Welcome back to Story Retold, where we break down every bizarre, brilliant step of Adult Swim’s latest animated rabbit hole, Common Side Effects. Season 1, Episode 2—titled “Lakeshore Limited”—picks up right where the premiere left off. This time, things move fast, hit harder, and get even weirder.
So let’s unpack the madness.
Marshall on the Move
Episode two wastes zero time. We open with Marshall Cuso—our shaggy, mushroom-loving mycologist—bolting out of New York. He’s not just running from corporate goons anymore. The DEA is now officially on his tail. Why? Because he discovered a miracle mushroom that big pharma wants buried deep in the dirt.
Marshall doesn’t have much of a plan. But he does have a train ticket and a burning need to disappear. The episode’s title, “Lakeshore Limited,” nods to the Amtrak route he takes out of the city. It’s not a glamorous escape, but it’s a desperate one. And desperation makes people sloppy.
He’s carrying something precious. The Blue Angel mushroom isn’t just a medical marvel—it might be the most important organism on Earth. And he’s not the only one who knows that anymore.
Frances Spills the Spores
Back at Reutical Pharmaceuticals, Frances Applewhite is stuck. She’s torn. On one hand, she’s a loyal executive assistant to the hilariously dimwitted CEO Rick Kruger. On the other, she knows her old high school lab partner just uncovered something massive.
She does what a lot of people might do: she tells her boss.
Frances confesses to Rick that Marshall found a fungus with life-changing properties. And Rick, being Rick, immediately goes into dollar-sign mode. Cure-alls? Sounds like quarterly bonus gold.
So what does he do? He tells Frances to find the source. Get to Marshall’s farm. Get the mushroom. And above all, don’t screw it up.
Frances, conflicted but obedient, heads out to rural Pennsylvania.
Back to the Farm
The show shifts gears from corporate satire to survival thriller. Frances arrives at Marshall’s off-the-grid farm. The place is strange, overgrown, and humming with fungal life. There’s a tense energy in the air—and it only gets thicker when Marshall shows up.
He’s not happy to see her.
The two have an awkward reunion. Frances tries to explain. She’s not here to sabotage him, she says—though her motives remain murky. Marshall doesn’t quite buy it, and honestly, who could blame him?
But just as they start to talk, everything goes sideways.
The DEA Crashes the Party
Turns out, Frances wasn’t as subtle as she thought. The DEA tracks her straight to the farm. In no time, agents storm the property. Guns drawn. No warrants. No talking.
A full-blown raid erupts.
The mushroom lab—Marshall’s pride and joy—gets trashed. Agents trample precious spores. Samples burn. Years of research go up in smoke in seconds. It’s brutal. And it’s personal.
Marshall tries to save what he can. Frances panics. The chaos hits hard because it’s not exaggerated—it’s believable. One minute, you’re preserving a miracle. The next, you’re watching men in body armor torch it.
Characters Under the Microscope
Let’s pause and take stock of who’s evolving:
- Marshall Cuso: He’s no longer just the oddball scientist. In this episode, he becomes a full-blown fugitive. His paranoia is justified, and his desperation makes him more sympathetic—and more dangerous.
- Frances Applewhite: Her conscience finally wakes up. She starts the episode as a pawn, but ends it deeply shaken. Watching the destruction she indirectly caused clearly rattles her. The show doesn’t let her off the hook, and that’s a smart move.
- Rick Kruger: Still a buffoon. Still hungry for a cash grab. Mike Judge leans into the satire here, and it works. Rick is clueless, self-absorbed, and utterly useless in a crisis.
Big Pharma, Big Government, Big Trouble
Beyond the plot, Common Side Effects digs deeper into its themes. Episode two sharpens its focus on the messy, murky overlap between medicine, money, and power.
The mushroom’s destruction isn’t just tragic—it’s metaphorical. This miracle cure threatens the current system, so naturally, the system crushes it. Fast. Without questions.
The DEA’s swift response speaks volumes. There’s no legal debate. No medical review. Just eradication. The episode suggests something chilling: if a real cure appeared tomorrow, it might not be celebrated. It might be buried.
The Show’s Style: Still Sharp
Visually, the episode maintains the same off-kilter energy as the pilot. The animation leans into discomfort—tight closeups, flickering lights, overgrown shadows. The farm feels alive in the creepiest way possible. Every spore, every stem, every mushroom glows like it knows something you don’t.
And the tone? Still bouncing between dry wit and existential panic. It’s funny, but not light. The jokes never undercut the stakes—they ride alongside them.
Spores in the Wind
By the end of the episode, everything’s fractured.
Marshall is on the run again, with barely anything left.
Frances is forced to face what she’s done—and who she’s working for.
And the Blue Angel? Gone. Or so it seems.
But this is Common Side Effects, and nothing stays buried for long.
Something’s Growing
Episode two raises the bar. It deepens the mystery, sharpens the tension, and refuses to give easy answers. What’s more impressive? It stays funny while doing it.
The characters are more layered. The plot’s tighter. The stakes, much higher. And beneath it all, a quiet dread starts to take root.
What if the truth really is out there—and no one wants it?
Only one way to find out. Let’s keep digging.
