The Best Adult Swim Show Is The Anti-Last Of Us

"The Last of Us" is a gripping drama. It's also a video game adaptation that does something unique with its zombie apocalypse, trading in the walking dead for very much alive people infected by a fungus that takes over their brains and bodies. The infected are a source of infinite horror on the series, with new types providing more and more nightmare fuel. But even when there are no infected to be found, "The Last of Us" is a horror story in which danger lurks around every corner (with plenty of emotional devastation soon to follow after). It's a bleak and, at times, frankly nihilistic show about how terrifying fungi can be, with characters that are mostly miserable and only able to find small glimmers of hope at the end of the world.

All this is to say, when Adult Swim announced Steve Hely and Joseph Bennett — the co-creator of "Scavengers Reign," which was the best show of 2023 — were working on a new animated conspiracy thriller about Big Pharma and a mysterious mushroom that can cure any and all illnesses, it was hard not to immediately think of that other show about mushrooms with a big effect on human health. Of course, "Common Side Effects" is nothing like "The Last of Us." If anything, this masterpiece of animation, which is one of the funniest and most visually stunning (not to mention narratively creative) shows to come along in a good while, is more like the anti-"Last of Us" in terms of tone and its treatment of fungi.

Thankfully, the best animated show of 2025 is already confirmed to be returning for a second season. If you haven't experienced the beauty, the weirdness, or the needle drops of "Common Side Effects, " you should run to watch it on Max right now. And if you somehow aren't convinced yet, here's why you need to make this show a priority. (At the bare minimum, you need to watch this promo.)

"Common Side Effects" centers on one Marshall Cuso (Dave King). An accomplished mycologist, Marshall comes to discover the mythical Blue Angel Mushroom, a special fungus that does not take over your brain and body (something Cordyceps from "The Last of Us" can actually do in real life ... kind of). Rather, it seems to cure literally anything. Gunshot wound? Gone. Dementia? Forget about it. Actual, literal death? Say goodbye to all that, it's mushroom time, baby!

Of course, a miracle cure to any and all illnesses would be extremely bad news for corporate America and Big Pharma, which are very much content with earning money through unnecessarily convoluted and absurdly expensive health insurance. As such, Marshall quickly finds himself on the run from both mercenary killers and the feds — specifically the DEA, which sends its two best agents, Agent Copano (Joseph Lee Anderson) and Agent Harrington (Martha Kelly), to apprehend Marshall.

"Common Side Effects" is, quite simply, an animation masterpiece. Even if the medium is in a better place than ever, with adult animation being prominent and creatively diverse, for the most part, American adult animated shows tend to fall under one of two types of categories: comedies like "Rick and Morty" or action-heavy shows like "Castlevania." That's not to say there can't be nuance on either side, but it does mean the focus and selling points tend to be either the comedy or the fight scenes. 

"Invincible," for example, is quite dramatic, but it is also very much an action show. Meanwhile, "Bojack Horseman" is one of the best prestige dramedies of the 21st century, yet it remains a comedy. "Common Side Effects," on the other hand, is a very rare show belonging to a relatively recent trend (alongside series like "Pantheon," "Undone," and "Scavengers Reign") that aren't defined by either action or comedy. Rather, they could easily be considered straight genre plays if they were live-action.

This is to say that the conspiracy thriller element of "Common Side Effects" is quite effective, offering a poignant take down of government corruption, capitalism, and our current healthcare hellhole. And yet, when the show does employ humor, it's funny as hell.

Yes, this is all about Agents Copano and Harrington, a pair of antagonists who may or may not eventually realize they're actually working for the bad guys. They are also two of the best side characters to appear on the small screen in 2025. One hell of a buddy cop pair, we first meet Copano and Harrington while they're on patrol. Copano sits in their car and turns on the radio, finding a song he likes (Harry Belafonte's "Jump In The Line") and blasting it though his walkie directly into Harrington's earpiece. She immediately starts doing a little dance while buying a hot dog from a street stand before getting back in the car and dancing along with her partner. It's a delightful scene that tells you everything you need to know about what they're like as cops and professional partners.

Indeed, "Common Side Effects" can be utterly hilarious when it wants to be. It's also a deeply bizarre and ludicrous show that uses the power of animation to deliver some trippy visuals. You see, when someone consumes the Blue Angel Mushroom, they have a little vision that includes weird little guys as they're being healed. More specifically, they envision humanoid pill beings that show up in a type of portal world that everyone who consumes the mushroom finds themself in before waking up. Except, it turns out this is not just a trippy dream people have while high on magic mushrooms. In time, they start having visions of those same little guys even when they're awake several days after taking the mushroom.

One of the more popular theories is that these visions are actually visual representations of the Blue Angel Mushroom's mycelial network trying to communicate with human brains. Indeed, through "Common Side Effects" season 1, characters talk about "the will" of the fungus. As such, it's entirely possible the show will, in time, turn its miracle cure into a harbinger of doom like the Cordyceps. For now, though, we can simply enjoy the thrills, the whimsy, and the wishful daydreaming of a world where a magic mushroom can replace our healthcare system.

"Common Side Effects" is streaming on Max.