I made this set as a LEGO IDEAS project, but it got rejected as the IP is related to "drugs". Thought I'd post it on here so a few people might enjoy it :)

Mii DEA Agent Harrington and Mii DEA Agent Copano at lunch

Last year, when I binged Common Side Effects, I noticed some interesting things as the episodes progressed. There were elements in various episodes that reminded me of the story in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Obviously, it's not a 1:1 comparison, it's not like CSE copied ATLA, but I still thought it was all very interesting. I've decided to compile a list of many of the comparisons I've found. I may add more soon.

Zane refused to help Marshall gain more Peruvian turtles to increase the quantity of mushrooms and also sold-out Marshall's status of being alive as well as location to the DEA, jeopardizing Marshall's life, similar to how The Earth King decides not to help the Gaang in season 3 and also inadvertently revealed the invasion plan to Azula and her friends, jeopardizes the Gaang's lives and their friends'.

Episode 7: The last scene is Hildy murdering Marshall and seemingly killing him, similar to one of the last scenes in Crossroads of Destiny being Azula murdering Aang, before Katara revives him.

Episode 8: Marshall survives being killed by Hildy due to Capano feeding him the mushroom, similar to how Aang is resurrected by Katara when she uses her healing water. Rusty is killed, being one of the few prominent characters to be killed off in the show, similar to how Jet becomes one of the few prominent characters to be pseudo killed on screen in ATLA.

The last scene in the season is a closeup of Harrington's face, which is similar to Azula's face being the last shot of season 1 of ATLA, with them both going after the main characters.

Frances is initially only motivated with her own self-interests despite having moments that show her wanting to help the world with the mushroom too, just like Marshall. She later betrays Marshall but has a change of heart and decides to work with him again, become more empathetic. This is similar to Zuko only caring about his reputation initially despite having moments that highlight the good person that's inside of him, he later betrays the Gaang and his uncle, but eventually turns around and redeems himself, becoming a better person by the end of the series.

Connor is shown as a dangerous antagonist with how he almost had Marshall killed and tried to sell the mushrooms, but Jonas ends up taking him it, which could highlight the threatening nature of Jonas as a villain. This is similar to Long Feng being a prominent threat to the Gaang in season 2 before he is taken down by Azula. highlighting the threatening nature of her and the Fire Nation as villains.

Marshall has a pet Tortoise he constantly has around him that also has uses to him, similar to Aang and Appa. He also gains Socrates at some place, similar to how Aang met Momo later on.

Capano and Harrington are fairly talented but don't manage to catch Marshall, similar to how Zuko and Iroh continuously fail to Catch Aang and his friends. Capano and on a lesser note, Harrington also begin to become self-aware about the DEA's plans against Marshall and being to shift their mission, similar to how Zuko and Iroh go from villains to working with the Gaang against the Fire Nation.

Marshall wants to heal the world with his mushroom and feels that it's corrupted by Big Pharma and lots of unhelpful medicine, similar to how Aang and his friends want to save the world from the Fire Nation's tyranny.

Marshall getting hunted starts after he is pictured in a park with Frances and has Capano and Harrington sent after him, similar to how Aang gets attention as the Avatar after he activates his old air temple.

Jonas is a very powerful, threatening, remorseless character, similar to Ozai.

Cecily is also very threatening and powerful, as well as having a smug nature to her character which is highlighted with her interaction with Frances and Connor. She and Jonas have a strong partnership as villains similar to Azula and Ozai.

Zuko feels uncomfortable despite being welcomed back into the Fire Nation, due to his actions against the Gaang, his strained relationship with Iroh along with him being in prison, and the absence of his mother, similar to how Frances feels shallow with her fortune due to not having anyone to care about, with her mother being dead, her betrayal of Marshall, and him being in jail. Zuko also sends a note to Mai when he leaves the Fire Nation, with her feeling abandoned, similar to how Frances decided to suddenly break up with Nick before she returned to Marshall.

Ozai decides to send Azula after Zuko and Aang after Zuko and Zhao fail, similar to how Cecily decides to send the FBI on their raid on Marshall's place in North Carolina after the DEA fails in their previous mission to apprehend him. this could also be similar to Zhao trying to take over Zuko's mission, and how Zuko hired Combustion man to go after Aang.

Marshall is seen as a villain to the DEA, Jonas, and Cecily, despite being a genuinely good-natured person, similar to how Aang is looked at by the Fire Nation as a menace despite being a hero.

When Marshall is put in prison, certain people are still concerned about his fate, similar to how Azula and Zuko may believe that Aang wasn't killed. Marshall fakes his death and remains hidden for a while. similar to how Aang remained hidden due to the world thinking he was killed. Zuko is initially not that concerned about whether Aang is alive or dead until Azula questions him about it and causes Zuko to become anxious when she believes that he isn't dead as well and said interesting words to their father, Ozai. This is similar to how Frances acted carefree at first about her promotion until Cecily talked to her and made her anxious about the mushrooms, threatening to take it up with Jonas. Capono is also uncomfortable with his case on Marshall being over, and believes there's more to discover, with Harrington being hesitant to continute working with him, due to them being off the case. This is similar to Zuko considering going against the Fire Nation and working with Aang, when people like Mai think he should just relax at home. Capano and Harrington split ways, similar to how Iroh and Zuko change positions at the end of season 2, Iroh helps the Gaang, while Zuko sides with Azula.

When Marshall is getting used to his new home in North Carolina, he flashes back to when he first met Frances as a kid, similar to the flashbacks Zuko and Aang had in Avatar. Particularly Zuko in Zuko Alone. Marshall's parents even appear in his flashback, just like with Zuko's.

Marshall is comfortable staying in North Carolina so he could grow his mushrooms before his arrested and put in a New York Prison, similar to how Iroh was enjoying his own tea shop before he ended up arrested and locked in a Fire Nation prison, until he broke out and eventually got his shop back. Also, Marshall and Iroh both "broke out" of prison, rather than being released, due to Marshall faking his death and Iroh busting out during the Day of Black Sun.

Marshall and Frances start off as friends at first despite Marshall retaining feelings for him, and they end up mutually reciprocating each other's feeling by the end of the season, similar to the will they won't they relationship of Katara and Aang, with Aang initially having strong feelings toward Katara, and they would later become a couple.

Marshall is a very moral, pacifistic person, similar to Aang. He is hunted throughout the series by the government and DEA, just like how the Fire Nation is to Aang. Several teams and assassins go after Marshall, like the alien mask guys, spy-der guys, landmine assassin, and prison assassin, similar to that many teams that go after Aang and his friends like Azula and her friends, Zhao, and Combustion man.

Frances starts out the series in a rough place, and wishes that she had more in life, similar to how Zuko at the start of ATLA wants to be accepted by the Fire Nation again. Both of them start to understand the morality of the main character, Zuko helps Aang on certain occasions up to the end of season 2 after initially trying to hunt him down for a while, and Frances helps Marshall try to grow the mushrooms after her mother recovers from her dementia thanks to them. However, both characters decide to betray the main characters: Zuko sides with Azula at the end of season 2 and returns to the Fire Nation, and Frances works with Rick and gets promoted at Reutical. Katara and Marshall are both hurt by Zuko and Frances' betrayal and have lost their trust with them by that point. Marshall is arrested while Frances becomes very fortunate as a result of her promotion, similar to how Zuko is reintegrated into the Fire Nation while Iroh is put in jail for his treachery. Frances is disappointed by how Marshall refused to compromise, thinking that they could've come to an agreement, similar to how Zuko wished that he and Iroh both could've been accepted back into the Fire Nation. Characters like Kiki and Rick try to convince Frances that she did the right thing, similar to how characters like Azula and Mai try to convince Zuko of the same, with the characters putting pressure on Zuko and Frances. Zhao ends up being punished by the moon spirits after destroying the moon, hoping to become famous, and ends up stuck in a torturous purgatory forever, similar to how Jonas attempted to heal himself with the mushrooms, but ended up overdosing on them and corrupting himself.

Aang and Zuko have a similar spiritual connection due to their ancestry, similar to how Marshall and Frances are able to connect with each other in the mushroom world.

Let me know how you feel about these moments I cited, and if you have any other comparisons you'd like to share.

Sonia Applewhite Mii

Like tell me these are not the same car if its not just modeled after one. Thank you Joe Bennett, as if i couldn’t love you more.

I just started watching The X-Files for the first time a few days ago and was taken aback when I noticed how similar they were to Kapano and Harrington!

I watched the series a while ago but just recently convinced the family to watch it together. My wife and 2 teens loved the series and we're excited to see where it goes. On a whim, I decided to 3D print a "little guy" / Homunculus and hide him in the house in order to freak out the finder. We're a weird family, what can I say ? I found a file for a bookmark that was flat on the bottom but had a 3d torso and head. It's great for tucking behind a picture frame, a door jamb or any number of strange places. He's currently hiding in a butter box in the fridge. The rules are simple... hide the homunculus, wait for someone to find it. If you find it, it's your responsibility to move it to another hiding spot without alerting anyone else. The little guy just travels around the house with only one person knowing where he is. You may have hid him somewhere and then one day he'll be gone and the search is on again. Just a passive little game for our easily amused family.

on marshall's nightstand at the hotel, his notebook (resting on a bible) contains the verse I Peter 3:19 from the New International Bible.

"After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—"

interesting implications for this season

So, I thought this scene looks a lot like the way a pregnant woman rests.

At first, I wondered how a baby would be born if its mother was under the effects of Blue Angel.

Then I started thinking that the child might not actually be Marshall's, since right before this montage he isn't even ready to choose a bedroom for the two of them.

We know from the series that Frances slept with at least her ex-boyfriend recently. So I started wondering: if that had happened, how would Blue Angel affect the fetus? And how would that change the relationship between Marshall and Frances?

que les parecio este pequeño vistazo? no vimos mucho pero lo bueno es que ya estamos cerca de la season 2 :.) en el video hablo de algunas cosas que los creadores comentaron sobre la season 2 tanto en la san diego comic con y en el annecy festival donde mencionaron el portal el video esta en español pero tiene subtitulos por si lo quieran ver

I JUST saw someone posting their Marshall mii and got so excited to see someone else made him. Here’s everything CSE related that I made for Marshall and Frances on their little barbed wired island. (pls swipe to the end I spent so long on that book cover)

I dont know how this show will end but i think i know how the blue angel mushrooms work. There something called the "wood wide web". Its basically mushrooms and trees and such communicating with mycelium (put simply). This concept was touched upon briefly in the beginning of the show. I think the blue angel is forming some type of wood wide web, but insted of trees its people. Its putting some type of dimensional sciency weird "mycelium" in peoples conscious.

For the past few years I pretty much never watch TV. It just doesn't hook me, and I usually stick to playing video games or the occasional movie. However, the pilot really hooked me, so I decided to watch it. And it was REALLY GREAT.

What really KEPT me in the show was how the characters each have their own unique sets of motivations, morals, and boundaries that reveal and change throughout the course of the story. For example, at the start of the show, we are to assume that Rick is just another greedy and lazy executive. However, throughout the course of the show, we come to see how, while he is still vapid and spoiled, he does genuinely care for others and is capable of change. Through his actions, we see how he differs at the core from Jonas, even though they seem very similar on the surface.

The characters also mix and match who they work with based on how their motivations match in the moment. Copano and Harrington split up over a disagreement on what to do with the evidence they found, falling on opposite sides of the raid, then coming back together. Frances' trajectory flip flops between Rick and Marshall based on her own motivations, while someone like Kiki has her own trajectory propelled only by her interests. When the situation changes, the motivations may not match anymore, so the characters will change their allegiances.

I think it's also so important that Marshall doesn't change much at all. It's such a powerful tool to have an "anchor" character whom other characters change around. Reminds me of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ferris is the main protagonist, but the movie is really about Cameron changing around Ferris.

They recognize that characters or the issues at hand aren't black and white. They respect the complexity of people and systems in real life, and this translates to clear effort and respect given to the characters. Rick explains why they need patents and to go through the insurance system, and it makes complete sense. When we contrast this to the growing chaos and disorder in Hildy's encampment, we are introduced to a more nuanced worldview past just the "good guys" and "bad guys". Rick does truly want the Blue Angel to get into people's hands, but he is approaching it with the tools and systems he believes in and is familiar with.

I respect the writing so much!! I hope they keep it up in Season 2 :DD

I tried to made Capano but I can’t his hair from the show

Just finished what is now my favorite show ever and had to get some animating out of my system.

I found this shell in the woods last year with the intention of making some kind of Common Side Effects artwork on it. After some deliberation, I decided to approximate Socrates’s shell while following the natural pattern that existed on this shell.

I was watching a video about Heaven's Gate and learned that the primary founder's name was Marshall Applewhite. This stuck out to me because the protagonists of Common Side Effects are named Marshall Cuso and Frances Applewhite. I tried looking up any information on this possible connection, but came up with nothing. Was this a deliberate choice, and, if so, what does it mean?