You ever watch a show and just can’t decide whether you want to hug or slap the main character? If you’re on this blog, I know you get it. Frances Applewhite — the woman of the hour, the queen of caffeine and questionable choices — is definitely testing our loyalty on Common Side Effects lately. When Season 1 ended, she stood at the ultimate crossroads, grief boiling hot and secrets piling up like empty coffee cups in a conference room. Now, as July 2025 rolls around, the real question buzzing is: Will Frances Applewhite finally do the right thing, or is she poised to dropkick her morals out the window again?
Quick Recap (Because, Honestly, So Much Happened)
Let’s rewind real quick, because Frances’s arc in Season 1 was about as chill as a wasp in a lunchbox. On paper, she seemed like the perfect assistant — sharp, devoted, and juggling way too much at once. But under all that? Complete chaos. Her mom, Sonia, suffered from dementia. It broke Frances, but it also gave her a weird sense of purpose. Enter: the legendary Blue Angel mushroom. This isn’t your garden-variety fungus. Nope. It’s powerful. Life-changing. It’s also so rare, the mere existence of it turns the pharma world upside down.
Frances decided — rationally or not — that she’d risk everything and dose her mother with the Blue Angel. Miracles do happen, apparently, because Sonia’s health did a full 180. For a moment, Frances looked like a hero. But the universe can’t let us have nice things for long, can it? Sonia, newly revived, tragically died from a fall caused by her sudden vigor. That moment broke Frances in a whole new way. Guilt? She swam in it.
So what does Frances do next? Does she tell her boss, Rick Kruger, or ask Marshall for help? Nope. She makes a deal with the sleaziest CEO on prime-time. All those good intentions get bulldozed as Frances joins Rick in trying to synthesize and sell Blue Angel’s magic touch. Big pharma money? Sure. Soul intact? Sketchy at best.
Frances’s Sliding Morality: What the Heck Happened?
Rick Kruger, let’s just say, isn’t exactly the voice of reason. Teaming up with him marks Frances’s shift away from the show’s idealism. She knows the pain Blue Angel can heal. But she also watches dollar signs pile up in her mind’s eye. Driven by ambition and, probably, the hope of taming her own guilt, Frances does everything she once hated about the pharma world. Ethical lines get stomped all over. She’s not just playing the corporate game; she’s rewriting the rules.
So now she’s in deep. Real deep. She doesn’t just face the external drama — greedy bosses, suspicious scientists, nosy government types — but she faces herself. And, as the season finale reminds us, your greatest enemy can sometimes be the person in your own mirror.
Awkward Reunions and Even More Awkward Choices
When the season finale rolled around, no one expected Frances and Marshall Cuso’s reunion to go smoothly. (Honestly, “smooth” doesn’t happen on this show.) Remember, Marshall is the OG discoverer of Blue Angel, and he once trusted Frances with almost everything — his research, his dreams, his hoodie in sophomore year chem class. But by the finale, that trust gets shattered. Frances’s betrayal and her new, power-hungry partnership with Rick leaves Marshall reeling.
Their confrontation? It’s pure fireworks. No, not the fun kind. Marshall calls out Frances — hard — about what she’s done. He’s livid the discovery became a cash cow. But more than that, he’s hurt. You see his face and know he expected something better from Frances. And maybe, deep down, so did she.
Choices, Choices: Which Frances Are We Getting in Season 2?
So where does that leave our girl as we look ahead? Frances’s mess is about to get even messier. The buzz online (and, wow, is there buzz!) centers on two big questions: Will guilt push Frances to clean up her own disaster? Or is she done caring and ready to bulldoze anyone standing in her way? Let’s break it down because, honestly, both options are very Frances.
Her Path to Redemption
Maybe grief eats away at her just enough that she tries to make things right.
Here’s what she could pull off if she pivots away from the dark side:
- Team Up with Marshall: Imagine Frances goes full whistleblower. She could hand Marshall the keys to Reutical’s darkest secrets. Partnering with Marshall, her scientific equal and moral opposite, could spark real change.
- Expose the Corruption: With everything she knows, Frances could launch the kind of pharma scandal Hollywood eats for breakfast. She’d need to leak lab records, crack encrypted emails, and possibly dodge a hitman or two. Exposing Reutical’s greed would force her to torpedo her own career — but at this point, does Frances even care about her job?
- Help Others, Not Herself: Frances could channel her pain and guilt into something bigger. Grief is rough, but she understands now that she isn’t the only person hurt by science gone wrong. By genuinely helping people, not corporations, she might finally get some peace.
But Wait — What If Revenge Tastes Sweeter Than Redemption?
Then again, this is Frances we’re talking about. She might go full villain. Grief is ugly and anger’s even uglier, and frankly, Frances has always done things her own, sometimes destructive, way. Here’s where she could go if she just lets it all burn:
- Sabotage From Inside: You know Frances can get creative. No doubt she could plant evidence, leak false research, and topple the very boss who betrayed her.
- Monopolize the Mushroom: What if she double-crosses everyone, seizes control of Blue Angel, and carves out her own fiefdom in big pharma?
- Personal Payback: It’s not just business — Frances has a personal hit list. She blames Rick, the oblivious board, and even herself for Sonia’s fate. Nothing says “healing process” like a carefully executed vendetta.
What the Fans (and The Cast) Are Saying
Just log on to any fan board — Reddit’s buzzing, X (formerly Twitter) is on fire, and the cast has even dropped hints in interviews. Series creator Georgie Aldaco told Screen Rant that Frances’s struggle “isn’t about good or evil — it’s about figuring out where the line even is.”
Fans have some WILD theories, by the way:
- One camp bets Frances will flip and take Reutical down.
- Another thinks she’s too far gone and will pull a Walter White, ruling the mushroom with an iron fist.
Plenty of sleuths cite moments from late-season one — quiet scenes with Frances spiraling alone, or flashbacks of her and her mother as “Easter eggs” showing the writers’ setup for real, ugly redemption… or epic downfall.
But Why Is All This So Compelling, Anyway?
Here’s what makes “Common Side Effects” different: Frances is so real. Sometimes you root for her. Sometimes you want to walk her directly into a therapist’s office. Her grief isn’t pretty or soft. It’s spiky. It turns her choices upside down, reshaping her into someone who could be hero or villain, all depending on the day — and on whether she finished her coffee.
The writers lace every episode with ambiguity. Season 2, coming fresh this summer, promises to take that even further. The show’s creators (per their official interviews) are teasing more high-stakes boardroom warfare, crumbling alliances, and maybe — just maybe — a shred of self-forgiveness for Frances. Or not. Let’s be real, this is Adult Swim.
The Next Dose: What’s Coming for Frances?
So, as July 2025 arrives (and Frances stockpiles more secrets than Post-Its), fans wait at the edge of their seats. Will the pain finally push her back to the light, with Marshall at her side, righting wrongs? Or will she run headlong into revenge, turning enemy into frenemy, and making deals with the devil for her own survival?
Whatever path Frances picks, one thing’s certain. In the world of “Common Side Effects,” you never really know who will save the day — or torch it. So grab your popcorn, check your ethics at the door, and clear your calendar. Frances’s crossroads are about to become the messiest intersection on TV.
