I was nervous heading into the first episode of Apple’s hit show Pluribus, because the title doesn’t give much away and the poster - featuring Rhea Seehorn screaming on a vivid yellow background - was a little offputting. But of course I needn’t have worried, Apple TV has scored another success with a quality programme that came to an end this past week.

The show is hard to describe but follows one of a few survivors that escape an alien virus that hits earth and turns everyone else into a hive mind. The hive mind is peace loving and wants to make the survivors happy, will do almost anything for them in fact, but at the same time is working hard on solving the problem of having them join the gang.

Our survivor is Carol Sturka, a grumpy novelist, played incredibly by Rhea Seehorn. This is not a sympathetic character, she is irritating and irritable, stubborn and quick to fly off the handle, but also grieving, determined, and occasionally very clever. I haven’t watched Better Call Saul yet, for which Seehorn was well-loved, but it’s definitely moved up the list after this.

There are other characters that have survived the so-called ‘Joining’ and a few hive mind characters that also take centre stage (Zosia is adorable, it has to be said), but really, it’s the situation that drives this show. It’s such a unique idea and opens so many avenues for storytelling. It’s post-apocalyptic but there’s no real danger to life, in fact for some people, things are much cushier than they otherwise had been.

But it’s also lonely, being surrounded by one mind rather than the individuality of humans. We have a variety of reactions to the situation - Carol’s grudging curiosity, Manousos’ anger and isolation, Koumba living the high life, and Kusimayu keen to join. (Must give a shout out to this series for featuring different actors to the usual Apple TV gang, nice to see fresh faces.)

I’ve read that the creators have a four-season run in mind which is good because it means all the questions that are being raised (what is the actual aim of the hive mind, what is the dish, how are they going to survive with a quickly diminishing food source, how is it all going to resolve) are hopefully being accounted for and answers are being planned. Unlike LOST, which is my go to anytime a show like this rears its head.

This first series was so well crafted. Occasionally, a scene would drag out a bit and feature that one-take creativity that’s all the rage at the moment. But even in an extended sequence following Carol just driving away from the horror, it’s a focus on her reactions, on the range of emotions she’s going through, rather than what’s going on around her… it’s so well done. But we left things with two characters teaming up and an atom bomb on the front drive, so I’m very glad that a second series has been greenlit already.

If you haven’t already jumped on the PluriBUS, then I highly recommend giving it a go - quality television that’s full of unique and thought-provoking ideas, what more could you want?