I like this theory because in EP 1 the hive mind said that all cell phone networks are down and I think it’s because the cell phone frequency messes with the hive mind frequency
I don’t think cell networks mess with the hive mind they just don’t need it. They probably only keep the land lines around for carol. But a million things run off the cell networks that keep our daily lives going that are part of our infrastructure. Obviously this is a major clue because they keep using landlines as a plot device.
Except the cell networks weren't taken down in the same way that we've seen other pieces of infrastructure be handled. Think about it, the power was shut off at night for efficiency but only days after the hivemind took over. 10% of the planet dying didn't take out the grid, the numerous crashes of moving vehicles might have taken out a few power poles but the grid stayed functioning. So why did the cell networks fail immediately?
The show tries to imply that they go down as part of the chaos of the takeover. On first glance that's totally believable, networks fail all the time under high loads like during mass casualty incidents or when you have a lot of people gathering. But where's the load coming from? From what we've been shown everybody gets taken over at any given location very quickly, so quickly that anybody noticing something up wouldn't have the chance to make a call before also being infected. Even if there was enough load to bring down the network, it would have come back automatically as network activity dropped to almost nothing.
They could easily keep the cell phone networks active for the benefit of the unjoined and i believe they would do that without being asked, so the fact the networks are down and remain so lends weight to this theory!
alright tree murphy i’m locked in. you convinced me
…tbh it would make sense if the two main characters besides the hive were a writer with no scientific abilities who gets people and then a scientist with no understanding of how people work
Even if the frequency part is wrong, I think this theory nails down the structure of the season: Manousos and Carol are discovering different halves of how the Hive operates, and they have to come together by the end of the season to try and reverse it. My guess is the season ends with that plan being enacted, the clock stopping and a huge cliffhanger.
I think Manousos is a former member of the hive. That’s why he wasn’t originally counted among the immune and why he’s even more avoidant towards the hive than Carol. It’s also why they now know people can be freed.
woah that's a really interesting idea I honestly hadn't considered. That would even give us a reason for why he would be able to figure out the mechanism behind the hivemind's telepathy, i honestly have to think on Manousos more after your comment
Someone conscientious enough to put the notes on the doors for future customers wouldn’t be so stay alone crazy to eat cat food rather than accept food from the hive. He presumably hopes his customers are coming back some day and has a good reason to both think it’s possible and totally avoid any hive interaction that could reinfect him.
I’m a telecommunications engineer, and we actually have a full EMC test chamber on campus - so I’m speaking from real hands-on experience.
An elevator is definitely not a real Faraday cage. Even though it’s a metal box, RF still leaks through gaps, seams, ventilation openings, and any non-metal parts.
To completely block radio signals, you need an anechoic or EMC test chamber. These rooms have very thick, double-layer walls (basically bunker-level construction), and the interior isn’t just metal - it’s lined with ferrite tiles for low-frequency absorption and foam RF absorbers for higher frequencies. Those foam pyramids you see aren’t for aesthetics; they’re engineered to absorb electromagnetic waves and prevent reflections, making the chamber fully isolated from outside signals.
I really like this theory. I feel at some point, maybe even in the next episode, he'll get to a frequency that just sounds like a garbled mess, then the story will revolve around figuring out a way to interrupt the signal.
I like this, but it seems too easy to block. There would be many places on earth that the hive would simply refuse to go. I’m not sure hive members would even get in elevators if it hurt their connection.
The only thing that makes me wonder about this is that the first lab tech was essentially the only member of the hive. She was still acting like a robot wanting to infect others. By disrupting an individual by sticking them in a faraday cage we'd just get someone like that lab tech?
One other detail relating to radio.. She gets in the car at the hospital and the music is distorting. Presuming that car only has a radio and likely no license plate because it’s from albuquerque.
Since episode one I wondered why carol or anyone else didn't just take one of them to a faraday cage/emc chamber. I'd try that before giving them drugs.
I mean, it's not like his fence is more than 8 feet tall? I don't know how reflective those waves are off of other structures, but to imply that anything less than being in a full faraday cage to block things out ... seems a bit of a stretch.
Also, why not just let hive members in behind his chain link fence and then close it to "free" their mind?
There are lots of chain link fences in the world. Most prisons are behind such fences. Lots of military installations too. I would think that if this was some major hole we'd have more than 12 "uninfected" people in the world.
I think the other parts about worldwide broadcast are interesting, since their communication does seem planet-wide and instant. It definitely could be a foreshadowing of a future plot point. Or it could have just been a mere means to show how desperate he was, to hop frequency to frequency and then set his kitchen timer for however long...
I don’t know anything about radio waves, but just looking at an animation of it (more specifically animation of a half-wave dipole antenna radiating radio waves), it looks very similar to the intro.
This is all from Wikipedia so take that with a grain of salt.
I guess if the radio waves theory is true, then a way to stop the hive would be to also broadcast an opposing radio waves that cancels it out.
I feel like if all someone needed to be disconnected was blocking HF waves, its happen more often. They dont just freely travel across the whole planet. Line of sight, cosmic radiation, the ground all affect the propagation of HF waves. And stuff in the way in rooms like metal shielding can affect the propagation.
What may be interesting is if each individual body thats infected acts a reciever and transmitter of the give signal, effectively boosting it everyone. When the whole planet of humans are infected, it can create a HF network covering the whole planet.
Im still not entirely convinced the hive signal is as simple as HF frequencies. There would have to be cases where the signal is being interfered with. What then. Are there multiple hives that disconnect and reconnect at times?
The man was using the Kenwood TS-940S radio tunned onto the popular 40m band ( 7.0 Mhz to 7.3 Mhz )
Now why is he listing in on that specific frequency. Well mainly because he most likely has an antenna tunned to specifically the 40 meter band. The 40 meter band is also one of the most popular amateur radio bands.
Also he is utilizing the HF bands because those band have much farther range the UHF / VHF because the taller waves can bounce off the ionopshere.
I really think he is just listing in on popular amateur radio bands to see if anyone out there is talking.
Also the human body doesn't really have the means to pump out enough power send radio waves skipping across the world.
If you were right, would'nt the ISS and submarines cut from the signal ? And people betweens mountains in valleys ? People that were in bunkers underground, etc..
I dont get how they could control EVERYONE except 12 in a few hours (talking about the big spreading event) if they need HF waves to not being cut off.
for The Joining, the virus was spread via bodily fluids (examples of this are all the kissing and donut licking that happened), also we were given a direct explanation for people in the ISS, isolated military bunkers, and submarines: Pluribus told Carol via Zosia that they made a point to target those threats first. A whole story of the best prepared humans being taken out by the hivemind happened off-screen, before Carol even knew what was up
I’m thinking the cardiac arrest was due to a broken heart, she was so sad by not answering Carol’s request that her heart broke.
Ninja edit: I also don’t think Carol was trying to disconnect Zosia from the hive - rather, she was trying to get her to be uninhibited. The footage of Carol was showing how she voiced her inner thoughts that she was embarrassed of when sober, a type of truth serum.
So then Carol drugged Zosia and isolated her physically, and then tried to get her to answer the question she wouldn’t answer sober.
A lot of what’s to come in Pluribus is already portrayed in Rick and Morty, in an episode called Autoerotic Assimilation. It’s about a hive mind taking over a planet and how much better off the people are because of it, but then individuals that aren’t part of the hive start freeing some of the ‘joined’. There’s drug use, there’s romance with the hive itself, and there’s a point where the hive isolated itself from the individuals in self-protection. I foresee a lot of the same happening in Pluribus.
Nice theory and what a terrific digging you did into those small little details we tend to skip.
I’ll keep this in mind.
Fuck, I love this show.
Thanks so much! I pretty much immediately fell in love with this show too, it keeps getting even better too!
I like this theory because in EP 1 the hive mind said that all cell phone networks are down and I think it’s because the cell phone frequency messes with the hive mind frequency
I don’t think cell networks mess with the hive mind they just don’t need it. They probably only keep the land lines around for carol. But a million things run off the cell networks that keep our daily lives going that are part of our infrastructure. Obviously this is a major clue because they keep using landlines as a plot device.
Except the cell networks weren't taken down in the same way that we've seen other pieces of infrastructure be handled. Think about it, the power was shut off at night for efficiency but only days after the hivemind took over. 10% of the planet dying didn't take out the grid, the numerous crashes of moving vehicles might have taken out a few power poles but the grid stayed functioning. So why did the cell networks fail immediately?
The show tries to imply that they go down as part of the chaos of the takeover. On first glance that's totally believable, networks fail all the time under high loads like during mass casualty incidents or when you have a lot of people gathering. But where's the load coming from? From what we've been shown everybody gets taken over at any given location very quickly, so quickly that anybody noticing something up wouldn't have the chance to make a call before also being infected. Even if there was enough load to bring down the network, it would have come back automatically as network activity dropped to almost nothing.
They could easily keep the cell phone networks active for the benefit of the unjoined and i believe they would do that without being asked, so the fact the networks are down and remain so lends weight to this theory!
Damn, that's a really good explanation for that actually. This show had so many early clues we missed at first
alright tree murphy i’m locked in. you convinced me
…tbh it would make sense if the two main characters besides the hive were a writer with no scientific abilities who gets people and then a scientist with no understanding of how people work
now i have to watch Arrival
Even if the frequency part is wrong, I think this theory nails down the structure of the season: Manousos and Carol are discovering different halves of how the Hive operates, and they have to come together by the end of the season to try and reverse it. My guess is the season ends with that plan being enacted, the clock stopping and a huge cliffhanger.
As an amateur radio operator myself (as well as a lover of this series), I have to say, I really like this theory.
Do I think it's likely to be true? Well... no, not really.
But I hope it is!
haha, i'm glad to have reached the perfect audience for this post!
I think Manousos is a former member of the hive. That’s why he wasn’t originally counted among the immune and why he’s even more avoidant towards the hive than Carol. It’s also why they now know people can be freed.
woah that's a really interesting idea I honestly hadn't considered. That would even give us a reason for why he would be able to figure out the mechanism behind the hivemind's telepathy, i honestly have to think on Manousos more after your comment
I thought his licking the can clean indicated this. But we really dont know anything for sure
Someone conscientious enough to put the notes on the doors for future customers wouldn’t be so stay alone crazy to eat cat food rather than accept food from the hive. He presumably hopes his customers are coming back some day and has a good reason to both think it’s possible and totally avoid any hive interaction that could reinfect him.
my issue with this is that zosia and carol were in an elevator (a faraday cage) without any hive mind connection issues
I’m a telecommunications engineer, and we actually have a full EMC test chamber on campus - so I’m speaking from real hands-on experience.
An elevator is definitely not a real Faraday cage. Even though it’s a metal box, RF still leaks through gaps, seams, ventilation openings, and any non-metal parts.
To completely block radio signals, you need an anechoic or EMC test chamber. These rooms have very thick, double-layer walls (basically bunker-level construction), and the interior isn’t just metal - it’s lined with ferrite tiles for low-frequency absorption and foam RF absorbers for higher frequencies. Those foam pyramids you see aren’t for aesthetics; they’re engineered to absorb electromagnetic waves and prevent reflections, making the chamber fully isolated from outside signals.
I really like this theory. I feel at some point, maybe even in the next episode, he'll get to a frequency that just sounds like a garbled mess, then the story will revolve around figuring out a way to interrupt the signal.
so chuck would be immune? bravo vince
I like this, but it seems too easy to block. There would be many places on earth that the hive would simply refuse to go. I’m not sure hive members would even get in elevators if it hurt their connection.
It’d be like taking the subway. You know you won’t have service until you get off at your stop.
At last a theory here I can believe in until other evidence contradicts.
The only thing that makes me wonder about this is that the first lab tech was essentially the only member of the hive. She was still acting like a robot wanting to infect others. By disrupting an individual by sticking them in a faraday cage we'd just get someone like that lab tech?
One other detail relating to radio.. She gets in the car at the hospital and the music is distorting. Presuming that car only has a radio and likely no license plate because it’s from albuquerque.
Since episode one I wondered why carol or anyone else didn't just take one of them to a faraday cage/emc chamber. I'd try that before giving them drugs.
I mean, it's not like his fence is more than 8 feet tall? I don't know how reflective those waves are off of other structures, but to imply that anything less than being in a full faraday cage to block things out ... seems a bit of a stretch.
Also, why not just let hive members in behind his chain link fence and then close it to "free" their mind?
There are lots of chain link fences in the world. Most prisons are behind such fences. Lots of military installations too. I would think that if this was some major hole we'd have more than 12 "uninfected" people in the world.
I think the other parts about worldwide broadcast are interesting, since their communication does seem planet-wide and instant. It definitely could be a foreshadowing of a future plot point. Or it could have just been a mere means to show how desperate he was, to hop frequency to frequency and then set his kitchen timer for however long...
I don’t know anything about radio waves, but just looking at an animation of it (more specifically animation of a half-wave dipole antenna radiating radio waves), it looks very similar to the intro.
This is all from Wikipedia so take that with a grain of salt.
I guess if the radio waves theory is true, then a way to stop the hive would be to also broadcast an opposing radio waves that cancels it out.
I feel like if all someone needed to be disconnected was blocking HF waves, its happen more often. They dont just freely travel across the whole planet. Line of sight, cosmic radiation, the ground all affect the propagation of HF waves. And stuff in the way in rooms like metal shielding can affect the propagation.
What may be interesting is if each individual body thats infected acts a reciever and transmitter of the give signal, effectively boosting it everyone. When the whole planet of humans are infected, it can create a HF network covering the whole planet.
Im still not entirely convinced the hive signal is as simple as HF frequencies. There would have to be cases where the signal is being interfered with. What then. Are there multiple hives that disconnect and reconnect at times?
bro is joined with vince
I think the title card intro of the show also kind of hints that they are communicating through some sort of frequency waves execellent theory ngl.
Interesting theory but I don't think its true.
The man was using the Kenwood TS-940S radio tunned onto the popular 40m band ( 7.0 Mhz to 7.3 Mhz )
Now why is he listing in on that specific frequency. Well mainly because he most likely has an antenna tunned to specifically the 40 meter band. The 40 meter band is also one of the most popular amateur radio bands.
Also he is utilizing the HF bands because those band have much farther range the UHF / VHF because the taller waves can bounce off the ionopshere.
I really think he is just listing in on popular amateur radio bands to see if anyone out there is talking.
Also the human body doesn't really have the means to pump out enough power send radio waves skipping across the world.
If you were right, would'nt the ISS and submarines cut from the signal ? And people betweens mountains in valleys ? People that were in bunkers underground, etc..
I dont get how they could control EVERYONE except 12 in a few hours (talking about the big spreading event) if they need HF waves to not being cut off.
for The Joining, the virus was spread via bodily fluids (examples of this are all the kissing and donut licking that happened), also we were given a direct explanation for people in the ISS, isolated military bunkers, and submarines: Pluribus told Carol via Zosia that they made a point to target those threats first. A whole story of the best prepared humans being taken out by the hivemind happened off-screen, before Carol even knew what was up
I’m thinking the cardiac arrest was due to a broken heart, she was so sad by not answering Carol’s request that her heart broke.
Ninja edit: I also don’t think Carol was trying to disconnect Zosia from the hive - rather, she was trying to get her to be uninhibited. The footage of Carol was showing how she voiced her inner thoughts that she was embarrassed of when sober, a type of truth serum.
So then Carol drugged Zosia and isolated her physically, and then tried to get her to answer the question she wouldn’t answer sober.
A lot of what’s to come in Pluribus is already portrayed in Rick and Morty, in an episode called Autoerotic Assimilation. It’s about a hive mind taking over a planet and how much better off the people are because of it, but then individuals that aren’t part of the hive start freeing some of the ‘joined’. There’s drug use, there’s romance with the hive itself, and there’s a point where the hive isolated itself from the individuals in self-protection. I foresee a lot of the same happening in Pluribus.
So why was this theory deleted?