Solar Opposites
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Solar Opposites is an American adult animated sitcom created by Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan for Hulu. Originally created for the Fox Broadcasting Company, the project was shelved, then bought by Hulu. The series debuted on May 8, 2020. The series was originally ordered as 2 seasons consisting of 8 episodes each. In June 2020, the series was renewed for a third season consisting of 12 episodes. The second season was released on March 26, 2021. In June 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season also consisting of 12 episodes.
Summary
Solar Opposites centers around a family of aliens from a better world who must take refuge in middle America. They disagree on whether this is awful or awesome. A parallel storyline follows a society of humans shrunk by the replicant Yumyulack and imprisoned in a terrarium known as "The Wall" and the journey Korvo and Terry’s neighbor, who got shot into space by the two.
Why It Rocks
- While the premise of a family of aliens trying to adapt to life on Earth and human culture might sound somewhat simple, the way it's executed is very clever, from the comedy to its side plot, as said below.
- Very clever writing and humor, along with hilarious moments throughout the show, having a variety of sci-fi and alien related humour.
- One iconic example is the "Korvo's monologue" gag which happens at the intro, consisting of him ranting about life on Earth and the humans stupidity.
- Many likable characters here and there, including the main cast (the Solar Opposites):
- Korvo is the strict yet smart alien who often rants about humans and Earth, yet sometimes wants to fit in.
- Terry, who is the dimwitted, yet fun-loving and humorous alien who also wants to fit in with humans and enjoys human culture.
- Yumyulack, the smart replicant who also has a habit of shrinking people to put in his terrarium known as "The Wall".
- Jesse, who is the kind-heated and respectful alien who also seems to like human culture alongside Terry.
- The Pupa, a cute, yet also funny and clever infant alien who will one day evolve into its true form. It also does a lot of stuff without the others knowing, such as when he went out to get candy in The Unstable Gray Hole.
- Some human characters are also likeable, especially the characters in The Wall, such as Cherie and Halk.
- Fantastic animation and background details, from the backgrounds of Planet Shlorp to the setting in The Wall.
- Iconic and memorabe intro, which starts with a short story about why the Solar Opposites went to Earth to Korvo's monologue gag.
- The Wall plot is very interesting and a unique concept. As such, there are 2 episodes that revolve around said plot.
- It has a handful of great or decent episodes, such as the 2 episodes that focus on The Wall (Korvo and Terry Steal a Bear and The Unlikely Demise of Terry's Favorite Shot Glass).
- Some heartwarming or emotional moments here and there, such as the scene where Ringo sacrifices himself to protect Cherie from being attacked by an Opossum and when Jesse and Korvo making up with each other after the fight in The Solar Opposites Almost Get an Xbox.
- Amazing voice acting, especially from Justin Roiland and Thomas Middleditch as Korvo and Terry, respectively.
Bad Qualities
- Sometimes, the show may get too dark or violent. Granted, this is an adult cartoon, but it might still traumatise some sensitive adults.
- Along with that, the violence (especially the blood and gore), while well-detailed, can also be traumatizing to some.
- When Sheri and the robot give birth to their babies, the birth scene is pretty graphic, while we thankfully don’t see much. We do see their bodily fluids shooting out their vaginas as the babies come out.
- Some unlikeable characters in the show, such as The Duke "Ringo" (albeit redeeming himself in season 2 before being killed) and Mrs. Frankie.
- Sometimes, the Solar Opposites themselves can be unlikeable, mostly Korvo or Yumyulack.
- The Apple Pencil Pro is considered to be the worst episode of the series.
- Similar to Rick and Morty, some of the episode titles can be misleading and annoying. Examples being "Terry and Korvo steal a Bear" and "The Unlikely Demise of Terry's Favorite Shot Glass".
- The show overuses product placement in many of it’s episode with episode such as “Hululand” coming across as more like a promotion for Hulu or Apple that a typical sitcom episode.
- Some episode focus way too much on the wall with season 3 focusing way more on it than the other two seasons.
- The writers can’t seem to handle criticism well with the episode “Hululand” seemingly being made as a lash-out towards fans who criticized the show for it’s excessive focus on the wall.
- The show often teaches bad morals and encourages bad things such as
- Framing people
- Bullying
- Abusing drugs
- Kidnapping
- Pointing guns at people and their loved ones and demanding things from them
- Not using common sense
- Fornication
- Being a jerk
- Being an idiot
- Being immature
- Lying
- Abusing animals
- Assaulting people
- Being ignorant and oblivious to others
- Not learning from your mistakes
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the season 1 has an approval rating of 92% based on reviews from 36 critics, with an average rating of 7.56/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Charming, hilarious, and surprisingly sincere, Solar Opposites revels in the ridiculousness of life while finding a few fresh things to say about humanity along the way." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes season 2 has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 7 critics.
Alex McLevy of The A.V. Club gave the show a B grade and calls it "a mischievous cousin of 3rd Rock from the Sun" while saying it doesn't stray too far from the template Roiland set with Rick and Morty. McLevy feels the show is still finding its feet, but "Luckily, the humor is so reliably strong, the pacing so breakneck as it races from one plot to the next, that it's hard not to be won over by Solar Opposites' avalanche of charm." Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote; "The early episodes have certain limited windows of continuity or running gags... but the show becomes increasingly serialized; things that seem like they might be throw-away become unexpectedly important."