Review: Teenage Euthanasia “A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down”

Overview:

Fort Gator’s most thriving industry, the funeral home business, finds itself at death’s door when a new super corporation sets up shop and threatens to make life–and death–easier with its new Death Fulfillment Centers. Ref Mazos is content to see his business continue to boom, but Tender Endings find themselves without purpose in this new expedited future. Big changes all around run the risk of destroying this family-run business, but also the family itself, once pressure gets applied.

And hey, Mr. Baba makes a brief return! Remember that haunting ventriloquist dummy?

Our Take:

Amazon and Jeff Bezos parodies are nothing special, but what helps Teenage Euthanasia’s “A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” standout from its broad peers is that it takes a personal subject and subverts it through the mortuary business and how death is one of the biggest trades in America. Ref Mazos and his tacky commercials for DFC death services for privileged one-percenters might induce cringes, but there’s a smart backbone to this story that explores some ambitious ideas. It’s a story that’s concerned about fighting “The Man” and sprawling corporate monopolies, but it gradually becomes an allegory about battling death itself, which becomes equally futile for the Euthanasia family’s mom-and-pop death boutique. 

“A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” is one of Teenage Euthanasia’s biggest episodes that gives most of the main cast something massive to tackle with the franchise’s future hinging upon their success. This Teenage Euthanasia entry doesn’t struggle to pull in the audience with its grandiose plotting. That being said, there are still many incidental moments that are just as effective. “A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” is a busy installment that still finds ways to include the nonchalant bust of a child murderer or the reveal that Penetration Point is now a chill place for teens because of an effective petition, no less. “A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” takes some really big swings with its non sequitur gags, all of which give this episode a lot of personality and attitude. This is Alison Leiby’s first episode of the series, but she co-writes the episode with Teenage Euthanasia co-creator, Aliss Nutting. It’s easy to see that Leiby and Nutting’s comedic sensibilities match. It’s less clear if Leiby is the secret ingredient in this Teenage Euthanasia episode that pushes it to such big places, but it’s a very confident entry for someone who’s new to the series.

“A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” is a penultimate episode that’s simultaneously fearless and restrained. The grander plot points all work in Teenage Euthanasia’s favor and could have easily extended over into the finale as a two-part conclusion. Teenage Euthanasia deserves some credit for distilling this premise to its strongest parts rather than drawing it out across two episodes, but at the same time it feels like “A Waist-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” would be even better if it did get slightly more indulgent. It frequently feels like nothing is off the table in Teenage Euthanasia, but episodes like this highlight how it’s still a series that’s ultimately beholden to conventional story structure. Teenage Euthanasia has earned enough goodwill to mess around in experimental territory. “A Wait-Down Ghost Town Shut Down” is a fantastic episode that’s one of the series’ strongest and most natural, but it’s still a slight disappointment to see Teenage Euthanasia “play it safe” in what might be its final episodes.