Solar Opposites Season 1 Review

Characters (from left to right/top to bottom): Korvo, Terry, Yuyumlack, Jesse, and The Pupa

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: After an explosion on their home planet Shlorp, Korvo and the rest of his family unit move to Earth (where else did you expect) intending to reform it in the likeness of Schlorp using a pupa that’ll eventually evolve into a destructive force. Before then, wild hijinks ensue.

My Thoughts: Inevitably, since this is from Rick and Morty (R&M) co-creator Justin Roiland and writer/producer Mike McMahan, it was bound to be analogized and expected to hold a candle to it. Moreover, both shows’ similar character designs, animation, and title fonts don’t help in distinguishing each other. Plus, Rick and Korvo are both voiced by Roiland so Korvo initially comes across as a sober alien version of Rick. In spite of these overt similarities, I tried watching it an open mind hoping that even it turned out to be a watered-down copycat, it would be at least a mildly entertaining one.

    Much to my amazement, Solar Opposites was only analogous at a surface level. Despite the beforementioned similarities, the show contains a myriad of unique qualities that set it apart from its predecessor in regards to the character dynamics, lore, and humor in a positive way. For starters, the family here has a much healthier relationship than The Smiths from R&M. Yes, they often entwine themselves in situations where they make morally questionable decisions and behave like a dysfunctional family but they’re generally in on it together and look after each other. For example, throughout R&M, Rick usually treats his grandson Morty as not much more than a lab rat he can drag along his perilous intergalactic quests to assist him, much to Morty’s father Jerry’s dismay who everyone seems to hate for being an egocentric sad sack with no life. This starkly contrasts the cordial relationship between Korvo and his assistant Terry, both of whom work as swimmingly as pair-up between Doc Martin and Marty, Stewie and Brian, Mortdecai and Rigby, or just about any other duo that finds themselves in wacky, frequently sci-fi themed adventures. Furthermore, Jesse and Yumyulack have a genuine sibling bond with moments of rivalry, teasing, and helping one another when needed which isn’t really seen between Morty and Summer or the rest of the Smiths whose family dynamics are tainted with passels of toxicity which can become grating after a while. Another feature of Solar Opposites I enjoy is the lack of parallel universes or perpetual nihilism. This isn’t to say these concepts are inherently bad because they can and have been utilized successfully to craft complex, mind-shattering plots. However, in excess, it becomes redundant and, in the case of the former, takes away any sense of concern for the characters when you know they’ll continue to exist in some form in an alternate universe so it’s nice to see this show deviate from that. Moving on to the humor, while Solar Opposites and R&M are both heavy on black humor and absurdism, they approach it in different ways. R&M mostly looks into the shock from individuals in a mundane world interacting with the absurd and bizarre whilst in Solar Opposites, the inverse occurs with otherworldly personalities whose oddities seep into the mundane world leading to catastrophically amusing results.

    However, where Solar Opposites truly glistens resplendently in creativity would be, more or less, the pupa’s random side adventures which are simply plain fun and, most importantly, the wall. No, this has nothing to do with Pink Floyd or American politics as tempting as it sounds to make it out as such. The wall is a large terrarium attached to the wall of  Jesse’s room populated with various people Yumyulack shrank after bothering or annoying him and/or Jesse. The universe constructed within that space is a burgeoning vivid one bustling with a diverse society of communities containing byzantine social hierarchies, an entire organized religion revolving around Jesse, a government, etc. all surviving with the meager resources at their disposal. Therefore, it’s no wonder why these subplots are my favorite as is the penultimate episode of the 8-episode season, "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear", which took the leap forward to solely focus on the wall, namely a rebellion gaining traction to overthrow the society’s tyrannical ruler. The aliens were barely in this one being reduced to occasional background appearances including a rather crude quip where the pupa takes a peek at the two leads copulating. Speaking of quips, there weren’t as many of those here much to the benefit of the plotline’s epic exposition which was nothing short of adventure, excitement, tragedy, and twists. Hell, this episode was so great that I would not only want to see the wall become a more prominent plot point in future seasons but would also wish there was a spin-off series about it. 

Final Thoughts: Overall, Solar Opposites is another delectable adult animated series from this year I’d recommend to both Rick and Morty fans and viewers interested in a humorous, slightly off-the-rails dysfunctional family sitcom. With that being said, I’ll be passing time in between seasons of the two shows watching interdimensional cable.