Season Review: Big Mouth Season Five

 

Overview:

Big Mouth and its cast of awkward characters are back for more hormonal torture as they get pushed further down the precarious tight rope walk that is puberty. With Big Mouth’s cast all now a little older–yet not necessarily wiser–they’re ready to tackle new anxieties like masturbation abstinence, edging, the dangers of sexualizing friends, uncircumcised versus circumcised talk, figuring out your sexuality, and adult mentor figures, yet typically all filtered through clever and crazy visual metaphors that are simultaneously kid-friendly and filthy. Hormones are a constant roller coaster and Nick, Andrew, and Jessi continue to try their best to not get overwhelmed and figure out how to learn from the many creepy creatures who pull the strings when it comes to their sexuality.

 

Our Take:

An odd hurdle that animated series need to consider is whether they want their characters to age and grow older. The power of animation allows characters to remain in infinite forms of stasis where an occasional birthday gets celebrated, yet someone like Bart Simpson or Tina Belcher can forever remain children while an illustration of them rapidly ages Dorian Gray-style in an animation studio. Big Mouth has wisely made the decision to be a series where its characters do age, which makes sense since so much of its storytelling is steeped through the lessons learned while aging through puberty and adolescence. Big Mouth has made the most out of its gradually maturing characters and its timeline has moved at an acceptable pace. However, now that the characters have grown older and more sexual, Big Mouth is hornier than ever before, which certainly has ramifications for a show that focuses on children.

Season five of Big Mouth begins in a place where nearly every character actually has a sexual prospect and someone who they’ve bonded with over the course of the first four seasons. This helpful history sets this season up in an especially hormonal way that’s more intense than the past and it feels like something is finally going to give. Big Mouth still delivers plenty of laughs, but it curiously becomes clunkier as these characters mature and become more knowledgeable on their bodies and sex. There are some very clear growing pains that are present as Big Mouth matures.

Big Mouth’s previous season benefitted from kicking off with a mini-arc set at summer camp, which helped the characters and narrative have a real focus that was then able to inform the rest of the season. Big Mouth season five appropriately begins with a dissection of the autumn custom, “No Nut November.” This doesn’t play out across a multi-episode arc, but it does introduce most of the relationships and obstacles that are crucial to these characters throughout the rest of the season. 

“No Nut November” seems like it might be low-hanging fruit for the series to explore, but Big Mouth manages to use the subject to engage in some rewarding discussions. It looks at how this November tradition can demonize masturbation and a broader perspective is adopted regarding the normalization of vices, especially when they’re done in moderation. This perspective becomes emblematic of the season as a whole as these episodes speak towards how every kink or curiosity has two sides and can be productive as long as they’re approached maturely, consensually, and are not abused.

These new episodes do a good job at balancing the male and female side of these storylines, which can often be quite different. Big Mouth makes sure that a male perspective doesn’t dominate the season and that proper representation is present. It’s also a challenging change of pace as this season features versions of these characters who are a lot more bitter and vindictive than in the past. Characters fuel rumors and attack each other out of insecurity, fear, and jealousy, while the series often mixes it with a grunge aesthetic, which tonally works. It’s actually compelling to watch Nick exhibit restraint and responsibility in attempts to rein in his Hormone Monster, all while Andrew does the opposite and embraces his baser instincts. Against all odds, Jay gains the most depth out of anyone and becomes the show’s most layered character.

Among all of this emotional angst and sexual frustration are some fun stylistic experiments, like a Goodfellas masturbation parody that’s able to catch the audience up on the series’ past events. This transforms into a fantastic riff on Seinfeld’s most famous episode in a way that feels natural and sneaks up on the audience rather than it being telegraphed from the moment that the plot gets announced. Additionally, Big Mouth is a series that’s driven by the messy years of adolescence, yet some of this season’s most interesting storylines aren’t specific to goin through puberty, like being attracted to someone that doesn’t make sense over the seemingly “perfect” partner and how hormones and matters of the heart can operate independently of logic and aren’t always emotions that can be controlled.

This season effectively analyzes the holiday anxiety that accompanies Thanksgiving, which it presents as an emotionally loaded time where pent up feelings can explode and friendships, both romantic and platonic, can get put under considerable pressure. This extends into an exceptional Christmas anthology episode, complete with puppet framing segments that are incredibly cute. The filter of the holidays, Bible stories, and Santa’s dick deliver fast-paced bursts of comedy through a number of atypical seasonal stories. 

The stylish episode benefits from how the separate segments utilize contrasting animation styles (including claymation), with the highlight being a long overdue Luda pit bull backstory that fits within the structure of the episode. There’s a level of ultra-stylized violence here that seems to be intentionally reminiscent of the anime sequence from Kill Bill, which is a fantastic reference point, especially when it’s a dog who’s out for revenge. The homage doesn’t necessarily mesh with the rest of the storyline’s themes, but it’s still a delight. Overall it’s a successful episode, but it might have been even more memorable if the installment was entirely focused on the puppet characters. There’s still enough creativity and life on display that this ambitious seasonal anthology deserves to become a regular Big Mouth tradition.

The other highlight of the season involves the use of Adam Scott as an enthusiastic  Mr. Holland’s Opus-esque substitute English teacher, Mr. Keating. This prompts Shakespeare parables to inform the episode’s storytelling with many plots that are fueled through jealousy, unrequited love, and romantic misunderstandings, much like in Shakespeare stories. It’s perhaps the strongest episode of the season (besides the holiday episode) and it has the most to say.

A major component of each season of Big Mouth is the growing stable of imaginary creatures that dictate the characters’ complicated emotions. Season five looks at Hate Worms, Lovebugs, and Green-Eyed Monsters, which all serve their purpose. These elements often haven’t felt overwhelming or detrimental to Big Mouth’s storytelling, but an imbalance begins this season. A serious hurdle to this season is that so much of it feels like a back-door pilot for the series’ upcoming Human Resources spin-off. Several episodes focus on this world and provide a taste of what’s ahead in that series. 

World-building is never a bad thing, but it’s unclear if this season had to dedicate an episode to a spin-off when Human Resources has already been greenlit and it seems like any Big Mouth fans checking it out is inevitable. Alternatively, no one is going to stumble upon this tease for Human Resources in Big Mouth that’s not already a fan of the series. It’s honestly the clunkiest episode of the season, with the Lovebug segments feeling tacked on. Strangely, this extended Lovebug focus may in fact deter more people from checking out Human Resources based on what the episode puts forward. It’s not the promotional tool that it seems to think that it is.

Lovebugs stick around for the whole season and frequently feel like awkward additions. However, what does work with them is how often a Lovebug and Hormone Monster will simultaneously backseat coach characters. This often results in contrasting ideals since horniness is at odds with love, which does add some more depth to the thought process that characters have to undergo when they’re torn over new obstacles.

This season of Big Mouth frequently feels like it’s at odds with itself as it works through this period of transition. This is perhaps most egregious during an extremely bold swing that’s taken at the end of the season, which might in fact be the moment that the series actually goes off the rails. For a show that’s always been a little too far up its own ass (much to Morty’s pleasure), it fully emerges from its own mouth by the end of this finale. It’s a moment that may turn people off of the show completely if they were on the fence this season, but its gonzo boldness may work for those that are endlessly in love with the series’ increasingly broad and meta swings. For a show that’s occasionally felt like an adult and sexed up version of Bobby’s World, the allusion comes full circle. It’s a moment that feels like it should end the series, not just function as a deus ex machina interlude.

There’s a lot of fun to be had with season five of Big Mouth, but with now more than fifty episodes under its belt the comedy has hit diminishing returns. There are certainly moments in this season that feel lazier than the high standard that was set during the show’s earlier years. This might have something to do with some of the production team doing double duty on the upcoming Human Resources spin-off and talent being spread thin. It’s understandable to want to build a proper foundation for Big Mouth’s growing expanded universe, but it shouldn’t have to come at the expense of the original series.

Big Mouth has already been renewed for a sixth season, so there’s at least one more year of hormonal humor on the way, but it’d be wise for the series to start planning its exit and to not overstay its welcome. That’s not to say that there isn’t enough material here to sustain a season seven. Big Mouth is definitely still funny and entertaining, but it’s a series that now feels less essential. It’s beginning to show its age and become more awkward, just like the hormonal characters within the series, 

 

This review is based on all ten episodes of ‘Big Mouth’s’ fifth season