Summary
Hulu’s beloved alien family are coming back to Earth for more outrageous hijinks inSolar Oppositesseason 5. The titular family of Shlorpian refugees were last seen in the season 4 finale, having travelled to a new alien planet in the hopes of reverting to their original form after transforming into humans. There was alsoaSolar OppositesValentine’s Day specialreleased between seasons 4 and 5, in which the family initially looked to remove love from the Earth, though ended with Dan Stevens' Korvo and Thomas Middleditch’s Terry finally getting married.
Now,Solar Oppositesseason 5 sees the familyreturning to Earth after missing the comforts of the human planet, with Terry and Korvo adjusting to their new life as a married couple, including learning the joys of honeymoons and the challenges of communication and honesty. Meanwhile, Mary Mack’s Jesse and Sean Giambrone’s Yumyulack struggle to avoid being held back at school, all while Yumyulack learns a dark secret about his purpose in the team. At the same time, audiences are introduced to the population of The Backyard, which is going through a similar class war as those inside The Wall.
Solar Opposites Season 6: Confirmation, Cast, Story & Everything We Know
The off-beat animated sitcom Solar Opposites has delivered the extraterrestrial laughs for five seasons thus far, and the series is already renewed.
Alongside Stevens, Middleditch, Mack and Giambrone,the ensembleSolar Oppositesseason 5 castsees the returns of Christina Hendricks as Cherie, Tiffany Haddish as A.I.S.H.A., Kieran Culkin as Glen/Dodge Charger, Vanessa Marshall as Mia and Nolan North as Albert. Once again landing a perfect 100% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the show continues to be a hilarious, imaginative and large-scale experience.
In anticipation of the show’s return,Screen Rantinterviewed Thomas Middleditch and Sean Giambrone to discussSolar Oppositesseason 5, how their characters have changed going into the new batch of episodes, and their hopes to be included in The Wall’s future.
Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for Solar Opposites season 5!
Terry & Korvo’s Relationship Was A “Hidden Discussion” Between The Writers & Audience
In reflecting on Terry and Korvo’s marriage going intoSolar Oppositesseason 5, Middleditch recalls there being “a sort of hidden discussion” between the writers and audience about the exact nature of their relationship, feeling that it “manifested now” into a “very obvious romance” and being thrilled about showing this:
Thomas Middleditch: Yeah, well, the whole trajectory of that storyline has been interesting, because I think we start with season 1, it’s not really a thing. There’s these little bits and pieces, and then basically it was a sort of this hidden discussion between the audience and the writers of being like, “Are they lovers? We like it.” And the writers being like, “You want them to be? Okay. Well, maybe they could be.” [Laughs] And then it sort of manifested now in very obvious romance, and now, a domestication of their romance. I think there’s a lot more to explore with the official married dynamic, and we’re recording some season 6 stuff, and that is present, which is fun, and even an even greater teaser.
Solar OppositesSeason 5 Presented Giambrone With Some “Crazy Different Things”
Image via Hulu
Anothermajor change that comes fromSolar Oppositesseason 5is the reveal that Yumyulack’s intended role in the family’s mission is to serve as the Pupa’s food, with Korvo having killed and cloned him multiple times in the past to appease the Pupa. Giambrone recalls being thrilled to “find out what my real role is” after five seasons into the show, though humorously being careful about sharing how this reveal will affect the already confirmed season 6:
Sean Giambrone: It was fun, as for recording, because they had me doing a lot of crazy different things. I got to do an accent, the Irish accent, and stuff. I thought it was just cool, five seasons in, to find out what my real role is on the team, I just think that’s really exciting. And there’s a lot of cool storylines exploring some more depth of Yumyulack. I really enjoyed this season. I’m trying to think of where it heads off, but it definitely plays a part. I’m just remembering scenes that I can’t say so, but it does. [Laughs]
The Family’s New Dynamic Is A “Sprinkling Of Everybody Loves Raymond IntoSolar Opposites”
With the family becoming closer to being the prototypical idea of a human family,Solar Oppositesseason 5 features a number of storylines highlighting the dysfunctional comedy that comes between them. Middleditch humorously admits that this didn’t change much for him and his co-stars in the recording booth, but did lead to a “sprinkling of Everybody Loves Raymond” into the sci-fi comedy:
Thomas Middleditch: I don’t want to sound dismissive or anything, but the note we always get when we’re in the booth is, “Faster and louder. Faster, and more energy.” [Chuckles] So, it’s always going to be like, “Ah!!” You know, the same thing, it’s got a style, but we just get another section of jokes and life experience to draw on. It’s just an additional thing. Now, we get to basically infuse just a sprinkling of, like, Everybody Loves Raymond into Solar Opposites. [Laughs] We put it through the Solar Opposites processor, and out it comes a little bit more absurd and sci-fi.
Giambrone & Middleditch Often Revisit The Show To Remember Its Hilarious Moments
While the turnaround time between seasons has remained consistent,Solar Oppositeshas enjoyed a unique history on screen in frequently being renewed by Hulu well before their season premieres, leading to the writers and cast getting to work on the show far in advance. Both Giambrone and Middleditch admit to this gap in time leading to forgetting some of the hilarity of their work until they revisit the show, though also express that they “love watching the show” to rediscover these moments:
Sean Giambrone: I remember there was, with the director, talking about it, it was still like, “Elevate yourself, but then make it, kind of sad, or depress it a little bit”, if I remember correctly, but it’s still fast.
Thomas Middleditch: Yeah, I’m having a hard time remembering. It’s a very hard time remembering what happened a year and a half ago in a sound booth. I get reminded when I see it, that’s why I love watching the show, because it’s kind of like I have a little gerbil memory, and I’m like, “I forget that even happened.” And then I watched it again, and I was like, “Oh, this is the show is funny. Look how good this show is!” [Laughs] So, I haven’t seen it yet, I almost need to see it before. Grant, I’m so sorry. That’s such a lame answer.
Middleditch & Giambrone Really Want To Join The Wall’s Storyline
Though Yumyulack was the catalyst for the class war between the shrunken people, bothThe Wall and The Backyardhave interestingly seen no actual involvement from the Solar-Opposites in recent seasons. Looking to the future of the show, both Giambrone and Middleditch expressed their hopes to see Yumyulack and Terry properly part of that story, with the former even feeling it could lead to an “Avengers: Endgameeffect”:
Thomas Middleditch: Personally, I love The Wall storyline so much that if I could be a part of it in a more substantial way, I would love to. Sometimes, I’ll voice like a prison guard who’s like, “Oh, this way,” you know, or whatever. But part of what makes The Wall so fun is that it’s a completely separate, tiny adventure that’s happening away from everything else. That’s kind of what’s special about it is that there’s all these other things happening, and unbeknownst to anyone, a struggle between good and evil is occurring on the grandest scale.
So maybe, I think at some point, if we’re so lucky that the show is one of these staple shows, and it goes 30 seasons or something, probably season 25, they’ll be like, look, “We gotta bring these guys into The Wall,” and it’s a crossover episode. And they’re like," Oh, wow. We didn’t realize how bad you had it here. Anyway." [Chuckles] But I think if they can prolong that as much as they can, they should, personally.
Sean Giambrone: I think, yeah, it’s funny because Yumyulack and Jesse put them all in The Wall, and it’s funny how little they think about them all the time. I would just be curious how it would play out. I like Thomas' idea of prolonging it, but I’m kind of impatient. I kind of want to just see what kind of mayhem that would cause. It could have, like, an Avengers: Endgame effect where it would just be like, “[Mimics epic music].” I want to see it happen when it’s best.
AboutSolar OppositesSeason 5
“Solar Opposites” centers around a team of four aliens who are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo (Dan Stevens) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty, while Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Jesse (Mary Mack) love TV, junk food and fun stuff. In season five, now that alien mission partners Terry and Korvo are married, the whole Solar Opposites team are focused on family values.
Check out our otherSolar Oppositesseason 5 interviewwith showrunners Mike McMahan & Josh Bycel and supervising producer Sydney Ryan!
Solar Oppositesseason 5 is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
Solar Opposites
Cast
Solar Opposites is a Hulu adult animation series that centers on a family of aliens. After moving to America, they bicker about whether the country is better than their home planet. The series was created by Mike McMahan and Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, with characters voiced by Thomas Middleditch, Sean Giambrone, and Mary Mack.
