Overview:
Annie’s plans to celebrate Jellybean the guinea pig’s birthday get gruesomely interrupted by an unexpected party guest: a teratoma. Annie learns that this upsetting aberration is actually a Euthanasia family tradition that will either help her get more prepared for adulthood or die trying. Annie’s talking tumor disrupts the natural order of the Euthanasia household and when all of this is over she may not be the only one who’s left changed.
Our Take:
Teenage Euthanasia has an uncanny ability to put sweet spins on the most horrid of ideas. A body horror coming of age story about a talking tumor is somehow perfectly in this animated series’ wheelhouse and becomes the ideal way to bring Teenage Euthanasia back to its abnormal roots. “It Happening!!! (Jellybean’s Birthday)” becomes the Malignant and Gremlins crossover that you never knew you needed as Teenage Euthanasia once again provokes and pleases in a way that no other Adult Swim series can.
A teratoma is a tumorous tissue that collects hair, teeth, and other bodily features, but for the Euthanasia family it’s a macabre rite of passage. Annie goes through a twisted situation that would make James Wan blush while she tries to make sense of a Gremlins style “list of don’ts.” Annie will make it through this traumatic coming of age experience if she just follows some simple rules that will ensure the teratoma’s withered destruction. Otherwise, it’ll steal her identity and become the dominant persona while Annie gets stuck in this flesh prison.
“It Happening!!!” follows a fairly simple monkey’s paw-esque story structure, but there are still some interesting twists and turns to these developments that properly reflect the show’s larger themes. It initially seems suspect that Annie’s “deepest dream” would be to become physically attractive, considering that she’s always been a champion for inner beauty and individuality. However, Annie’s magical makeover is actually the result of her wish to finally receive approval and validation from Trophy. It’s perfect characterization on Annie’s part that’s all the more heartbreaking since these changes only make her a target to her mother. It’s as if Teenage Euthanasia wants to emphasize that Trophy will always be ambivalent towards her daughter, regardless of whatever supernatural forces may be in play. “It Happening!!!” does eventually build to a reasonably sweet and cathartic conclusion for Trophy and Annie, but it doesn’t undo the bleak theme that hangs over the rest of the episode.
Trophy’s growing fear that Annie is hotter than her becomes a fun running gag that’s returned to throughout “It Happening!!!” This leads into one of the episode’s best moments where it teases the cliche development that Trophy is so jealous over Annie’s changes that she’s willing to kill her to maintain the status quo. It’s easy to imagine an episode of Teenage Euthanasia going down this route, especially in its first season, but Baba immediately defuses the heightened idea before Trophy is even able to get going. It perfectly mocks unnecessary plot twists in what’s already a fantastical episode. Plus, it becomes another opportunity to reiterate that Annie is her own worst enemy here and has no one else to blame.
“It Happening!!! (Jellybean’s Birthday)” continues Teenage Euthanasia’s exceptional sophomore season. There’s a confidence that’s present here in both storytelling and silliness that sells its absurd ideas. Oddly enough, it’s Trophy that learns more than Annie by the end of this episode, but the message still connects. Two installments remain this season, but it’s fair to say that this will be the best episode about magical talking teratomas