Fighting Big Pharma with Fun

You may have thought that Americans were annoyed with the state of the medical industrial complex, but the events of Dec. 4, 2024, showed they were downright apoplectic. On that day, Luigi Mangione allegedly shot and killed Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare’s CEO at the time. Before Mangione was apprehended, he was being discussed as a folk hero of sorts, with a staggering number of people feeling indifferent to the death of Thompson. When UnitedHealthcare posted about his death on their Facebook account, more “laughing face” emojis responded than anything else. Maybe that’s a structural reason why Common Side Effects, a new Adult Swim comedy thriller, feels so topical.

Or maybe it’s the post-COVID environment where people in the “alternative medicine” community slowly shifted right into the dangerous “anti-vax” community. It’s a social trajectory that has led to RFK Jr. becoming the Secretary of Health. Maybe that’s why Common Side Effects feels urgent. Or maybe it’s the state of animation, a space that’s filled with comedy and kids’ shows but so rarely gets to be serious, sophisticated, and heartfelt (at least on American television).

Joe Bennett is working to change that. Common Side Effects follows his mind-bending series Scavengers Reign, and like that show, it’s filled with big ideas, interesting characters, and a gripping narrative. This time, though, Bennett has grounded himself in a more realistic world, co-created with comedy writer Steve Hely; it’s not only funny, but extremely fresh and current. It’s also an absolute blast.

Federal Agents and Mushrooms and Pharma, Oh My!

This is a series that draws you in right from the start and builds layers on top of itself in a way that’s never confusing or frustrating. By the end of Common Side Effects, a 10-episode series premiering Feb. 2, 2025, the series is so stuffed with wild subplots and characters that it’s easy to forget its very simple beginnings. The show quickly introduces us to Marshall (Dave King) as he protests a corporate event for Reutical Pharmaceuticals, a company that’s facing extensive lawsuits. He’s ushered out of the building, but not before someone catches his eye.

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Frances (Emily Pendergast) is the personal assistant to the CEO of Reutical Pharmaceuticals, Rick (a pitch-perfect Mike Judge), and yet she feels compelled to follow Marshall. She recognizes him from high school, where they were lab partners and friends; she’s also obviously frustrated with her life, and the protesting Marshall may seem like a quick, fun diversion. She starts to regret her choice when, while talking on a park bench, Marshall picks up a pigeon and breaks its neck, killing it. He quickly pulls out a glimmering blue mushroom and gets it down the bird’s throat; its neck snaps back, and it flies away good as new.

Yes, after his time in the Peruvian jungle, Marshall has discovered a miraculously healing mushroom, but the land where it grows is being deeply polluted by Reutical Pharmaceuticals. The mushroom could change the world entirely, single-handedly collapsing the entire medical industrial complex of health insurance companies, big pharma, private hospitals, and all the other things that profit off of our suffering (and sometimes condemn us to death when we can’t afford their so-called services). And that’s why everyone in power wants to destroy it.

Eccentric DEA Agents on a Wild Case

Before Marshall can explain more, he discovers he is being watched by one of the many groups that are looking for him (and his shrooms). He escapes, leaving Frances wondering if the magic mushroom could save Reutical Pharmaceutical, or even her mother, who has dementia. From there, it’s an astonishingly inventive and fun road trip of sorts, with Marshall finding help from his many contacts and friends in his unique community of scientists (especially myologists, who study mushrooms), hippies, and proponents of alternative medicine. The extensive world-building with all these characters is wonderful; it’s like if John Wick was about myologists instead of assassins.

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Nonetheless, there are certainly assassins in the world of Common Side Effects. A mysterious figure arranges for the DEA to go after Marshall, while some sneaky other group does the same. A competing myologist even gets into the mix, as well as Frances. Then there’s Harrington (Martha Kelly) and Copano (Joseph Lee Anderson), who have already become the favorite new duo of animation fans who saw their introductory scene released by Adult Swim (see below). DEA agents Harrington and Copano are a deadpan delight who seem to be living in their own Tarantino movie. Check out their introduction in the video below:

Though they’re sure to be everyone’s favorites, just about every other character is developed wonderfully as well. The voice acting and animation (under Wes McClain’s art direction) is realistic but also just quirky enough to make every setting and character distinct. Common Side Effects doesn’t really look or sound like anything else at the moment, with a more mature and less flashy style that nonetheless makes way for some wild visuals. Mushrooms are at the heart of the show, after all, and there are some unnerving and creative hallucinogenic sequences throughout.

‘Common Side Effects’ Is a Wild Trip

There are, of course, countless great animated series, but outside the anime tradition, it’s hard to think of an animated show with as gripping a narrative as Common Side Effects (give or take Gravity Falls). There are actual stakes here; things don’t reset at the end of the episode, and the action isn’t ridiculous and unbelievable just because it’s animated. The season itself will play like a three-and-a-half-hour movie in that sense, not something you can tune into on episode five. Things build beautifully, with some brilliant twists and subplots that are carefully scattered throughout the show.

Common Side Effects, while provocative in its critique of power structures like pharmaceutical companies and the police, is just damn fun. It’s an incredibly entertaining and wild ride that derives its suspense and humor from its wonderful characters and their increasingly complicated, interconnected journey. The show holds a clear mirror to society and shows us the ugliness of powerful systems and the beautiful weirdness and sadness of us funny little humans. It’s a phenomenal show.

Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects debuts with two episodes at 11:30p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 2, and airs each subsequent Sunday. The show streams the next day on Max, and you can watch it then through the link below:

Watch on Max