Solar Opposites is coming to an end with Season 6 of the animated series on Hulu, and it’s noticeable through every single episode that the team behind it all was doing their best to end the series with a bang. Solar Opposites has had a rather unique history as halfway through its run of episodes, one of its creators had been fired from the series. This meant that the rest of the creative team not only had to adjust any potential plans, but they also need to recast one of the show’s central characters too. And we’ve been seeing the results of these changes ever since.
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Solar Opposites was an animated sitcom that never shied away from maintaining continuity or offering major shake ups to the status quo heading into new seasons. A story had been built across the past three seasons especially, and that’s all coming to a head with this final batch of episodes. Seeking to end things all on their terms (for now), Solar Opposites Season 6 is a prime example of a creative team firing on all cylinders. Truly caring about their show, Solar Opposites really didn’t pull any punches with bringing it all to an end.
Rating: 4 out of 5
| PROS | CONS |
| The Opposites Each Get Standout Moments | Silver Cops Saga Ending Is Underbaked |
| The Wall Saga Comes to a Surprise Ending | |
| Some Episodes Experiment With the Format |
Solar Opposites Cares About Its Ending
Solar Opposites, much like any other animated sitcom, can be enjoyed without having seen the other seasons in action. You can jump into Season 6’s new episodes without having seen the others before it, but there’s going to be an additional level of enjoyment out of having experienced what has happened before. Solar Opposites cares about its continuity, so characters will make casual references to past events, or there will be jokes paying off these older ideas. That prior experience is also what is going to help the final season hit that much harder as there is an overall sense of finality to this final wave of adventures.
Much like those previous seasons, Solar Opposites once again has a big shake up to its status quo as the Opposites themselves kick off the season being much more broke than in previous entries. It’s a gimmick that not only explains how they were easily able to do things before, but also cements that they’ll be “limited” from doing the cartoonish things they had easily done before too. It leads to some creative new ways around this problem, and finds a strong core to tie each of the episodes together throughout the season. A big shake up like this has been seen in seasons prior, but this time around it’s not a major change to the setting or the characters that needs to be written out by the end of the season.
This gives the final season a new sense of flexibility with how it handles each of the Opposites. Making most of this final round, the series makes sure to outline a through line for each member of the family that is dealt with over the course of the episodes. Korvo (Dan Stevens) is dealing with his place in the mission (and how he feels about it compared to his life on Earth), Terry (Thomas Middleditch) tries to find a new outlet for his creativity, Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) is now more directly facing off against those of the Wall, and Jessie (Mary Mack) is trying to find her own path forward. So while there are plenty of wacky new adventures, there’s still an emotional tie holding it all in place.
Ultimately, this all just showcases how much Solar Opposites cares about its characters and the audience watching them. It’s a change that has been seen especially once Dan Stevens took over as the voice of Korvo, but the tone of the stories have become more focused on how the family bounces off one another rather than just the wacky science fiction devices they use in any give episode. The team clearly cares about this side of the story just as much as fans, so each episode in this final season feels more rewarding to see it all coming together so well.
Solar Opposites Season 6 Is On a Bigger Scale
There’s also just a much bigger scale for everything that happens in Solar Opposites’ final season as well. The Opposites might be short on cash, but that means they really try all kinds of hilarious avenues to make money. This journey has them revisiting many moments from earlier seasons, and help to bring a close to some of the elements or threads that might have been hanging on the wayside before. But this grander scale is likely going to be reflected most in its expanded Wall subplot, which is now taking up much more screen time than before. This might be a divisive move for fans as the Wall saga has been taking up more of the series ever since it started expanding.
Originally debuting early on in Solar Opposites as a single standalone episode showcasing how the people shrunken by Yumyulack are living within his bedroom wall, this saga has made a lot of twists and turns over the last few seasons. It’s got eras of characters who have been involved, and this final season brings Alfred Molina’s Duke back to life to throw into the mix of the finale once more. But unlike other seasons, there’s only one real antagonist that the the people of the Wall need to defeat before it’s all over. And that makes for a great final phase of this story.
But the one issue stemming from this is the fact that there is quite a lot of the Wall spread across this final season. While there are still a few episodes that just focus on whatever the Opposites are doing, much of the episodes’ traditional time for B plots is instead focused on new updates from the Wall. It’s not exactly enough to detract from the power of this final season (especially when the stories all reach their climax in the final few episodes), but it is something to note when compared to the balance of previous seasons.
That’s also an issue with the Silver Cops side saga as well. Introduced as a another fun side saga much like the Wall, it also had its own episodes dedicated to it. But this final season is already juggling so much that this third major storyline didn’t get enough time to explore any of its elements within a real capacity. There is an effort to try and squeeze in enough of it alongside the grander plot of the season (and it is cool to see how it all pays off in the end), but it’s just not enough when you compare it to how much attention the Wall or the Opposites get.
That’s a great problem to have at the end of the day with Solar Opposites Season 6, however. There’s just not enough of it. It’s the problem with every show that gets a final season. You like it so much that it’s just such a bummer when it actually has to come to an end. There’s such a care put into how Solar Opposites ends it all that when it does, there’s just that bittersweet feeling of having to say goodbye. It’s such a strong ending that it reminds you why you fell in love in the first place, and it’s a shame there won’t be any more of these wacky adventures. At the very least, Solar Opposites has ended with its head held high as it caps off a very strong run of episodes.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm.
