Today Hulu’s original series Solar Opposites returns for a second season of 8 episodes. The series, created by Justin Roiland & Mike McMahan (some of the folks behind Rick & Morty) is a hilarious animated comedy for adults. It follows the adventures of a team of aliens who crash landed on Earth after narrowly escaping from their exploding home world. The team’s make up is like a human family, with partners Korvo (Justin Roiland) and Terry (Thomas Middleditch) serving as the “parents”, and replicants Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) and Jesse (Mary Mack) as their younger “children”. Korvo and Yumyulack are not fans of their new suburban way of life. Korvo is always angry about something, and Yumyulack doesn’t fit in with the cool kids at school. Yumyulack even started shrinking down humans who wronged him, keeping them in a terrarium in his bedroom, known as The Wall. On the other hand, Terry and Jesse love their new life filled with consumerism and lots of TV.
As the new season opens, the Solar Opposites (as they like to refer to themselves) have just about fixed their ship and are ready to leave Earth, but, of course, something goes wrong and they are stuck here for more adventures. The writing on this series is so clever and witty, and constantly has me laughing out loud. This season the Solar Opposites head to London, get locked up in jail, face off again with the Red Goobler, try to kill one another, and get into lots of other crazy adventures. We also see Korvo attempt to put an end to dinner parties, Yumyulack’s attempts to enhances his “package” go awry, Jesse & Yumyulack use their technology to cheat at sports, and each member of team living out a whole disturbing life in a new wooden city. The characters are so inappropriate and ridiculous—this is certainly not a show for kids, with it’s over-the-top sex scenes and language.
The series also has so many fun pop culture references in every episode (and not just in Terry’s t-shirts). There is an episode that parodies The Lake House‘s magic mailbox, as well as call-outs to Alien, AVP, Goodfellas, Indiana Jones, and so many more movies and TV shows. And in every episode there’s always some fun derogatory line about Hulu.
In the first season, amongst the Solar Opposites’ adventures, the series also followed the heightened saga and power struggle of the humans trapped in The Wall, with the seventh episode of the season concentrating almost exclusively on these characters. In the second season, we continue to see this drama play out when a hero from the first season’s uprising (voiced by Sterling K. Brown) starts to investigate something sinister happening in The Wall, while also dealing with demons from his past. The format of the second season is the same, with the viewer getting bits of the Wall story throughout the season, and the seventh episode episode becoming an epic episode-long tale of these humans.
In its second season, Solar Opposites is funnier and more entertaining than ever. It is certainly worth a watch, especially for Rick & Morty fans as it has a very similar feel. But for the sake of the Wall storyline, start with the first season if you haven’t already checked this show out.
Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Invincible, The Irregulars, and The Blacklist.
