Solar Opposites has visited many Earth holidays to poke fun at our absurd Earth customs and traditions, and last year’s Halloween episode tackled the Great Pumpkin and the Crypt Keeper as a part of the festivities. This year, the Solar Opposites is revisiting Halloween, bringing the Great Pumpkin along with them to create the next installment of what promises to be a spooky and hilarious new tradition. The Hunt for Brown October is the sequel to the first Halloween episode, A Sinister Halloween Scary Opposites Solar Special, so it gets a chance to mock horror sequels alongside other spooky human tropes.
Korvo, a usual, isn’t having a great time in this episode of Solar Opposites, as his body is being taken over by the Spirit of Halloween. Morphing into the physical manifestation of a Halloween icon, Korvo is diverted from his country club dreams by the metamorphosis he’s experiencing. As someone who hates Halloween to a staggering degree, Korvo is even more horrified than most would be by his spooky, body horror inhabitation by the Spirit of Halloween.
As with many Solar Opposites episodes, The Hunt for Brown October is chock full of tropes, and drags all the human traditions that go along with Halloween, simultaneously poking fun at “fancy” culture.
In classic Solar Opposites fashion, everyone besides Korvo is thrilled by the Halloween hijinks. Their enthusiasm for the holiday overtakes their desire for country club status as they attempt to save Korvo’s dreams of being “fancy” and he slowly deteriorates in the style of The Santa Clause into a Halloween being. The Solar Opposites clan is drawn into Korvo’s transformation as spooky delight spreads to everything around him.
If the new Solar Opposites Halloween special is the beginning of an annual tradition, their version of the holiday event could rival that of the Simpsons.
As with many Solar Opposites episodes, The Hunt for Brown October is chock full of tropes and drags all the human traditions that go along with Halloween, simultaneously poking fun at “fancy” culture. Their attempts to fit in and be accepted by a snooty crowd are predictably foiled by their own strange habits, even while the Halloween phantasm follows them in their increasingly spooky adventures. Bringing out the best and worst about humanity through satire on a holiday special is what Solar Opposites does best, and the Halloween special is no exception.
The regular cast of Solar Opposites are all included in the special, including Dan Stevens as Korvo, Thomas Middleditch as Terry, Sean Giambrone as Yumulack, and Mary Mack as Jesse. Their spooky guest stars are Ashley Alder as the First Witch and Peyton Crim as Ranch. The Solar Opposites Halloween special, The Hunt for Brown October, was directed by Marissa Livingston of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Rick and Morty fame, and Nick Reczynski, who is known for his work on Rick and Morty and the Mike Tyson Mysteries.
Bringing out the best and worst about humanity through satire on a holiday special is what Solar Opposites does best, and the Halloween special is no exception.
If the new Solar Opposites Halloween special is the beginning of an annual tradition, their version of the holiday event could rival that of The Simpsons. Building on the previous season’s storyline and delving into a new set of stories for this episode makes the Halloween specials a series that can be viewed as a self-contained capsule. Their serial nature could allow for future specials to follow a similar path, creating a new way to view holiday specials as well as a spooky new tradition for Solar Opposites.
