Big Mouth is a show that has thrived in the grey areas of television. It’s inappropriate yet heartwarming. It’s for adults, yet (sometimes) suitable for children. It constantly swings for the fences, bound to miss the mark while wading through middle school dramatics.
Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, and the other creators have formed their own world of teenagers, monsters, and more hormones than some viewers can handle. Their characters continue to grow up, and Season 3 is dedicated to 7th grade, a tumultuous time for most of us. As Big Mouth and its leads grow older, both continue to mature, venture into new aspects of life, and make mistakes that are regrettable and require sincere apologies.
The season is mostly strong, the animation continues to be offbeat, and the voice acting somehow keeps improving. The key to the success of Big Mouth is its revolving door of comedians, writers, and dramatic actors willing to join the show. Like 7th grade, Season 3 had highs, lows, and everything in between.
The Highs
This show covers serious ground in the new season, hitting topics from incest to phone addiction, orgasms to adderall, sexual harassment to dress codes. The effort from the creators to adequately stay with the changing popular culture is admirable.
The Netflix show gives more time to Matthew (Andrew Rannelis), a gay student who finds a first love in the seemingly only other gay kid in town. They allow many of the female characters to stand up for the injustices that have been pressed upon them for 2+ seasons. It’s not a completely boys-only story, and the depth of its female leads, Jessi (Jessi Klein) and Missy (Jenny Slate), is considerable. Time is reserved for them to also grow and subsequently struggle.
This season also features the following actors in various roles: Martin Short as Gordie, Rob Riggle as Sgt. Adderall, Wanda Sykes as the Ghost of Harriet Tubman, Retta as Duke’s mother, Carol Kane as the Menopause Banshee, David Cross as Skip Glouberman, Thandie Newton as Mona, and Ali Wong (more on her later) as Ali.
The above is an absolute star-studded lineup of guest stars. Some of them have less than ten lines, yet their willingness to sign onto this project is telling. Series regulars like Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Fred Armisen, and Jason Mantzoukas are back to their fantastic selves as well.
A few episodes stood above the rest. The kickoff episode, “Girls Are Angry Too”, is an opportunity for the female characters in the show to fight middle-school injustice: a sexist dress code. It starts the season on a high note, giving these characters a win in a world that feels dominated by the male perspectives. The girls protest, band together, and fight for equality, and it’s (mostly) a joy to watch.
The episodes titled “Duke” and “Disclosure the Movie: The Musical” are showy pieces of episodic television. They exist in a bubble, highlighting the losing of one’s virginity, the importance of jazz music, and lots of Demi Moore and Michael Douglas references. These episodes can stand alone, harping on harassment and allowing for the growings-up of several characters that have been marginalized until this season. There are sexual awakenings, and for a show about middle schoolers, it’s great television.
The final episode of the season, “Super Mouth”, is the biggest winner though. It’s clever beyond compare, following the superhero fights and antics of all the teenagers. It reminded me of the fights of my childhood, and it’s sure to do the same for many. It’s an episode that is seen through the eyes of Caleb (Joe Wenger), a kid likely on the Autism spectrum. It’s an episode full of imagination, bursting with creativity, and all of the emotions one feels during a middle school fight.
The Lows
Big Mouth is tackling topics at a rapid pace throughout the season, misfiring to a great degree at times. The most glaring of these mistakes is during the episode titled “Rankings”, which features the introduction of Ali, a pansexual new girl to the school. Her introduction, which likens pansexuality to an odd and incorrect metaphor about burritos and tacos, drew considerate and worthy backlash. To add to it, she gives an incorrect definition of bisexuality during her opening speech.
Though Big Mouth creators have apologized, through Twitter as usual for some reason, many LGBTQ watchers felt misrepresented and deservedly so. The show prides itself on representation and the tackling of oft-ignored topics, and it has an important responsibility to be correct.
It is a show that is widely seen by middle and high schoolers, and is actually a learning tool for many of these teenagers. In the future, it cannot make these mistakes, for it will alienate the very people that it so desperately is attempting to champion.
The show also struck out with its continued use of Coach Steve (Nick Kroll) and his life that is just downright sad. Coach Steve, once a funny ploy to bounce students off of, cannot survive on his own. Even the Queer Eye team can’t save him when they vault in during one of the episodes. His storylines stall the episode, take you out of the life at school and away from the middle schoolers, which are the subjects of the show itself. It’s counterproductive and a waste of time.
The other lows of the season were smaller. The episode revolving around Andrew (Mulaney) and Nick (Kroll) traveling to Florida was weird and trying too hard to make incest a plausible event. Though incest is currently prevalent to some degree in popular culture, mostly due to Game of Thrones, it was far from necessary in this show.
The writers were trying to pack in too many topics for one season of television.
The Takeaways
Big Mouth is still a funny show. It’s a show that takes a peek into middle school life, and the trials of being a young person in today’s society. It’s an important show in today’s society, simply because teenagers walk around with iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks more today than ever before.
It’s an accessible show with big-name stars and hilarious actors. It talks about issues that seldom surface in most popular culture, and it sheds light on the thoughts and stresses of puberty. It’s always fresh and always inventive in the way that it uses its characters and their imaginations.
Season 3 is far from perfect. It’s a bit of disjointed mess, hilarious at certain times and problematic at others. It mirrors its characters: flawed yet still likeable. The show is slated to return for a Season 4 and like its characters, it has a lot of growing up to do.
What were your thoughts on Season 3 of Big Mouth? Let us know in the comments below!
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