simply plagued with the knowledge of all of humanity the second you’re born? How do the concepts of learning and art co-exist with a hive mind that all experience the same things? Can art ever truly be subjective again, or does everybody just love all the same stuff now? What is dreaming like when you’re part of a hive mind?! 

There are plenty of bizarre questions to ask about “Pluribus,” and the Looper video above explains even more of them — and this all speaks to Vince Gilligan’s talent at world-building, ultimately. “Pluribus” airs new episodes on Fridays and concludes Season 1 on December 26.