Solar Opposites Season 3 Ending Explained: How Did They Get Here?
The third season of "Solar Opposites" is, no surprises here, a wild ride. At least, it starts that way — but by the end of the finale episode, the tables turn significantly. In fact, the apple falls quite far from the tree by the time "Solar Opposites" leaves us for the season. But what does the puzzling, slightly depressing ending actually mean? And where does it put our characters going into season 4? Let's take a closer look at the (sometimes bonkers) events at hand.
The SilverCops
In the second to last episode, titled "Terry and Korvo Get in a Big Screaming Fight in the Taco Bell Parking Lot," the show introduces a new storyline, one that will seemingly be serialized like The Wall storyline that has been unfolding from day one.
The new concept follows Glen, one of the Solar Opposites' jerk neighbors who Korvo shot into space earlier in the season. Glen is captured in space and confined to an alien prison but let free by one of the SilverCops, the law enforcers who were previously seen tracking down a bunch of other Schlorpians around the galaxy. The cop primes Glen about who the SilverCops are, and he reveals that the SilverSuit is the most powerful weapon but "only those with the purest of hearts can operate it." He offers Glen a job as a SilverCop because of his human "intuition" and Glen takes it. After trying the SilverSuit, it rejects Glen's body. Later, he cries about it with the hot alien babe from the SilverCops force at a bar. They have sex and the next morning, his suit does not reject him.
Having officially joined the team, the SilverCops take Glen on a mission to nab a salt dealer — salt being a drug on this planet — but they use him as bait to corner Cromus, the muscle of the police squad who is also a GoldCop in disguise. The SilverCops hate GoldCops, though we don't know why, so they kill Cromus while informing Glen that they intend to frame him for the murder. When the SilverCops try to apprehend him, he bursts out of the SilverSuit and starts running away in the buff. The cops hunt Glen in a galactic forest before abandoning him to the elements, where they believe he will die when the atmosphere becomes deadly at dawn. And that is where we leave Glen and the SilverCops for now.
What's to come for the SilverCops
It's clear by the way this sub-plot was closed out in episode 10 that there is more to come with Glen and the SilverCops. But with a new intergalactic story in a galaxy we know very little about, this story could really go anywhere. It doesn't seem like Glen will stay in the forest for very long, but if he does, it's possible that the show might use that location to help the character overcome his fears and hesitations. When we leave him, Glen is petrified, alone, and naked, so it's definitely going to take some time to build him and his confidence back up again. Every hero, which Glen was shaping up to become, has their downfall before getting up and trying again. It stands to reason that Glen will do the same, and I could definitely see him sizing up the SilverCops and fighting them to avenge Cromus and his own dignity in season four. It's possible he even somehow gets recruited by the GoldCops, which would be interesting to see. Either way, this new serialized section of "Solar Opposites" is bound to have just as many twists and turns as The Wall plot line, and that's saying a lot.
Meanwhile, in The Wall
In The Wall plot finale, our two heroes Halk and Cherie, wake up in Yumyulack's miniature "Seinfeld" set after falling to the abandoned lower levels. They get ambushed by mosquitos, and when they escape to another section, they find Steven, the former CEO of AT&T who owned the late Molly the Mouse (RIP). Now embedded in a citronella candle, the man tries to avenge Molly with an army of mosquitos that he bred after his search for Molly led him to standing water from when the Duke flooded the lower levels.
In order to escape, Halk and Cherie open the Boo-Hoo Hole and let out a bunch of spiders out in order to fight the mosquito army. The pair escape through the Boo-Hoo Hole after pushing the candle over on Steven. However, the queen mosquito chases them up the Boo-Hoo Hole, and Halk falls to his death. When Cherie emerges, she finds The Wall deserted until she arrives at the Bowinian Church, where everyone is gathered for the "baptism of the miracle child given to the wall by Jesse." The child is actually Pezlie, Cherie's baby who was given to Bowinian nuns to take care of while she fought the good fight. A deceptive, new nun claims that Cherie's elder nun ally has died, leaving literally no one to vouch for Cherie. As she is being dragged away by guards, the Bowinian nun brands Pezlie on the forehead with a bow-shaped metal tool.
What's to come for The Wall
The Wall plot has gotten even more intense this season. It's been bold, brash, and exciting, and its conclusion, for the time being, is hard to stomach. No matter where it goes from here, it's clear Cherie is in for another fight of her life.
The Bowinian Church has been corrupted, so it stands to reason that they have sinister plans for Cherie, on top of keeping her separated from her daughter. Considering how much she's fought through so far, I suspect Cherie will have a longevity that her male contemporaries in The Wall just didn't have, even in their greatest moments. The story has become about a mother's love for her daughter, when you boil it down to its purest impulse at this point. That leaves the door open for a lot of dramatic tension, and especially in the case of The Wall story, plenty more fierce action in Cherie's quest to get her child back.
On top of that, Cherie is now alone with no allies to speak of. Will the character get someone else into her corner as backup again? The Wall is huge, a vast wasteland, and as we've seen this season with the mud people and Molly's owner Steven, people can pop back up anywhere and at any time. All I'm saying is that if Cherie doesn't end up the benevolent leader of The Wall by the end of this, I want my money back.
The Solar Opposites are at it again
In order to explain the season 3 finale as it pertains to the Solar Opposites themselves, I need to refresh your memory on the beginning of the season.
In the first episode, we get two high sci-fi concepts in one half hour. The main plot involves Korvo mysteriously turning into goo and Terry's ex-boyfriend Malcom Gladwell (yes, that one), who has been keeping hold of an extra set of Terry's arms that he has trained to be evil. It's just about as weird as weird can get, highlighting the extremities— no pun intended— of the sci-fi genre, especially in the hands of Mike McMahan and Justin Roiland. That will be important later, of course, when it comes to the season finale.
In the season's final episode, "The Fog of Pupa," the family starts to get concerned about the Pupa's behavior, coming to the conclusion that he is going through a period of teenage defiance. He's lashing out, lounging around, and suddenly speaking in full sentences about his "teenage" angst. Instead of dialing in and listening to what his issues are, Terry and Korvo take to punishing the pupa, which naturally leads to tears, as it would with any teen getting grounded. Plus, because of the alienation — no pun intended — the pupa sort of gives birth to a small friend called "Little Buddy," with whom he can continue his hijinks. Little Buddy is basically a very tiny statue of David. Yes, that statue of David. And after that, the Pupa turns himself into a steamy fog that overtakes the entire town a hilariously twisted take on "The Mist."
Teenage angst
When the family goes to find the Pupa, they realize that the little alien's grievances have manifested themselves as massive monstrous alien-teen hybrids in the fog. They know this because one of the monsters is wearing a Pewdipie shirt. How could you not put the pieces together after that?
When they go to hide in a supermarket, they come face to face with Principal Cooke and Mrs. Frankie from Jesse and Yumyulack's school, who tell them that they are a band influence on the Pupa. In a 180-degree turn for Mrs. Frankie — a character whose worth hinges on how crappy they are because it brings the laughs for the audience — explains that the alien family is to blame for how the Pupa feels. According to her and Cooke, the pupa needs "structure in his life" as well as "present, tangible role models." They essentially check Terry and Korvo for how they parent the Pupa. No matter what their real relationship is to the Pupa, they are, in fact, parents. The Pupa's behavior is a direct result of the way they're raising him, where he's heavily exposed to unstable sci-fi shenanigans and endless dysfunction.
Though the Solar Opposites don't initially take Mrs. Frankie's advice to heart and change their ways, they quickly end up seeing the error of their ways and commit to deeply sanitizing their lives. This includes playing a normal version of "Hungry Hungry Hippos" instead of a crazy sci-fi version where the hippos are brought to life in the real world, left to trounce around the neighborhood and wreak havoc. In providing the Pupa with a more "normal" life, the monster counterparts in the mist disappear while he de-fogs himself.
Same as it ever was
The season's final sequence is a montage of Terry and Korvo's new lives as office workers set appropriately to "Once In a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. They look at photos of the Pupa on their desks while they tackle huge stacks of paperwork, and come home to a proper family environment. Meanwhile, Yumyulack and Jesse are forced to be normal teen students.
The music cuts out one night when Terry answers their home phone is unable to stop his boss from coming over for dinner with his wife, and that they want a specific meal served. Upon hearing this, Korvo despairs that this is what their lives have come to and recalls the fun they used to have back in the beginning of the season, specifically mentioning (you guessed it) Malcolm Gladwell and Korvo turning into goo from the first episode.
Just then, the Pupa takes off his headphones and looks up from his tablet and says that he loves all of them. The group then agrees that giving up their crazy sci-fi roots is worth it for the Pupa's happiness. The music kicks back in, specifically the "Same as it ever was" section, with Korvo looking depressed over a copy machine in the office. Seconds later, Terry approaches him with a similar look of defeat.
What does it all mean?
This season of "Solar Opposites" has been all about humanity and what it means to be human, and there's nothing more human than a hero's journey, no matter what form that takes. In their own wild way, Terry, Korvo, and the gang have been going on a backwards hero's journey into quiet and contemplative lives. They're doing what humans often have to do: give up the things they love and are good at to fulfill their moral obligations. Yeah, it's worth it to have the pupa's mental stability intact, but it's clear Terry and Korvo aren't thrilled deep down with where they've ended up. Plus, the {upa's ultimate job is actually to terraform the planet, which will actually kill everyone, so what's the whole point anyway? Are Terry and Korvo and the gang just sleepwalking toward their deaths at this point?
The finale of "Solar Opposites" season 3 is meant to leave us with questions. It wants us to question what our leading couple is going to do next. Are they going to break free from the chains like humans tend to do when the pressure of life is too great? We can definitely hypothesize that they will, but I wouldn't put it past this show to elongate that process and really make us sweat. After all, they did it to Korvo this season with the line-waiting episode.
Ideally, something will change with the Pupa that allows for the Solar Opposites to reincorporate sci-fi antics into their lives again with the Pupa in tow. However, the little guy has proven to be very difficult as he evolves, so it's also entirely possible that he won't let them off easy and that they'll have to fight for that freedom. I wouldn't even be surprised if this turn of events pushes the Pupa to begin terraforming, even though they're not on an abandoned planet. That would bring the ultimate sci-fi chaos, and it would be a real test for the Pupa and the family as a unit. Go big or go home, right? Thankfully, season 4 is already on the way, and we can't wait to see what happens next.