The latest absurdist, science fiction offering of Justin Roiland, half of the brainchild of Rick and Morty, comes in the form of the Hulu exclusive title, Solar Opposites. The show follows aliens Terry and Korvo, along with their deeply sociopathic “replicants” (children, essentially) Jesse and Yumyulak, are living in the suburbs with The Pupa, a candy loving, slug-type creature whose destiny is to evolve, kill all of humanity and claim the Earth as the species’ new home world.
Incredibly original and not at all cliché storyline aside. Solar Opposites does have its appeal. Basically, if you like Rick and Morty, you’re almost bound to at least enjoy the show, Roiland’s unique blend of nihilism and satire are as present as ever, but that is also where the problems start to arise.
You see, dear reader, what makes Rick and Morty so compelling against its often dark premises is its characters. Rick and the Smiths are not always the deepest characters ever written, but when there are those moments of levity and realization it drives the show that much farther. It doesn’t matter how evil of a shell Rick puts up or how disinterested Beth and Summer might seem because we see the layers that they have. If only for a brief moment, but that’s all it takes. In Solar Opposites’ case, the aliens really only have one real archetype; they’re aliens. That makes all the killing, torture and destruction they commit seem very unjustified and unsettling, especially the replicants. Across the mere eight episodes, the two have shrunken, tortured, brainwashed, blackmailed, murdered and imprisoned nearly hundreds of people without even the slightest compelling change in character or consequences. That’s not even counting the numerous atrocities of Terry and Korvo, who have been known to level the local community on several occasions without much remorse. Violence and gore are not inherently comical unless you have the right circumstances. For all its black-hearted humor, Rick and Morty has plenty moments of pure ridicule, levity and humanity to bring some light to the darkness. Solar Opposites, at least how it stands right now, seems to have very little but alien apathy. Nothing personal to Roiland, but I think a lot of the humanity in his flagship franchise came from the co-creator Dan Harmon. It makes me wonder what the show would have been like with the dynamic duo back at the helm.
Plus, there’s quite a lot of subliminal advertising and product placement in this series. I get it; animation is quite expensive and sponsorships are a good way to cut costs, but this might be slightly overdone in this show. Rick and Morty has some product placement, but placed in imaginative and absurd ways. Here, we have just name brands everywhere. (Although, the Dave and Busters cameo is kind of cute.) it’s not something I hold against the show and it doesn’t really make a difference, it is simply there and more prominent than most.
However, if I can sell you on the show, the coveted seventh episode is a near masterpiece. It exemplifies everything that Roiland can achieve at peak performance. Granted, it might be slightly cliché, but it is altogether a beautiful piece of art. You just have to see Terry and Korvo wrangle that bear…
In essence, Solar Opposites is a good enough sci-fi, dark comedy to satisfy fans. Is it worth a Hulu subscription? No; but if you already have Hulu, I suggest you give it a watch. It has enough potential to earn my endorsement. What they do with that potential is going to be the kicker.
Calm and Cultured 