Your Favorite Character in 'Pluribus' Is Actually the Ultimate Villain

Published Jun 14, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

Perri Nemiroff is the 2025 Press Award winner at the ICG Publicists Awards.

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During their conversation, Zosia confirms that they require Carol’s stem cells to complete The Joining. But then Carol asks, “If I don’t expressly give you my consent to jam a giant needle in my ass, then you can’t take them and I stay me, right?” When Zosia replies, “That would be correct,” Carol instantly picks up on the fact that something’s changed. The Joined have discovered that they can get Carol’s stem cells via her frozen eggs. In fact, they’re already working on it, and should the process prove successful, they’ll be able to make Carol Join without her consent. Carol pleads, “If you loved me, you wouldn’t do this,” to which Zosia replies, “Please understand, we have to do this because we love you.”

While on Collider Ladies Night, Wydra took a moment to discuss tackling that scene with Seehorn, and to explain how she approached playing the collision of wanting to make Carol happy, with The Joining being of the utmost importance to them.

Why The Joining Is Terrifying

"We are putting our will on her because we think we know better."

Image via Apple TV

That last conversation between Carol and Zosia in Pluribus Season 1 is a beautifully performed scene, but as Wydra explained, she and Seehorn appreciated being given the opportunity to play with that moment and then let creator Vince Gilligan, director Gordon Smith, and the rest of the team find it in the edit:

“Rhea and I would talk about how grateful we were that we got an opportunity to play. The last scene, we played it so many different ways. We got the opportunity to just layer it and layer it and layer it, and let them try to put it together and find the essence of that scene and what it meant to be.”

One especially essential layer for Wydra? Believing in The Joining — but only while playing Zosia, of course. In reality? Wydra recognizes how The Joined are an “ultimate villain.” She explained:

“For me, I had to build The Joining incredibly strong because it is everything to them, and they do believe. They are quite an ultimate villain, in a sense, because anybody who thinks they know better than what's best for you is terrifying, and then when they put their will on you, no matter what, it's terrifying. [Carol] doesn't want The Joining, and we are putting our will on her because we think we know better than what she knows, and that's pretty scary.”

Zosia Truly Believes This Is What’s Best for Carol

"When I play Zosia, I completely stand by what she's doing."

After spending much of the season thrilled and seemingly wholeheartedly dedicated to giving Carol anything she wants, the time has come when the value they see in The Joining supersedes Carol’s autonomy. Even though Carol expressly states it’s something she’s against, in that final conversation, it appears that will not stop them because they’re certain that that’s what’s best for Carol regardless. Wydra explained:

“Zosia truly believes that this is gonna save her. That once she experiences this, this is gonna save her, and she's gonna understand how important and vital it is for her to experience this Joining. It is that thing, ‘You already know what it’s like to be you, but you don't know what it's like to be us.’ The Joining, it is their biological imperative to share it with her. You can say it's so manipulative and so wrong in many ways, and there's the part of me, the Karolina, that understands it, but when I play Zosia, I completely stand by what she's doing.”

Wydra faced a similar performance challenge when playing Violet in True Blood.

“Every villain believes in their cause. They believe what they're doing is actually saving humanity, or they're saving this, or there's a purpose. Even someone like Violet. Violet has a very strong belief system. All these characters that I have played that were more villainous or had very strong opinions, to them, it's very real.”

Image via Apple TV

A sign such a performance is extremely effective? When the actor manages to take a viewer along for the ride as their story progresses.

“It is wild when I hear people say how they were not rooting for Zosia, but then eventually they start to question and then go, ‘Huh. Is it that bad? Would it be that bad to Join? Is she a bad person?’ They start to actually go on the ride with her, starting off so strong, like, ‘Oh god, I don't like her. What is she doing? This thing that just shows up,’ and then start to question their own relationship to her and The Joining.”

Looking for even more from Wydra about her experience playing Zosia and The Joined in Pluribus, including her incredible story of how she scored the role? You can watch her full Collider Ladies Night interview in the video at the top of this article.

Release Date November 6, 2025

Network Apple TV

Directors Adam Bernstein, Zetna Fuentes, Melissa Bernstein

Writers Ariel Levine