Alas, all great things must come to an end. Netflix’s longest running original scripted series, the Emmy-winning Big Mouth, finally gets its happy ending. Since 2017, this unique show centered around puberty and Hormone monsters has always been a riotous joy, often reinventing itself by adding more layers to its storied mythology. Inspired by the friendship of childhood besties Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg, the naughty delights make for a surprisingly deep, emotionally complex journey through the lives of its teenage characters. Though season 7 started the high school experience right at the tail end, season 8 picks up four weeks deep into their lives. With nostalgic reverence for the past and satisfying arcs for its ridiculous roster of characters, Big Mouth season 8 closes the book on television’s horniest animated series in a burst of orgasmic mayhem.
The Shame Wizard (David Thewlis) starts the season with a narration, welcoming us into this final run. From the very first segment, the series breaks the fourth wall in acknowledging that we are at the beginning of the end. Each character has settled nicely into their established high school normal: Jessi (Jessi Klein) has found her people in the stoners, falling down a deep well of romance and weed smoke; Jay (Jason Mantzoukas) continues an obsession with inanimate objects as he contentedly works in the auto shop; Andrew (John Mulaney) pines after bestie Nick (Kroll), who attends another school and has a new friend also named Andrew; though sexually inexperienced, Matthew’s new crew is the previously seen B-High Quee-Choi, a chorus of horny LGBT+ teens; and poor Missy (Ayo Edebiri) has been cut off from the others by way of her home schooling and incessantly annoying parents. As our story begins, all of these characters experience FOMO in one way or another; that pesky Anxiety Mosquito (Maria Bamford) is out in full force.
With the high school setting, a fresh set of troubles plague the teens, with all-too-familiar faces rearing their ugly heads again. Expect the issues to be resolved with a heavy dose of preposterous sexcapades and outrageous musical numbers. If Big Mouth has always been about the awkward mess of adolescence, this final season doubles down on the realization that growing up never really gets less weird. The trademark humor returns to filter these scenarios through their lens of hilarious puns and cringe-comedy. In just the first episode alone, a cat voiced by Steve Buscemi urges Andrew to plot to win back his bestie, and Maury (Kroll) shares an elaborate song with Matthew (Andrew Rannells) about doling out a blowjob. Yes, this is the same Big Mouth, just older and somehow wiser. A continuation of its wild puberty saga and a surprisingly touching meditation on change, identity, and what it means to grow up are the perfect way to send off such a beloved comfort-watch show. Yes, an animated series that features a group of teens boarding a “magic duck boat” and being transported inside of a sex diagram before getting jizzed back out of it later on can be called a comfort watch.
What makes the series so special is how it deals with the character interplay, and their interactions with the Hormone Monsters, and all the other strange creatures that make up puberty-fueled emotions. Nick hits a surprising growth spurt that flips the script on his relationship with Andrew, and many of these folks are about the have actual real sexual experiences for perhaps the first time ever. It’s all par for the course—certainly, the progression into high school feels like a natural next step. Between cum-dripping perversions, we still save time for quiet revelations about identity. Matthew spends much of the season figuring out how to embrace his freak flag; for those still shipping him with Jay, there may be a few surprises in store. Matthew quite literally hits a high note at one point, resulting in the biggest laugh of the season. Lola Stumpy (Kroll) also gets her learner’s permit, and Missy has sex with a robot. Go figure.
The show’s strength remains its balance of crass humor with genuine insight. Amidst porn addiction songs and armpit-fingering foreplay, it handles real teen questions. What is normal? Can friends be sexual? What if you are the last to grow up? Episode 9 stands out as being particularly special. Connie (Maya Rudolph) and Maury answer fan-submitted questions together in an educational spoof, from queef queries to gynecologist visits to that eternal question: can you suck your own dick? There’s a whole subplot this season about the repercussions of calling someone a cum guzzler, then lying about it. If that’s not character growth, then what is? They even leave room for some fun final-season guest stars, including Natasha Lyonne as the Health/Sex-Ed teacher, Holly Hunter as a compassion elephant, and Cynthia Erivo as Missy’s vagina.
Perhaps the most poignant element is the handling of closure. In a magically nostalgic series finale, the kids return to their old middle school one last time before its scheduled demolition. Even there, the creatives embrace a smart metaphor to mark the end of innocence. A reflective nature still leaves time to revisit major moments from the past; the maturity of the writing thankfully does not feel to be checking off boxes, or even relegating to a clip show. Instead, Kroll and Goldberg truly understand that embracing the future is always scary. In a world where Big Mouth will be over, perhaps generations to come can utilize its surprisingly informative take on puberty to learn major life lessons. As we step into the Great Unknown, lamenting why the series has to end feels less important than appreciating how we got there. Eventually, we must all leave puberty behind, but the rest of our lives might end up being just as filled with surprises.
Embrace the Great Unknown as only the raunchy humor of Big Mouth will allow, cumming exclusively to Netflix on Friday, May 23rd.
May 23, not October 28
It’s Holly Hunter, not Helen Hunt.