Season Review: Ten Year Old Tom Season One

 

Overview:

It’s a big, busy world out there that moves on its own terms and slows down for no one, which is a lesson that ten year old Tom is slowly learning the hard way. It just doesn’t seem to ever stick in. HBO Max’s Ten Year Old Tom is about the random, unpredictable nature of life and how it can often be difficult to remain optimistic in the face of such doubt. Tom has good intentions and he’s eager to get the most out of life through his limited perspective, but every turn that Tom takes is complimented with an avalanche of chaos. Tom only wants to live, grow, and learn, but the unconventional lessons that life instills in him has him worried about his future and if he’ll ever get out of this world alive.

 

Our Take:

Chaos, by definition, is destabilizing. However, in the face of uncertainty it can sometimes be oddly reassuring. This is especially true when it’s expressed through a style of absurdist comedy that’s deceptive in nature and certain payoffs aren’t clear until after they’ve already revealed themselves. The unpredictable nature of the universe can be terrifying, but it can also make for the greatest fuel for comedy. Life is crazy enough that it doesn’t necessarily need punchlines to hammer in its point. However, in Steve Dildarian’s Ten Year Old Tom, the joke is always at innocent, oblivious Tom’s expense. It’s a hilarious, harrowing commentary on the chaotic nature of the world from someone who’s the least equipped to process it. Ten Year Old Tom is simple in its scope and goals, but this only allows the comedy to hit its apex and fully lampoon these slice of life scenarios gone wrong. It’s never been so entertaining to watch a child get overwhelmed. 

There’s a very simple and unassuming nature to Ten Year Old Tom as Tom awkwardly stumbles through dialogue and social situations. Every single episode begins in a familiar place of mundanity, only to effortlessly set up lingering tension and dread as the audience waits for the other shoe to fall. It’s inevitable that any good fortune that Tom experiences will blow up in his face and have massive fallout for everyone that’s in his radius, it’s only a question of when. So often Tom takes it upon himself to help someone else and do a kindness, only for these actions to get infected by darkness. 

Each episode of the series also benefits from a two-story structure, which is perfect here and allows the series’ comedy to be maximized. No plots are needlessly padded out for any longer than what’s necessary and each story distills its idea down to its strongest elements. Ten Year Old Tom really boils down to characters that arrive at an impasse of perspectives, which proves that fancy storylines aren’t necessary to deliver huge laughs. Ten Year Old Tom is deeply driven by dialogue and point of view, which it turns into such a superpower. Other elements like animation almost become secondary or feel like set dressing that’s in service of the comedy’s effortless sense of humor.

This is a series where innocuous events like a lemonade stand, school photo day, or a missing gerbil can snowball to epic proportions. The series’ school setting at Shady Oaks Elementary allows for many entertaining riffs on subject matter like substitute teachers, student council elections, or the school play. Despite all of these being common occurrences, it’s impossible to predict what level of chaos they’ll inflict upon Tom. Every institution or authority figure that Tom engages with becomes another opportunity for disillusionment and a hard-hitting life lesson. There’s rewarding material that looks at how some friend groups consist of “tiers” or the fresh rage that Tom’s mom continues to exhibit over her ex-husband, but it never overwhelms the narrative or turns her into a vengeful caricature. 

At the same time, Ten Year Old Tom never feels confined to these childhood stereotypes and there are lots of storylines that get away from Shady Oaks Elementary or childhood customs, like Tom’s brief tenure as a Roastmaster. One of the very best stories from this ten-episode first season involves a take on first responders that reaches such a heightened place that it feels like George Costanza or Nathan Fielder should be at the center of the disaster. 

Ten Year Old Tom has Tom and his friends as the driving forces of these stories, but the series’ treatment of its adults is equally entertaining. The comedy excels whenever it highlights how adults are often even more dysfunctional and foolish than children. These juvenile perspectives emphasize the naivety of children, but they also shine a light on the hypocritical nature of adults and the fine line that exists between these two extremes. This is often best demonstrated through Tom’s mother, who in many ways becomes more of the universe’s punching bag than Tom. She’s actively irresponsible, selfish, and willing to knock down kids in order to prop herself up, whereas Tom obliviously stumbles through the problems that life throws at him. Gillian Jacobs’ Dakota is also a constant delight here and her matter of factly enthusiasm is often an excellent counterpoint to Tom’s apathy.

The series also quickly builds a strong roster of derelict supporting characters, many of which function like open range id who say exactly what everyone is thinking and turn any subtext into text, albeit in hilarious fashion. There are many moments where Todd Glass’ principal feels deeply reminiscent of Coach McGuirk from Home Movies, which is never a bad thing. Alternatively, the children break out the perfect bewildered reactions as they attempt to address the chaos that Tom unintentionally ignites or invites. All of this culminates into a free-floating feeling where the universe has express permission to be as rude and unfiltered to Tom as possible and there’s not a soul around who doesn’t want to indulge in this capacity. What’s crucial here is that none of this ever comes across as malicious and it almost operates as if these harsh life lessons are there for Tom’s benefit.

It’s the slice of life nature and persistent left turns that keep the series unpredictable, but there is also hilarious blunt dialogue and examples of absurdity which hit a totally different extreme of humor. There are also some cute callbacks and signs of a larger universe that doesn’t completely reset at the end of each episode, even if Ten Year Old Tom is still a predominantly episodic series. This plays to the series’ strengths and heavy serialization wouldn’t necessarily be a better angle for a series that trades in this style of succinct, fast-moving comedy. This first season checks off most of the typical school and childhood story archetypes, which means that a second season will have to turn to more unusual stories. This is a good thing for Ten Year Old Tom and it triumphs whenever it’s pushed off the beaten path. 

It’s extremely rare that a series comes so fully formed out of the box as Ten Year Old Tom, but this comedy knows exactly what it is and goes about it in the best way possible. It doesn’t feel like there’s a minute of fat on any episode and each 15-minute story is the best distillation of the wild predicaments that Tom winds up in. It shouldn’t be this entertaining to watch an average kid learn about the cynical nature of the world, but Ten Year Old Tom is one of the most purely enjoyable comedies on HBO Max, animated or otherwise. Any segment from an episode thoroughly highlights what this series is all about and there’s no wrong place to jump in. Ten Year Old Tom’s theme song poetically croons, “Remember there’s a lot of good omens supplying the proof that our life is the best joke ever told. Remember it’s a joke, and leave it alone.” In Ten Year Old Tom, it’s impossible for Tom to just leave it alone and God bless him for it.

 

 

‘Ten Year Old Tom’ premieres on HBO Max on September 30th