The bright teal boxes, filled with a dozen tantalizing doughnuts, appear in the first few minutes of “Pluribus,” the new dystopian sci-fi show from Vince Gilligan on Apple TV.

In the show, a lab employee — who is not quite herself — opens a box labeled “Sandy Pony Donuts” and “Annapolis” and, the big reveal, methodically licks every single one before placing them back in the box next to a sign reading “Help yourself! :)”

Ben Wang, who owns Sandy Pony with his wife, Brea Wang, said the phone rings daily at one of their locations since the show debuted Nov. 7, with people mostly wanting to know if it’s a real store.

“We’re not used to getting this much attention,” Ben Wang said. “But we’re honored to be on the show.”

Sandy Pony Donuts has locations in Annapolis, Dewey Beach, Bethany Beach and on Virginia’s Chincoteague Island. They sell doughnuts, smoothies, bubble tea and, now, T-shirts that reference “Pluribus.”

Wang said the show’s producers contacted him more than a year ago and asked for a hundred dozen doughnuts to be shipped to New Mexico, where they were filming.

That was “not actually the biggest order we’ve fulfilled,” Wang said. “So when they asked for it, I was like, ‘Yeah, we can do that.’”

Gilligan, the showrunner famous for “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul,” wanted the store’s branded boxes and their most popular flavor, Ms. Sandy, a cinnamon sugar doughnut with a honey glaze.

In the show, the methodically licked doughnuts are forcefully plopped back into the boxes for others to eat, in order to spread — well, it’s not quite clear yet what, as only four of the nine episodes have been released. Some sort of infection, or maybe change is a better way to describe what happens.

I won’t spoil it. You should watch the show — it’s great, especially if you enjoyed Apple TV’s “Severance” or either of Gilligan’s earlier shows.

The gross appearance has been good for business, or at least interest in it, Wang said. People are calling to order merchandise from around the world — Wang said he filled two orders last week to Germany and Kuwait.

“It’s been a good celebration of 10 years,” he said.

While I won’t give away any more details about the show, I will spoil our review of the doughnuts themselves. In a word, they’re delicious, especially the Ms. Sandy.

The Banner purchased two dozen doughnuts ($2.50 for a single doughnut or $17 for a dozen) to taste and review. Here are some of our thoughts.

Sandy Pony generally

Everyone who participated in The Banner’s taste test said they would surely be tempted to grab a doughnut if a box were left out with a note saying they were for sharing.

Daniel Zawodny, who covers transportation, said he’d be drawn in by the unique branding on the box.

“Anytime I see a box that’s not one of the main brands or chains out there, I’m intrigued,” he said.

Pamela Wood, a state politics reporter, also said she’d take a bite if she saw a Ms. Sandy doughnut offered up.

“I like that they’re not too big, and the glaze is enticing,” she said.

Wood was the staffer who stopped and purchased the doughnuts Monday morning. She told me the made-to-order treats smelled amazing when warm.

Christopher Dinsmore, one of our editors, said he’d “absolutely” try one — but he’d be sure to “consider the sourcing” of them, now that he knows what happens in “Pluribus.”

Flavors

Largely, the Banner staffers who sampled doughnuts thought they were tasty, with nice flavors and excellent texture.

Two notable exceptions were the Misty Mint flavor (Wood said mint was just too “weird” to have with the texture of the doughnut) and the Strawberry Stallion flavor, both of which people thought tasted a bit “artificial.”

Everything else was a hit. People enjoyed the coconut flavors of the Sea Foam, the peanut butter glaze of the Charlie Brown and the smoky bacon on the Porky Pony.

The Blue Moon was my personal favorite — it was subtle, with great texture and a sweet but not overbearing blueberry flavor. Others agreed that it was tasty.

But the clear favorite among our taste testers was the Sandy Pony.

Zawodny called it “probably one of the best doughnuts I’ve ever had,” because of its sweet but not too sweet flavors and the texture, which he described as a combination of a cake-like doughnut and a more traditional fried doughnut.

Ben Conarck, a criminal justice reporter, said he loved the Sandy Pony because of its texture, its “simple” flavor profile and the crisp glaze melted on top.

“Why divert from that?” he said. “It’s perfect.”

The Banner’s Pamela Wood contributed to this report.