Common Side Effects - A Cartoon Network original

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I'm so glad I caught this while it's running because it's one of the most engaging and well thought out series I've ever seen. Adult Swim, for all its faults, did a good job promoting it with the previews and everything. I even found some behind the scenes footage by a Dutch animator on YouTube (minor spoilers).

Edit: the link I posted before is down, so here's the first episode for those who haven't seen it yet.
 
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the ending to episode 6 was insane. It took you from a sad sap, to adrenaline pumping in two seconds. I’m kind of pissed Adult Swim spoiled it on their channel. I really enjoy this show. It is so fucking comfy.
 
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invisibult plus+ said:
I'm so glad I caught this while it's running because it's one of the most engaging and well thought out series I've ever seen. Adult Swim, for all its faults, did a good job promoting it with the previews and everything. I even found some behind the scenes footage by a Dutch animator on YouTube (minor spoilers).

Edit: the link I posted before is down, so here's the first episode for those who haven't seen it yet.
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Just got around to watching this earlier. This show is great, one of Adult Swim's best shows in years.
 
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DOUBLE POST

I’m shocked they let The Serpent and the Rainbow be the book Marshall hid his “suicide” drug in. Dear lord, how can this show get better?
 
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Caught up with this show. So far it's just Pantheon but with shrooms instead of computers. I may or may not be suffering from Boss Baby Vibes-type shortsightedness.
Wonder if this show is 8 episodes or 10.
 
I am enjoying this show. It's got me invested. It has a nice blend of fun, slice-of-life comedy with a deep plot that is well paced.

Someone already mentioned it, but man, I cannot shake the Ian Worthington vibes in the art and animation style, but Worthington had nothing to do with the project. He's been hired to do animation for some of Michael Cusack's stuff on Adult Swim, but not this.

Still, hope the series doesn't shit the bed at the end and sticks the landing.
 
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I want to live in a world where the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the words adult and animation are shows like Primal, Smiling Friends, or this.

This show is earnest, and feels very out of place with its lack of socjus.
The fact that the woman cop is a lesbian doesn't feel forced or out of place at all. Just a few lines, some scenes that advances the story, and calling the other a bitch was funny by itself.
Wondering if they've ordered a second season, there could be new way for exploring the characters. It does remind me of HBO's Silicon Valley (by Mike Judge) where Pied Piper becomes bigger and bigger on each consecutive season.
 
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The title of the latest episode was a little too on the nose, but still a phenomenal episode. I think the thing I and others are most curious about are the very fucking strange side effects. Do you all think Marshall is going to get revived, due to him being at deaths door and without actively eating another mushroom? His reaction to cupping the tincture was very odd.
 
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I am interested in seeing what happens. I thought trips on mushrooms tend to be individual, so everyone having the same hallucinations might be some kind of connection between all those that took the mushroom.
 
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Lithos said:
I am interested in seeing what happens. I thought trips on mushrooms tend to be individual, so everyone having the same hallucinations might be some kind of connection between all those that took the mushroom.
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When you trip, specifically on mushrooms, you do feel as if you are part of the universe. it is really enjoyable for them to explore this.
 
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We are getting a season 2! Explains why there isn't time for an epilogue. Link!
 
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Sekhmet said:
View attachment 7147468

We are getting a season 2! Explains why there isn't time for an epilogue. Link!
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Started watching this show and went through most the episodes in a couple days. Pretty enjoyable and it makes me happy to see that the story will be able to continue instead of forcing them to wrap it up after one season. My only gripe is it feels like there could be more work done to flesh out the characters that are more incidental to give a little more extra oomph. It feels like it would have benefitted from having more episodes to work with. They could insert small character things to make the relationships seem more real, it all makes the pacing seem a little quick for a show that uses character interaction for a vehicle more often than not. Also I think Marshal is too all powerful and it gives anime main character vibes that he always has the skills or the knowhow to get out of whatever predicament the story throws at him. It would have been nice if he had some limitations other than being a little naïve when it comes to interacting with people. Also the idea of a mushroom that can literally cure anything so quickly and bring people back from death almost feels like too powerful of a Macguffin that unless they change shit, its going to put them into a corner eventually. It has this way of almost removing stakes in places where I just go "oh they should just eat a mushroom" like when Francis' mom falls out of the tree and dies, I don't get why she didn't immediately think about using a mushroom to bring her back. I get where they're going with it with that allegory that there could literally be a miracle drug and people would still fight over it. It just feels like one of those things that could cause a lot of problems going forward if they make it too out there in concept that they may lose some of the original message, or leave massive holes in the plot that could have been easily solved by something that is just conveniently ignored for the plot's sake. There's obviously some crazy high concept thing going with all the trip sequences and shared hallucinations so I hope it doesn't get too big in scope that it loses the soul of what made it good. That's one of my major gripes, the show really wears it's messaging on its sleeve, so its pretty obvious to know where they're going with certain plots if you already know what they're going to critique.

The animation can be pretty good in some spots and I definitely see the influence from people like Worthikids and MeatCanyon on the design, it can be jarring in spots where you can tell they switch to 3D animation for a scene. The trip sequences are downright gorgeous though, and I love the effort they put in on the movements of the little trip dudes and they way they pop into shapes. Also the animation on the nature and animals is really good too, you can tell someone that worked on it does have a real appreciation for nature, or at the very least they hired a good consultant.

They're obviously hinting at Francis beginning a substance abuse problem starting as a plot point for the next season and an obvious criticism of big pharma. After her mom dies, her friend from the lab gives her pills at the funeral. Her character seems kinda weird after that, you can tell she doesn't have as much of an emotional reaction to things like she used to. She also starts breaking off most of her old relationships with people that aren't related to work. I felt like they kinda glazed over her grief over the sudden death of her mom and there will probably be some angle where she blames Marshall for it for giving her the mushrooms that caused her to climb the tree and fall in the first place. It will probably all come to a head as part of Francis developing as a character in the next season.

Marshal isn't dead. Like I said in the above paragraph, the mushroom is too powerful and he probably had the idea to eat one before he got pushed off the cliff, or maybe when he put his hand in the tincture it is still in his system enough to bring him back. I just don't see them putting so much into a character that has gotten out of so many situations just like that, and is also a main driving factor of the entire plot. It would be a hell of a twist, but I just don't see it happening because most writers wouldn't have the balls. Too much relies on Marshal being the one to pull niche knowledge or skills out of his ass in a way that drives the plot, so it would be hard to replace him. I would have mad respect if they pull a Eddard Stark and only have him as the catalyst for the events for the rest of the series after killing him off.

I like the plot of government agents starting to question the orders they get and their place in the world. I hope they lean full into Copano and Harrington becoming adversaries, at least for a little bit, because I think that would be a cool juxtaposition to how they always manage to mesh well together in situations and could have a fun dynamic where they always know the other's next move. There are obvious times where they show that despite thinking different things they always buy each other food and drinks, and the other doing the same and that's a sweet touch. I like their friendship dynamic in general and would have been ok with them getting more screen time tbh, I love the way they both are kinda weird people and obviously process shit in different ways, but somehow share the same frequency so they end up on the same page.

I don't know what the whole plot with the pharma people are, but I would assume that the boss experienced the mushroom first hand and that's what flipped his mentality on trying to get it out, which makes him kind of a foil to Marshal in a way, wanting to get the mushroom out to help people which is obviously something they try to hint at as a way to get you to sympathize with the pharmaceutical companies which I just know is going to be a rug pulled out from under us later so I'm not getting to invested in the plotline of the companies and governments actually doing the right thing with zero motive. Same thing for Jonas, I feel like he's going to witness the mushroom and do a 180 but its going to end up being a bad thing because there's obviously more going on with the mushroom than what anybody is aware of and that will be one of the problems in the next season of the mushroom being out there and helping people but the side effects make things worse.

I'm probably going to regret making all those predictions when there's still one more episode to the season, but I haven't been able to put my thoughts out there about the show since I started it, and there's still 12 hours until the last episode of the season airs, so here we are. Anyone that has seen my postings in the other threads about TV shows knows that I do this sometimes.
 
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Really happy they got renewed for a second season! Frankly gonna keep my expectations a little tempered after Arcane shat the bed with its own second season (still pissed about that mess), but assuming they don't go the whole "let's recreate what people liked about season 1!" route and take their time with it I've got high hopes.

I'm quite curious about the levels of cognizance displayed by the mushroom; I've seen quite a lot of people equate Jonas's fate to the mushroom "punishing him," and while I personally believe he was simply experiencing an extreme overdose, the little white dudes looked almost shocked while watching him, which was a curious detail to focus on. The ones Francis and Marshall saw seemed to be guiding them towards each other, so I'm wondering if the little elves are manifestations of the mushroom's "will," or perhaps manifestations of the characters' wills, being enabled by the mushroom itself. I'm kind of hoping for the latter; "mushrooms have feelings" is a bit on-the-nose and the concept of the mushroom enabling an interconnected human psyche seems intriguing.
 
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