Big Mouth is a brilliant, creative, and thought-provoking show that delves deeper into those awkward life moments better than almost any show before it. During its first 3 seasons, the show garnered critical accolades for its irreverent approach to sensitive subjects. But though Big Mouth started great, Season 4 may have gotten a little too weird for the good.
It’s hard to dip back into the first 30 episodes and pull one out that is remembered for delivering shock value over good storytelling — far from it. The show is built around the idea of confronting sensitive subjects about sex, puberty, and also our bodies, in an immediate yet relatable and humorous manner. From periods to penis size, it compels audiences into areas that render them laughing challenging, or wriggling with embarrassment. Either way, that seems to be the point; assisting normalize topics that have wider discussions. Having said this, some fans are discovering that the way the Big Mouth is facing some issues in Season 4 doesn’t adhere to the familiar formula.
CAMPY STORIES
The first three episodes of Big Mouth Season 4 sees most of the kids off at summer camp. The episodes are littered with great moments — particularly for anyone who has endured the uniquely adolescent experience of moving away to camp — with guest-voices such as Seth Rogen and John Oliver. But it doesn’t take long before the storylines start to transition from relatable to overtly ridiculous.
The second episode, “The Hugest Stage Ever,” was an unapologetic and very graphic dramatization of just what the title says — what it is like to have the hugest period ever, made worse while being away in camp! It was frank and pulled no punches, rightfully so. But its aggressive effort to normalize and inject humor into these very relatable life moments makes the episode seem to overplay its hand by revisiting its eccentric gags over and over. Leaving some jokes — like the absorption energy of a pad so powerful that it pulls down planes from the skies — feeling exhausted and ridiculous, which can detract from the incident’s enjoyment.
KEEP DREAMING
Halfway through the summer, the eccentric Episode 6,” Nick Starr,” shows us that the children all grown up in their adult lives. The central theme is a little muddled, but mostly the idea of not living with all the regrets of missed opportunities. By way of example, Nick suffers emotional emptiness for not telling Jessi he liked her, referencing the former incident. It was also a plotline that could have been told with a strange, futuristic, dreamy episode that just seemed out of place with children navigating middle school life.
HORRIBLE EVENTS
Season 4’s next to the last episode, “Horror House,” puts all the children trapped within an eccentric, over-the-top house of horrors after being drugged in a Halloween Party. The kids find themselves tumbling into trippy, crazy sequences that feel like a hard departure from the displays’ original motifs. While the episode is excellent at strengthening the need for children to come to grips with their individuality and insecurities, it did so in a way that appeared far from the schoolyard and classroom encounters that Big Mouth was constructed upon. The topics of this episode, much like the other odd cases, all presented an important case for why dismissing taboos could be so destructive. Nevertheless, it was the series that decided to spell out these issues, not the issues themselves, that looked a little off-brand.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Season 4 stands out from the first three seasons because virtually all the directors were fresh to the series. Nearly all the people brought into immediate episodes for the newest season were fresh to the series, together with Bryan Francis the only holdover from prior years. With nearly all of the supervisors who shepherded the previous 3 seasons to the atmosphere being gone, that change in manufacturing leadership could also be a factor for why some things feel different.
Big Mouth consistently had the sensation of being a bizarrely animated mixture of The Wonder Years matches HBO’s Girls. And much like its feelings towards Florida, Big Mouth has a proud heritage of whatever goes. An unbridled approach to subject matters most shows have avoided out of distress and humiliation. But does that mean it is not without its limitations? Big Mouth gets got the fearlessness to go headfirst into places others reveals never have. But when treading new ground it can be hard to see when you have gone off the planned route.
