The premier animated comedy on Netflix, Big Mouth dropped its third season earlier this month to great fanfare and applause. While as a whole this season didn’t hit the high points of 1 or 2, it was nonetheless a great effort that lives up to the show’s disgusting and hilarious reputation.
There was things that we loved about this season’s misadventures and there was some that we had a bit of an issue with. So let’s dig into Big Mouth: 5 Things About Season 3 That Were Great ( & 5 That Sucked).
Sucked: Sidelining Of Gina
In a show filled with messed up teens, Big Mouth’s Gina stands out as one of the most mature characters on the show. Confident in herself and not afraid to literally fight for respect, she was a highlight of season 2. It’s unfortunate though then that in season 3, Gina is barely even mentioned or shown on-screen.
Perhaps the writers have more in store for her in season 4, but Gina was given nothing to do this time around. Worse yet, it appears that the beef between her and Nick was smoothed over off screen as they share a bit of a moment in episode 8 where she appears relatively cool with Nick again. Let’s hope the writers don’t forget about Gina for season 4.
Great: The Florida Episode
While it may not have been the most poignant episode in terms of emotion or social commentary, the “Florida” episode of season 3 is without a doubt the funniest episode of the season thanks to focus on the giant mess that is the Glouberman family.
From Barbara facing off against the Menopause Witch to Marty’s grappling with his brother and father and finally to Andrew’s burgeoning attraction to his, ahem, cousin, this episode was filled to the brim with knee slappers and belly laughs. You know an episode is amazing when even the title sequence makes us giggle like school girls with Marty berating the various names of the creators.
Sucked: Andrew’s Halted Descent
At the end of season 2, it appeared that Andrew Glouberman was headed down a dark path into misogynistic and toxic masculinity madness. Unable to cope with seemingly losing Missy forever, Andrew knocks over the handicapped Lars and breaks Lola’s new (not fake!) TV. He also umm… tried to fight a mailbox. Point is, it looked like Andrew was going to go to a dark place in season 3.
And he does, for about an episode. After venting online about how much women suck, Andrew is invited to a Neo-Nazi meeting and quickly realizes how he’s in too deep and snaps out of it. While this was a shockingly smart move by Andrew, the fact is this storyline had so much more meat on the bone that was thrown away.
Great: The Education
While Big Mouth is first and foremost a comedy, a big part of the show is how it deals with and educates the public on issues of broader society and those specific to teenagers. Like the two seasons before this, Big Mouth knocks it out of the park on this front.
From episodes focusing on characters coming out as bisexual to Jessi’s struggles with achieving an orgasm to the problem with Adderall in schools, Big Mouth flexed its intellectual muscle this season for sure. And of course, the show does this while being hysterical the entire time which is something many others struggle with.
Sucked: Clumsy Handling Of Bisexuality
While Big Mouth usually nails it on the social commentary, there was a moment where the show stumbled. In the episode “Rankings”, a new pansexual student voiced by comedian Ali Wong comes out and delivers a monologue that tries to explain the differences between bisexuality and pansexuality to those who might not know. While nothing may seem wrong with her explanation at first, by digging a little deeper there’s an issue.
In her speech, Ali implies that bisexuality isn’t inclusive of non-binary, trans and other gender expressions. Thankfully, show creator Andrew Goldberg came out with a sincere apology for this scene and expressed that they will try better next time.
Great: Jay And The Birchs
Underneath all his hormones and warped ideas about the world, Jay has a heart of gold. It’s obvious that with a more positive family environment that Jay can become a true sweetheart of a guy. That’s on full display this season when after being left home alone, the Birchs take Jay into their home.
While it doesn’t sit well with Nick, it’s truly heartwarming to see Jay feel so blessed by the two most loving people on the show in the form of Nick’s parents. Not all of gestures pay off but it delivers a 1-2 punch of being funny and making our hearts sing. It probably helps that it gives us vibes of that Simpsons episode where Nelson moves in with the Simpsons as well.
Great: Missy’s Transformation
Ever since the show’s debut Missy was always the innocent one in the cast. Dressed in her favorite overalls at all times, the most intense she would get would be in her fan fiction. However, by the end of this season, it’s clear that the hormones of puberty have sunken their claws into this little ravioli.
Now equipped with her own hormone monster by the name of Mona, Missy is no longer willing to be a passive girl in the school. While this was more of a tease for what’s to come in the next season, we’re ready for the evolution of Missy as if she remained the innocent one of the cast it ran the risk of her growing stale.
Great: Coach Steve’s Return
For the most part, Coach Steve was relegated to cameos in every episode of this season. While those were great, we wanted the real thing damn it! Thankfully we got our wish in the penultimate episode of the season where the five dudes from Queer Eye gave Steve a much-needed makeover. No longer looking like Clark Gable and Super Mario mushed into a blender, the show still needed to give Steve his job back.
Thankfully, Steve exposes the child predator Terry Lizer for the creep he is ensuring his firing from the school. He also gets his old job as a gym teacher in return as well. A triumphant moment for Coach Steve. Bless his peena.
Sucked: That Filler Feel
In perhaps the greatest criticism of the season, we just can’t shake the feeling that for the most part this season was jogging in place. Now don’t get us wrong the season still has tons of great moments (which we highlighted earlier on the list), but there’s missing the connective tissue that other seasons had.
For example, season 2’s Shame Wizard kept a thread running through many of the arcs of the cast which culminated in the “Smooch Or Share” episode where the kids learn to not let shame dictate their lives. There never is a moment like that in this season that was built up to it. This is extremely evident in the episode which focuses on Duke’s past. This might have been fine in a network TV show with 22 episodes in a season but in a streaming show with only 10 per season, it’s a bit of a waste.
Great: The Winds Of Change (Nick and Andrew break up)
While we love these characters, it’s been clear for a while that Andrew and Nick are not good for each other at this point in their lives. Constantly bickering and getting into fights every other episode, it became hard to remember after a while why these two were even friends. Thankfully, the show recognized this and effectively broke up the two main characters at the season’s end.
Whether this split remains permanent or not remains to be seen, but it’s what these characters need right now; to work on themselves before they can help each other. It also helps that this moment ends on the cliffhanger of Marty showing up with an eye patch. Yes, we do want to know how you got that Marty.
