The Matter Transfer Array

"**The Matter Transfer Array**" is the Season 1 premire episode of *Solar Opposites* and overall series premiere.

## Plot

Uh oh! Korvo and Terry make a Funbucket real while the replicants deal with a school bully.

## Full Story

The episode begins on Earth with an alien named Korvo working on constructing an "Earth drill" to mine nickel alloy to help repair a crashed ship in a suburban house yard. A neighbor, Debbie, watches Korvo with lust, resulting in the latter becoming upset. As Debbie leaves, Terry arrives with "replicants" who appear to be children, Jesse and Yumyulack, as well as a pet, the Pupa. Korvo expresses his feeling that he is the only Shlorpian who wants to leave Earth after being stranded for one year. Korvo finishes construction and drills to the Earth's core, only to have lava break into the drill's inner layer and burn his feet off, forcing him to teleport back to the surface, leaving the drill to be destroyed. On the surface, Korvo's now-burned legs and leg stumps are licked by passing dogs as an unperturbed Terry talks about a dog shooting.

Korvo's feet regenerate at home with Terry. Bored, Korvo glances at the television and notices a television show that puts him into deep thought. Meanwhile, at their school Jesse and Yumyulack are bullied by Lydia and are sent to Principal Cooke's office by Ms. Frankie. Korvo and Terry watch the television at home, with Korvo becoming interested in an alien character named Funbucket. Korvo mistakes the character in the show for a second sentient species that is not human on the planet, and relates deeply to him. Korvo and Terry then decide to go meet Funbucket at their local mall.

At school, Jesse and Yumyulack are labeled as troublemakers and are told that if they cause any more issues then they will be expelled. Once the replicants leave, Yumyulack reveals that he has shrunken Lydia, who had previously assaulted them. Korvo and Terry push away the line to see Funbucket at the mall, only to realize that Funbucket is not a real sentient alien and is merely a character in a children's series. Disappointed and distressed, they create a genuine Funbucket using alien technology.

Funbucket bonds with Korvo and Terry, but soon begins to have second thoughts about whether they are really good friends. At the house, Jesse and Yumyulack study now-tiny bully by placing her into a maze. Funbucket and Korvo and Terry go to a club, where Funbucket makes new friends, Travis and Avery, who he believes appreciate him. Korvo and Terry are kicked out and stress, creating Gooblers. They spy on Funbucket but are discovered and leave. They create a new, "revised" Funbucket, who meets with the original Funbucket at the club. The two merge to become one large, deformed creature that mutilates and kills several people inside before escaping outside.

The bully has soda poured over her exposed brain by the replicants until she forgets that the replicants shrunk and took her. Korvo and Terry shrink the Funbucket creature, but Travis and Avery take him away for themselves before the two can kill it. At school, the school janitor deduces what Jesse and Yumyulack did to the bully, causing Yumyulack to shrink him down like the bully previously was. At the home, the Pupa is explained to be evolving to one day destroy Earth and rebuild it to resemble Shlorp, and Jesse and Yumyulack say good night to a now-very small janitor stored in an intricate box complex hidden behind the bedroom wall.

## Trivia

* This episode was originally entitled "**Pilot**" before the name was changed.

## External Links

* "The Matter Transfer Array" at the US Copyright Database
* "The Matter Transfer Array" on IMDb
* "The Matter Transfer Array" script via subslikescript