Solar Oppositesis an animated comedy that follows a family of aliens who were sent to Earth in order to colonize it before their home planet, Shlorp, is destroyed. The family consists of Terry, Korvo, Jesse, Yumyulack, and a terraforming pupa who acts as a sort of child to the four of them, which they call “The Pupa”. Over the course of the three seasons, the family has neglected their task of colonization and has instead integrated themselves into a middle-class suburban American lifestyle.
The show was created by Mike McMahan and Justin Roiland; the two were also both involved in writing the comedy seriesRick and Morty, with Roiland being credited as one of the creators of the show. Additionally, Roiland does the voice acting for Korvo, Thomas Middleditch acts for Terry, Sean Giambrone as Yumyulack, and Mary Mack as Jesse. The show bearsquite the resemblancetoRick and Morty, both in its animation style and the type of humor used throughout. Although aesthetically and comically similar, the show is able to differentiate itself well and is able to provide aunique fish-out-of-water comedywith a solid serving of science fiction mixed in. Here are the very best and most hilarious episodes, ranked.
8The Unstable Grey Hole
This is the second episode of the first season and has two storylines developing throughout. The first storyline centers around Korvo and Terry, who, after learning they are not well-liked by their neighbors, add nanobots to the water supply in order to gather information about those who live in the neighborhood. They use this information to their advantage and run for president of the homeowner association. At the same time, the nanobots become sentient and run in opposition to Terry and Korvo. The other storyline follows Jesse and Yumyulack. Yumuylack has a habit of shrinking and capturing humans that are not nice to him. Jesse tries to teach himabout the kindness of humans, but ultimately fails. This episode introduces the shrunken character of Tim, who starts a multi-season-long narrative consisting of all the people Yumuylack has shrunken and captured.
7The P.A.T.R.I.C.I.A. Device
This is the sixth episode of the first season and follows Terry and Korvo as they create a man cave and subsequently a female robot named P.A.T.R.I.C.I.A. that is programmed to hate the cave. This episode highlights a particular theme brought up throughout the show, which is Terry and Korvo’s obsession and admiration for peculiar aspects of human and American culture.The robot ultimately gets out of controland ends up going on a male-only killing spree throughout town.
6The Emergency Urbanizer
In this episode, Jesse and Yumuylack finish up their school year and upon a recommendation from their human neighbors, Terry and Korvo decide to take them to a summer camp. The family gets lost in the woods on their way to the camp and uses an “emergency urbanizer” to create a city in the middle of the forest. The family splits up, each trying to make enough money in the new jungle city so that they can escape their newly built city. The narrative in this episode is quite unexpected, exciting, and unique —It’s this type of writing that keeps the series fresh and hilarious.
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5The Quantum Ring
This great episode comes early in season one. This episode starts with Korvo attempting to get the family to help him repair their spaceship. The family ends up neglecting their duties and Korvo becomes occupied with the idea ofbecoming a magician. With the help of Aisha, the Spaceship built in A.I., who is voiced by Tiffany Haddish, Korvo becomes a famous magician. He plans a spectacular show in which he disappears through a black hole. In his final act featuring the black hole, he appears to have died. The family subsequently works to repair the ship to honor his apparent death. Meanwhile, in the “wall” of shrunken humans, the seeds of revolution are sewn among the people as a new human, Cherie, is introduced.
4The Earth Eraser
This season two episode follows both the “wall” narrative and that of the main characters. In the wall, a successful overthrow of the authoritarian ruler, Duke, has taken place. The shrunken people live in an apparent utopia under a new ruler named Tim. Our main characters attend a dinner party where Korvo becomes embarrassed and subsequently tries to make dinner parties illegal.
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This episode premiered in the third and most recent season ofSolar Opposites. The story gives a good amount of context to our main characters and some background information about their home. The family finds out that out of all the replicants sent to colonize other worlds, their family is the only surviving group. This revelation adds some gravity to their original task of colonization which they have so far neglected.
2The Solar Opposites Almost Get an Xbox
This episode is the season finale of season two. The story is initiated by the pupa changing color and the family discovering that this means the pupa’s terraforming process is beginning and will soon eat and kill the family. The family is at first excited but then discovers thatdeath is finaland are compelled to attempt to find fulfillment in life through everything from training a struggling water polo team to attempting to kill one another.
1The Unlikely Demise of Terry’s Favorite Shot Glass
This penultimate episode of season two is unique in that it almost exclusively focuses on the narrative of the wall. Cherie finds herself outside the wall and discovers the expelled dictator, Duke living in a toy spaceship. The two discover that the real evil had been the current leader and former, Tim, all along. Cherie, while trapped in a toy spaceship that is guarded by an aggravated opossum, discovers that she is pregnant with Tim’s baby. Duke ultimately sacrifices himself to defeat the possum, which ultimately causes Terry to break his favorite shot glass.
