Earth, it was Supposed to be Uninhabited, ugh... Fitting in with Solar Opposites

In the vast expanse of the television universe, the show Solar Opposites crash lands us on Earth with a team of aliens, bringing their intergalactic technology and elements of chaos to a mundane suburban America. The pilot episode introduces this peculiar “family” and sets the stage for a series filled with laughter, absurdity, while they adapt to life on Earth.

At the heart of Solar Opposites are the team of Shlorpian, who fled the planet Shlorp’s destruction at the hand of an asteroid. It establishes the character of Korvo as an intelligent and logical but closed-minded and negative, he is determined to repair their spaceship and leave Earth. Korvo refuses to want to fit in with the people of Earth, much to the dismay of his partner Terry. Terry, is very much Korvo’s opposite, being laidback, open-minded and dim-wittedly friendly. Terry enjoys life on Earth and wants to fit in and learn about and experience Earth’s customs.

The younger members of the family are clones Jesse and Yumyulack often called replicants by both Korvo and Terry. Yumyulack is a clone of Korvo and shares many of his personality traits and sees himself as a scientist. On the other hand, Jesse is a replicant of Terry's and shares many of his traits and positivity as well as being the only female of the group. And let's not forget Pupa, a blob of goo that lives with the family almost like a baby or a pet.

Beginning outside in a suburban neighborhood we see the white picket fences of the American dream. Then we see the Shlorp’s spaceship crashed and covered in tarps on top of their model home. The positive interactions with some neighbors and the importance of things like the dog park and television. Unfortunately, the aliens encounter many negative racist like interactions with some people of Earth, especially for the replicants Jesse and Yumyulack at school. The house and spaceship are a safe space, while also providing tools and technology that lead to hi-jinks while the Shlorpian adapt to human culture and the town.

For the older alien’s its about fitting in, but by misusing their advanced alien technology, Terry and Korvo make the situation worse especially because their alien emotions stop them from relating or understanding many human situations. Terry tries to have Korvo watch TV so that he can better understand humans, resulting in Korvo developing a connection with Funbucket an alien on TV. Learning things on TV aren’t real the two turned to their technology, to get what they wanted.

They bring the fictional alien to life and use him as a prop for their own popularity. They constantly ignore Funbucket's feelings and wants, which later causes Funbucket to leave them. After befriending two humans who listen and respect Funbucket, Terry and Korvo become extremely jealous and attempt to copy the human's appearance. Through their jealousy and hurt feelings, they put the town on a path of destruction.

One of the highlights of the episode is the introduction of Yumyulack and Jesse's school experience. Providing the younger aliens their own story and the school acts as the first place we see the negative way the Shlorpian are treated in the town. The characters find themselves intermingling with human children, typically get picked on and bullied while the adults blame them for many of the problems. The school is where the show sets up Yumyulack’s use of technology to solve their problems by using a shrink gun on a bully.

The shrunken bully then becomes the main plot point for Yumyulack and Jesse’s story in the pilot. Yumyulack experiments on the bully, making her do mazes to gather data like she is a lab rat. Showing that Yumyulack has a sense of otherness for the humans like Korvo and initiates Yumyulack’s obsession with shrinking humans.

Jesse initially disagrees with Yumyulack, showing more compassion, and that she is like Terry. However, when the bully threatens with going to the police, she changes. This is when we realize that Jesse is still inhuman, as they are distant from humans emotionally. This leads to Jesse wanting to melt the bully in acid.

After failing to win back Funbucket by trying to copy the humans, Korvo and Terry create a new Funbucket in their desperation. This Funbucket is mutated and malformed, mirroring their own inner turmoil. When they try to show off the new Funbucket, both merges creating a humongous monster. that goes on a rampage, destroying the town, with the aliens initially hiding from the danger they caused they decide to take action.

Terry interferes with the attempt to melt the bully, lobotomizing her with soda. Terry and Korvo then take the shrink gun and use it on the monster. As they look over the burning and ruined town, they plan to kill Funbucket. But Funbucket’s human friends show up and ask for him since they care for Funbucket. Leaving Terry and Korvo to contemplate what happened and further indicating that the humans and aliens differences are not just physically but also emotionally.

Later, we see Yumyulack and Jesse’s room, now fitted with a wall that Yumyulack constructed to keeps humans he uses the shrink ray on. With their next victim the school janitor because he got on the children's bad side.

The deftly establishes the microcosm of their existence on Earth, using the family's suburban home as a malformed version of the American dream with an alien spaceship, a symbol of their origins. The constant reminder of their otherworldly nature, within a backdrop for their interactions with humans, highlighting both the similarities and inhuman differences between the two.

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(Credits: Scribe/Social Media Manger:Brody Bush ; Writer: Hunter Degioanni; Photo/Video Editor: Charles Tucker ; Producer: Manuel Alvarez.)