The following contains spoilers through Season 1 of Solar Opposites 

Solar Opposites is Hulu’s new animated show from Mike McMahan and Justin Roiland chronicling the adventures of 4 aliens whose utopian planet is destroyed, launching them in search of somewhere new to colonize with their Pupa.  These four land in suburban America and the show kicks-off showcasing the quirks they experience integrating into American life as they bide their time until the Pupa takes over.  

The show’s marketing leans heavily into Roiland’s work as the co-creator of Rick and Morty which combined with the animation style may present Solar Opposites as Rick and Morty meets Invader Zim.  This makes sense from a marketing perspective given the massive popularity and cult-like following Rick and Morty garnered but I’d implore any viewer to suspend that comparison for their first watch through.  Solar Opposites is a solid work standing alone and reading Rick and Morty into it from the jump will morph characters like Korvo and Terry via an eagerness to define them with comparison to Ricks, Mortys, and/or Jerrys.  

The first few episodes don’t especially stand-out but the writers take a big risk in episode 6 with a dip into gender politics and then deliver a gem from the season B-plot in episode 7 as Solar Opposites really hits its stride.  Much of the early episodes are spent on sci-fi enabled hijinx split over two plots: one of the “adults” Korvo (Justin Roiland) and Terry (Thomas Middleditch) navigating adult society, and the other of the “replicants” (children) Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) and Jesse (Marry Mack) navigating middle school (or high-school?).  Some of the best laughs come from misunderstandings the aliens have of human life as most of what they know comes from what they see on TV.  The show basks in the meta-humor with multiple references to Hulu, the overt sponsor product placement, and Korvo’s switch to a first-person narrator midway through the intro scene.  The visual gags also shine bright, arguably best showcased when Korvo and Terry grab a couple of “Cold 1s” in their “Manc Ave” under the “Dig Old Bicks” neon sign.   

An expectation of Solar Opposites to be another Rick and Morty would mean more Rick-like deconstruction of any and all value systems and an exploration of his cosmic nihilism. Solar Opposites instead spends time shedding a positive light on Terry’s and Jesse’s desire to learn about humans and the things they do.  Korvo’s coldness and narcissism are portrayed as flaws whereas Terry is the Ubermensch creating his values in the face of inevitability to destruction from the Pupa.  Terry is the one getting to wear a new nerdy T-shirt every episode after all.  

Solar Opposites also relishes in the references and satire of sci-fi and dystopian movies/shows. The best part of the season, The Wall, is the embodiment of this as it is introduced as “exactly like ‘Escape from New York”, and continues with as many allusions as it has levels.  The Wall is the society built by humans that have slighted Yumyulack in any way causing him to shrink them down and place them in a terrarium like structure in his room.  The Wall and its inhabitants are to Yumyulack, like ants and an ant farm to us.  The subplot’s protagonist is Tim who was shrunk for wearing a red shirt which was the last color Yumyulack needed to finish his collection of each shirt color.  A former CEO of AT&T is among the wall’s countless inhabitants who form governments, religions and social classes inside of the wall.  Tim leads an uprising against “The Duke” for control of the wall as the subplot explores some sociology and political philosophy.  All while the humans in the wall sacrifice and struggle, the aliens go on an adventure to steal a bear without any knowledge or care of what happens in The Wall.  

The show does at times pander to the prototypical Rick and Morty fan: when Jesse can’t find a glass ceiling to break which includes a dog going to the supreme court to become a high school football kicker; when the dumb ray turns a molecular bio textbook into the Bible; and Korvo giving voice to the toxic trope that intelligence must be correlated with being unhappy – “Smart people are sad” (Korvo Ep. 8).  As a complete work, the show’s positives far outweigh these misgivings and the season subplot alone makes it worth watching.  

Overall Solar Opposites is a first-rate addition to your quarantine watch list.  (I’m an absolute sucker for animated comedy but take my word anyways).  Overall I give Solar Opposites season 1 an 8.6/10; anchored heavily by the season subplot finalized in episode 7.  

-AJ Maloney