Episode 7 of Hulu's Solar Opposites season 1 leaves its alien main characters behind for a moving story about the human condition - and while it's the least funny episode of the season, it's also the best. Written by Dominic Dierkes and directed by Andy Thomas, "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear" functions as both a standalone episode and one that strengthens the series as a whole.
Showrunners Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty) establish the set-up for "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear" early on in Solar Opposites season 1. After a family of extraterrestrials leave Planet Shlorp and arrive on Earth, Korvo (Roiland) wants to leave, and his replicant Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) shrinks humans that upset him. Yumyulack and fellow replicant Jesse (Mary Mack) then toss the shrunken humans into a hole in their wall, where a tiny civilization forms with its own rulers and economy. The Wall subplot becomes the primary focus for the penultimate episode of Solar Opposites season 1.
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The title "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear" functions as a punchline in itself since the entire episode focuses on shrunken humans while the alien hijinks occasionally play out in the background. This Solar Opposites season 1 story begins with an intense, Kubrickian-like musical intro, but then shifts to a visual of the friendly mouse Molly - who provides milk to the hole-in-the-wall community. Because Tim (Andrew Daly) and his comrade Cheri (Christina Hendricks) are deadly-serious about revolting against The Duke (Alfred Molina) and it's treated like a story with real stakes, the audience can't help but become invested in their struggle - not to mention Molly the Mouse's wellbeing. There's underlying humor, of course, in the fact that they're one-inch humans in a wall, but it doesn't stop the story from feeling epic.
With "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear," Solar Opposites season 1 fully commits to the bit, and thus allows for a layered tale about life and loss. For example, a heavily-bearded Tim rots away in jail after a marketplace riot, and writes letters that make him the voice of the people; a clear parallel to so many real-life stories about revolutionary leaders. The Hulu series then shifts gears once again when Cheri rescues Tim, and takes him to an underground lair that's a replica of the Seinfeld set. Various pop culture references are peppered throughout "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear," along with potent one-liners, but the homages to movies like Mad Max and Escape From New York are used to make the revolution feel genuinely compelling, rather than to mock the genre.
In this particular episode, the Solar Opposites showrunners stick the landing by upping the stakes and by killing off both Molly and Cheri. The climax isn't fueled by accessible jokes but rather the horrible drowning of Molly, the result of not being able to squeeze her body through an opening during a flood - a scene on par with Futurama's ultimate tearjerker episode "Jurassic Bark." By the end, "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear" includes yet another sharp twist when The Duke flees to the real world and Tim shockingly slays Cherie and takes the Duke's place as the new ruler of the Wall.
It's also a killer ending, both literally and figuratively. And finally, like a great magician, Solar Opposites concludes by pulling back and showing the rest of the world within this strange universe: the interior of the alien home, the alien home in the earthly community, and earth from an extraterrestrial perspective. "Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear" is incredibly moving for an episode that's fundamentally about a society where people drink mouse milk.