That’s the problem! I do not know how you fail to realize this, but that’s the damn problem!

Because I don't think it's that important. When it comes to little oversights like that I can just view it as if a couple of other people were also in the cockpit (in this instance) and nothing changes.

If the entire motivation of the species is to minimize waste and impact down to a single human, using anything close to such a plane is absolute insanity. That’s still ignoring the logistics that such a plane is LITERALLY DESIGNED TO BE FLOWN BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON.

They've shown repeatedly they'll be very wasteful for the survivors wishes. Given that there's only 12, on a planet scale, it's non-existent.

Yeah, I know. I'm just saying it seems like a small oversight that doesn't really change anything regarding the hive as a whole. You can just imagine there were two other people in the background.

It didnt actually require multiple people in the show, but that could just be creative license. Im not a pilot, but I bet that plane "should for safety and efficency be flown by multiple people," but I doubt it literally requires 3+ people to be operating it to fly. Its not like it needs 3+ people to push levers and turns the wheel at the same time to work, its just reckless to not have redundancies.

That recklessness is the point. Again, being hazy for spoiler reasons, but that host is both very important and not important at all. She is the literally best person on earth for the role she is about to play, but is also disposable. In the total billions of people on earth, thousands of others could do what she does if they need to, but at that moment, she is the "best," so she has the maximuim resources to succeed. That includes a moterbike, a plane, hair and makeup staff, resort showers, vehicles at the destination/etc. She is about to interact with what the "whole" think is someone very important.

As to the "why dont they murder the unjoined," i think we are stepping into spoilers here, but ill say vaguely that they are literally aliens. Humans might kill those unjoined and be done with it, but they arent us. That question is a core part of the show. The "who, the what, the why" of them, and what it means for the remaining humans, is the show. How do the humans and aliens react to each other is literally the point.

The showrunners have really straddled the surreal nature of the aliens and their interaction with the remains of our civilization. Its very, very strange how they act, but makes a lot of sense when the show explains what they value. I think showing that "weirdness" is done very well, as it lends one to wonder what is truly valuable in an "alien" mind, and in, contrast, why we value what we do. Thats an interesting topic they do credit to.

If the entity truly connected all human minds, it would be of no significant consequence to murder the handful of people that didn't 'connect'. Period. Ever. Humanity has proven that a handful of deaths is nothing in the face of progress.

Why should that change now that everyone is connected?

Because they value life and are extremely empathetic beings. If your priority is preserving life in all its form, if you are driven to sharing what you experience with the rest of existence, then murder is no solution. Do they want progress? Sure: they are still highly curious beings after the joining, but not at the expense of another life, regardless of how easy or convenient it might appear to be from a "rational" standpoint.

And as for the plane, could it not be seen as arrogance symptomatic of the joining? I mean sure, those things you mentioned could happen – heart attack, complications – but the collective is so confident in its knowledge and ability that it doesn't think the likelihood of complications ensuing is high enough to crew the plane with more than one person.

Let me tell you, there are MANY people amongst 5 billion people who know how to fly that plane… If there wasn’t a large pool of knowlege to pull from, why try it solo!?

I was talking about myself, not the series infected people-

It sounds like you have a very large dearth of knowledge as to what constitutes ‘professional’ behavior

I agree with you, no single person can know the professional behaviors/skills needed for many professions let alone all professions.

With that being said, actually, we are well past 5-billion, right now, even with the 1-billion & increasing death toll, try 8-billion people during the 2nd episode.

If these “beings” (which were specifically NOT described in the opening dialog with the main character. At all.) were so interested in not harming anyone, flying a smaller plane was an OBVIOUS avenue to reduce the harm.

There is no harm to that when there are way, way & way less planes taking off, & that is just planes. Even hitting flying birds drastically drops, maybe to zero.
What do you think all people concerned about environmental damage done right now, IRW, wish would happen? Come man think,