Common Side Effects: An Animated Zeitgeist
[Fair warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the animated TV series Common Side Effects. However, plot discussion is kept to a minimum beyond what happens in the pilot which, at the time of publishing, can be watched in its entirety on Adult Swim's YouTube channel. All episodes of the first season are also now streaming on Max and it has recently been renewed for a second season.]
“What if there were a medicine that could heal, like, almost anything? Yeah, right? But, what if they didn't want you to know about it?” The concept of a panacea has played a part in fantasy and science fiction for centuries. In Common Side Effects, it comes in the form of a strain of fungus which protagonist Marshall Cuso dubs the Blue Angel Mushroom, found in the Peruvian Highlands, mutated from the runoff of Reutical Pharmaceuticals. Once ingested, the fungus interacts with stem cells in such a way that it can completely reverse terminal diseases and fatal injuries. The effects are immediate, miraculous, and rendered in vivid psychedelic color.
For the first few episodes, the show follows libertarian mycologist Marshall as he evades the very real threat of government agencies and insurance companies conspiring to shut down his discovery, kill him, and eliminate any trace of the mushroom ever existing. The action sequences are beautifully animated, and the tension is thrilling enough, but what really cements this series as an all-time great follows when Marshall and other characters are able to actually sit down and have frank discussions about the reality of Marshall’s plan actually succeeding. How would the modern world be affected if everyone had free access to a magical cure for all illness, disease, and even death?
Early on, one of the most prominent issues hindering this dream concerns supply. Far from a fountain of youth, Blue Angel is limited to the meager samples he manages to salvage in Peru until he is able to reliably recreate its growing conditions for mass production. And even if he does, the prospect of prioritizing who gets treated sends him into a tailspin: “Oldest people? The sickest? And, like, what if someone's super sick but they're also super racist? Does that guy still get it?” The sentiment itself falls in line with stoner logic thought exercises, but it reflects the mindset of an ordinary man in way over his head, suddenly granted the means to change the world. On some level, until cultivation can get to a point where treatment can be truly universal, Marshall is forced to play God, deciding who lives and who dies.
Another wrinkle comes in the form of Blue Angel’s titular side effects, the specifics of which I won't go into detail here, but are significant enough to further complicate the idea of a perfect magical cure. Those in need, whom Marshall and his partners must turn away, may label their provider a murderer, but even those who receive treatment risk enduring an even worse hell than if they had been left to die. The comprehensive nature of the mushroom remains a mystery, ripe for exploration in later seasons, and the prospect of releasing it "with so many unknowns" engenders a tense future for everyone involved.
As the series develops, we not only get insightful points of view from more well-intentioned characters like Marshall and his ladder-climbing friend Frances, but also from the CEO of Reutical Pharmaceuticals, Rick Kruger, and his (frankly pure evil) benefactor, Jonas “the Wolf” Backstein. While some views are vastly more sympathetic than others, the show treats all of its characters and issues with the same grounded emotional complexity.
Presented as an incompetent mobile game-tapping surface-level dolt at the outset, Rick proves to be surprisingly savvy in the realm of privatized healthcare after being shaken out of complacency, undergoing a period of serious reflection and taking matters into his own hands. Whereas Marshall envisions a better, perhaps unobtainable world, Rick thrives in the world he knows. He sees exciting potential in Blue Angel, but in a way that holds the status quo and puts profit motive first. Like the medicine they already produce, they still save lives, but make sure to also keep the machine running. In the words of one of his employees, “it's not a perfect system, but it's a system.” In his own, “it's beautiful! It's nature!” It's fascinating to watch a character so gleefully lost in the sauce of capitalism.
Meanwhile, Jonas Backstein lies at the other far end of this spectrum. There's no room for the Blue Angel in his world. Delivering every line with a chillingly calm Swiss accent, Jonas warns Rick with a hellish vision of the future full of economies collapsing, cartels vying for control of the mushroom, and wars escalating to an unimaginable scale. He stresses “balance,” the virtue of having to work for one’s healthcare, and the continued employment of everyone working for Reutical, as well as insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical labs around the world. In Jonas's own life, of course, fate leaves room for a little more nuance. A "good system" can't address everything no matter how much money one throws at it, and he ends up discovering much more than he bargains for.
In a climate where the current system of privatized health insurance proves so unpopular that the man who assassinates the CEO of UnitedHealthcare is (justifiably) hailed as a national hero, Common Side Effects could not have arrived at a more perfectly relevant time. The themes and sentiments it addresses may not be completely new, but the way they are presented here feels distinctly American and speaks to the moment in a rich and thoughtful way. Its characters reflect a world in which even those poised to help people must navigate pitfalls of self-interest and the sustainability of that help. Although it won't be perfect, a better future is worth pursuing, even without a miracle to make things (only) slightly easier.