On Netflix, the second season of the Big Mouth Spinoff, Human Resources, just dropped.
As a disclaimer, I like Big Mouth. I think it normalizes, with wit and humor, the puberty that many kids are fleeing today. There’s a lot of heart and female solidarity in the show (mother-daughter is especially poignant), with good LGB representation. It’s absolutely vulgar humor and not without flaws, and I could write an entire essay criticizing them, but overall i feel like Big Mouth earns my laughter and appreciation.
I think that the spin-off, Human Resources, might actually be better. This series, currently in its second season, focuses on the various creatures that coordinate the issues human beings face. They work in teams to tackle common and complex problems. Hormone monsters, shame wizards, love bugs, anxiety mosquitos, depression kitties, logic rocks and all sorts of other personifications of abstract concepts come together, and it’s genuinely heartbreaking in places? Season 1 killed me with one woman suffering from schizophrenia and another suffering from dementia and reliving her lost loves, but season 2 ramps it up with a grieving father and daughter coming to terms with the loss of the most important woman in their life, as well as the clash between a nonverbal neurodivergent child and a spurned and overzealous disability advocate. It’s honestly beautifully done and I found myself genuinely in tears a few times during this season.
One thing that both Big Mouth and Human Resources do well, as a rule, is demonstrate “the other side” with empathy. A daughter still raw from her mother’s death to cancer clashing with her father’s desire to start dating again is without fault or villain, and compassionately written from both perspectives.
While the best parts involve the human stories these creatures are involved in, the creatures are still often genuinely good characters. That being said, the reliance on comic relief can cause some tonal dissonance. I felt like while every fan of Big Mouth knows that Maury is a huge pervert, it’s still shocking to see him tie down Connie to care for her while she’s sick. I felt like the B-plot hormone monsters still weren’t that funny since not being that funny in the first season. And the “jizz mitzvah” gag wasn’t good from the start.
I also didn’t love Connie and Maury’s non-binary son. While I appreciate them exploring this topical matter with non- humans instead of actual human kids (they’ve been pretty hands-off about trans stuff all things considered), the character seems deliberately obnoxious, and a major plot point is his choice to become a Shame Wizard instead of a Hormone Monster like his parents. I’m still trying to figure out if this is pandering or brilliant satire. I felt like obliquely this might have been commentary on NB kids actually being attention-seeking, or just gay or gender-nonconforming, and devoting their lives to SHAME in order to deal with it instead of just embracing who they actually are, and want to express, and want to have sex with.
I know that Big Mouth and all associated IPs aren’t universally loved here (and I totally get it, it’s not for everyone), but does anyone want to talk about this latest season of Human Resources? Sarah and her dad are tearing me UP.