Started February 2, 2025 · Returning Series · Based on 1 season, 10 episodes through March 30, 2025 · TV-MA · 23 min
Marshall Cuso is a skilled mushroom expert who finds a rare fungus that can heal almost any illness or injury. His former high school lab partner, Frances Applewhite, works for a drug company and becomes tied to his dangerous secret. The pair face drug companies, government agents, criminals, and strange effects from the mushroom. The show mixes dry comedy, science fiction, violence, and conspiracy thriller tension.
The clearest woke element is the repeated attack on Big Pharma and government control of medicine. The story treats profit, patents, and private control of health care as major threats to ordinary people. It also shows drug companies harming natural lands and poorer communities. These ideas are central across the season, but the show does not focus much on race, gender, sexuality, or identity politics.
Community feedback
Was our 32% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Common Side Effects.
Woke representation / casting
Not present in this title.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Big Pharma and government control are discussed across the season. The story presents private health companies and federal agencies as forces that can hide a cure from the public. The dialogue supports open access to medicine, but it does not focus on race, gender, sexuality, or current party politics.
32%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present in this title.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The show repeatedly attacks drug companies for putting profit before patient care. The story also targets federal agencies that protect the existing system instead of helping ordinary people. The show links corporate power to damage in natural areas and poorer communities. This criticism is a major part of the season, though it is aimed at institutions rather than identity groups.
43%
Woke character or canon changes
Not present in this title.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present in this title.
0%
Creator track record context
Joseph Bennett has no clear history of political or identity-driven activism. Steve Hely has no high-confidence record of woke activism. Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are mainly known for broad social satire. Their low cached scores give only mild supporting context for this title.
12%
Production
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