Adult Swim’s animated series Common Side Effects by Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely asks what would happen if there was a cure to all diseases.
Showrunners: Joseph Bennett & Steve Hely
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Number of Episodes: 10
Release Date: February 2, 2025, followed by weekly episodes
Where to Watch: Adult Swim (US) / Channel 4 (UK & Ireland)
What if there was a drug that could cure every ailment, and even bring you back from death? In the Adult Swim series Common Side Effects, creators Joseph Bennett and Steve Hely ask this question and pair it with another: What if pharmaceutical companies were involved? This genre-blending show examines these questions with more subtlety than its trippy, chaotic visuals might imply.
Marshall Cuso (Dave King) and Frances Applewhite (Emily Pendergrast) were high school lab partners who drifted apart. Frances joined the workforce, eventually becoming an assistant to Rick Kruger (Mike Judge), CEO of Reutical Pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Marshall went off in search of the “blue angel,” a Peruvian mushroom rumored to have healing properties that can cure just about everything. When Marshall discovers that the mushroom is real, he finds himself in the crosshairs of the DEA, Reutical, and the cult of an angry mycologist.
Common Side Effects is an important reminder that adult animation is no longer the sole domain of edgy comedy. This show takes a serious look at for-profit healthcare and how it shapes the decisions of those accessing and offering care. It could easily be a piece of prestige drama, but the choice to use animation as the medium allows for some of the more fantastical elements to be explored without potentially awkward-looking CGI transformations. But make no mistake, this is a serious piece of media.
Speaking of animation, this series’s style is simple and eye-catching. While it avoids any kind of hyperrealism, it doesn’t take long to settle into viewing these characters as real people. This hand-drawn animation shines when someone takes the mushroom and enters into a world where little white creatures take whatever ailment is troubling the consumer and turn it into a strange mélange of colorful shapes.
The voice work in Common Side Effects is top-notch. King brings a quiet dignity to Marshall, reminding us that despite his open shirt and bucket hat, this is a scientist. DEA Agents Copano (Joseph Lee Anderson) and Harrington (Martha Kelly) are written as interesting characters, and the voice work helps build the relationship between them. Judge’s deadpan voice work is phenomenal for the whiny pharma CEO who waxes poetically about all the people they have helped with their drugs while also ensuring that the company is earning as much as possible. Pendergrast has a bit of naiveté in her voice, allowing her to question her boss and Marshall.
The show is billed as a comedy/thriller, but it leans into the thriller side far more than the comedy. This isn’t to say that there aren’t humorous aspects to the story, but that is largely of the deadpan and satirical variety, so it doesn’t read as outright funny for the bulk of the show. That said, it manages to balance a variety of tones with a deft hand.
What really makes the series compelling is the writing. Taking complicated issues like how business impacts drug manufacturers’ work could quickly become a simple “Big Pharma Bad” storyline, but Common Side Effects refuses to settle for that. The story highlights the ways that pharmaceutical companies have benefited peoples’ health for good. It shows that greed exists outside of big companies. It explores how individuals can have good intentions and then betray those intentions, not out of malice but out of self-preservation.
Even the blue angel mushroom itself is more interesting than a simple cure-all. Yes, it could completely heal a pigeon with a broken neck, but it also has side effects of its own that can be remarkably unpleasant for those who take it. The series avoids simple answers, instead requiring the viewer to engage with the story in a more meaningful way that actually stretches perspectives.
When we talk about topics like Big Pharma and the US healthcare system, the conversations can become very black and white, ignoring the many variances of experiences of those involved in those sectors. You might not expect an Adult Swim animated show to be the one that brings nuance to this dialogue, but Common Side Effects seems to have discovered the cure for that kind of binary thinking.
Common Side Effects: Series Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
When Marshall Cuso discovers a mushroom that can cure any disease and maybe even reverse death, he pairs up with his former lab partner, Frances Applewhite, unaware that she works for Reutical Pharmaceuticals.
Pros:
- Impressive animation style
- Nuanced look at a complicated topic
- Fantastic voice work
Cons:
- Billed as a comedy, but not as funny as one might expect
The first two episodes of Common Side Effects were released on Adult Swim on February 2, 2025, followed by weekly 23-minute episodes, with the finale on March 31. The series is available to watch on Channel 4 in the UK & Ireland, on Max across Europe, and on Warner TV in France and Germany.
