What’s next for Big Mouth in season 3? Netflix’s acclaimed animated comedy premiered its second season on October 5 to a slew of wildly positive reviews. The first season proved to be a hidden gem for many; while its crude set-up turned off many viewers, the show won over over others thanks to its surprisingly deft and honest portrayal of the horrors of puberty. Co-created by Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Nick Kroll, the show was inspired by their own individual adolescences and stars a bunch of celebrated comedy stars, from Jenny Slate (Venom) to Jason Mantzoukas (The House) to Maya Rudolph (Forever). As of the writing of this post, Big Mouth season 2 has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – certified fresh – and a ranking of 88 on Metacritic.
The series has received great write-ups for its crude but brutally honest take on adolescence, literalizing the horrors of growing up through the puberty monsters that plague the kids and encourage them to explore their sexualities and made questionable life decisions. In Big Mouth season 2, the show dug deeper into how society makes growing up even harder, with hilarious but highly relatable takes on birth control, toxic masculinity, bisexuality, and slut-shaming. They even dedicated an entire episode to supporting Planned Parenthood, a move that Nick Kroll’s character notes in-episode will probably garner some controversy.
As the show gets more ambitious, it’s clear we’re only in the early days of Big Mouth. Here’s everything you need to know about season 3.
Last Updated: February 10, 2019
Big Mouth Has Been Renewed For Season 3
Big Mouth has officially been renewed for season 3 by Netflix, with 10 more episodes given the green light. A promo announcing the season 3 renewal promised that things are going to get “even messier” as puberty continues to wreak havoc on those poor middle-schoolers.
Like its streaming service contemporary BoJack Horseman, Big Mouth is a critical darling, it’s reasonably inexpensive to make and has a growing fan-base. Netflix are also working to have 50% original content on their platform and remain hesitant about cancelling original shows. The ratio of original shows cancelled to ones renewed is unlike anything on traditional television networks.
There Was A Special Valentine’s Episode of Big Mouth
While fans of Big Mouth wait for season 3, there will be something extra to tide them over: a special 40-minute Valentine’s episode called Big Mouth: My Furry Valentine, which was released on February 8, 2019. The episode sees our luckless romantics trying to find love amid the torturous throes of puberty, with Nick recreating When Harry Met Sally for his hormone monster, Connie, and Andrew making a doomed attempt to reinvent himself as a cool smooth-talker in order to win over Missy. At least Coach Steve managed to find a girlfriend - even if she is made out of random objects.
When Will Big Mouth Season 3 Be Released?
Like BoJack Horseman, Big Mouth has a quick turnaround between seasons. Typically, a season premieres, the show is renewed a month to six weeks later, and a new season is ready to watch around the same time twelve months later. Big Mouth pulled off this feat between seasons 1 and 2, and its seasons are only 10 episodes long, so the episode order is smaller. Big Mouth: My Furry Valentine confirmed that, as expected, Big Mouth season 3 will premiere in Fall 2019.
Page 2 of 2: Big Mouth Season 3’s Story: Controversial Targets & Department of Puberty
What To Expect in Big Mouth Season 3
Big Mouth season 3 ends with Nick finally getting a hormone monster who knows what they’re doing; after essentially breaking up with her human, Jessi, Connie (voiced by Maya Rudolph) was reassigned to Nick. Much of season 2 focused on Nick’s delayed puberty and feeling left behind as Andrew grew taller, more sexually aware and much harrier, so expect to see Nick finally discover what it’s like to be a properly horny teenage boy.
Jessi (voiced by Jessi Klein) may have been the character with the biggest arc this season. Unable to cope with her own hormones as well as her parents’ divorce, she began shoplifting, experimenting with drugs, and accidentally started a slut-shaming scandal around classmate Gena (voiced by Gina Rodriguez). Eventually, she ended up succumbing to a new emotional monster, the Depression Kitty (voiced by Jean Smart). While Jessi managed to escape her cuddly clutches and decided to go to therapy, the problem is far from solved. Big Mouth season 3 holds promise not only for further exploration of Jessi’s depression – and a rare opportunity to see pop culture tackle the oft-ignored issue of childhood depression – but more interactions with the colorful creatures that populate the Department of Puberty. Season 2 introduced the Shame Wizard (voiced by David Thewlis) but there is certainly hunger to see the other specters haunting the seventh grade.
Nick Kroll has been open on how politics influenced season 2 of the show. The National Pantsing Day joke is a direct dig at Donald Trump, while the entire episode dedicated to Planned Parenthood was done to draw attention to the frequently attacked organization. The show’s writers even went so far as to meet with Planned Parenthood executives for advice. Kroll told Vanity Fair:
With the show fully leaning into its progressive roots and understanding how politically loaded the topic of sexuality in young people is, Big Mouth has emerged as one of the true comedic gems on television right now. Its vulgar honesty has made it equal parts hilarious and touching and it offers a faithful insight into how horrifying puberty really was for so many people. Further seasons would have greater opportunity to dig into the endless awkwardness of adolescence. Fortunately, as history proves, we won’t have to wait much longer to discover if we’re getting season 3 of Big Mouth.
“She [Planned Parenthood Los Angeles branch President Sue Dunlap) basically said, ‘Obviously donations are great, but we at Planned Parenthood really want people to tell stories involving Planned Parenthood.’ We started talking about it in the room and figuring out, ‘Is there a way to tell a story involving Planned Parenthood with our cast and the kind of stories that we tell?’ As we thought about it, we realized maybe we could take a step out from what we normally do and tell a story that is different from the rest of our episodes.”
