Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg and Mark Levin are back with the third season of their hit show Big Mouth. After giving us a sneak peek in February with a surprise Valentine’s episode, the writers have kept their audience on the edge of their seats, in anticipation to see what crazy teenage antics besties, Nick Birch and Andrew Glouberman, along with the rest of the gang, are getting up to. Released on Netflix on 4th October 2019, season three consists of ten episodes set in the spring term of Bridgeton Middle School. 

In case you haven’t been introduced to the world of Big Mouth, the animated show follows the early to pre-pubescent lives of Andrew Glouberman (John Mulaney) and Nick Birch (Nick Kroll), as they navigate through middle school and their new-found endeavour into all things hormone-related. The tweens are accompanied in each episode by their respective hormone monsters, voiced by Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph, who join a stellar cast of Saturday Night Live alum such as Fred Armisen, Kristen Wiig and Jenny Slate as well as a handful of other great comedic voices such as Jason Mantzoukas and Jessi Klein. With each episode lasting around thirty minutes, a quick binge of all three seasons should only take a weekend. Perhaps, even a short 24 hours for any professional bingers out there. 

The first episode, ‘My Furry Valentine’ addresses the struggle of being single on Valentine’s Day. The season continues this theme of focusing on social phenomena as the next three episodes shine a light on dress-codes, sexual harassment, the dangers of social media and toxicity of mobile phones, pansexuality, ADHD and Adderall addiction. Season three succesfully references popular culture such as ‘Florida’ which takes inspiration from Game of Thrones, Andrew’s storyline dips into incestuous scenarios, and episode ten even features a special appearance from Queer Eye’s Fab Five. The episode ‘Duke’ pays homage to the show’s most random character, played by Jordan Peele, and takes us to 1913 with a history lesson on the great Duke Ellington. Finally, piggybacking on the recent success of superhero flicks, the season’s final episode gives each character a superpower, and fits the trope of superhero movies by leaving the season on a cliffhanger. This allows for the anticipation of the sequel, or in this case the following season. The show also proves it can be appreciated by a more mature audience by introducing the subject of menopause that will likely be further explored in the following season. 

Along with compelling topical themes, the third season returns with an impressive voice cast. Notably, Gina Rodriguez in the role of Gina, the early-developed new girl and David Thewlis in his role as the Shame Wizard. Both actors return in this third season along with Thandie Newton as Missy’s new hormone monster, Mona, Ali Wong as Ali the pansexual tween, Martin Short, Carol Kane and Chelsea Peretti.

If that’s not enough to make you watch the third season then perhaps the witty, uncencensored writing will. One could liken the show’s humour to other animated greats such as Archer, Paradise PD and South Park, yet it is incomparable in terms of the show’s intelligent balance of inappropriate humour and engagement towards contemporary issues. The show is woke without being overly pretentious and makes light of topics that perhaps require a softer interpretation. 

Overall, season three does not disappoint and manages to match, or rather, elevate the quality of previous seasons, leaving the audience pining for the fourth season. I would give the season five stars for consistent humour and writing throughout all eleven episodes, good development of characters as well as further development of secondary characters such as Missy, Matthew and Duke Ellington who have rightfully earned more screen-time, and for touching on topics with a refreshing and comical tone. Be sure to check out season three of Big Mouth on Netflix now and keep an eye out for Kristen Wiig’s iconic return as a talking Vagina. 

Rating = 5/5