Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Even though we like to pretend we’re in control of this messy hunk of dirt we call Earth, it’s Mother Nature that really has power. The only show that truly understands this fact is finally back for a Season 2 — HBO’s offbeat hidden gem Animals. I can’t think of a better show to guide us through 2017 than this bitingly funny series about the inevitability of death in New York.
Created by Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano, executive produced by HBO pillars Jay and Mark Duplass, and packed with an all-star voice-acting cast, Animals. still has yet to achieve the popularity it should have. Each episode is structured as a series of vignettes between a group of animals. Some storylines simply complain about a humanized problem between animal buddies, like when two horses voiced by Wanda Sykes and Cobie Smulders discuss the pros of peeing in public. Others, like “Flies,” explore the circle of life filtered through countless overly-emotional ‘80s movie cliches. Sure, there are a lot of animal puns and a lot of conversations that show off the best of comedic mumblecore, but there are also heartfelt reflections on the meaning of life buried between the show’s funniest moments. That’s the universe of Animals., and it’s even more noticeable in Season 2.
While Season 1 was mostly content with just making animal jokes about clothing and how weird humans are, Season 2 spends a lot of time contemplating the insignificance of individual mortality and the grand scheme of life. That’s a heavy theme for a philosophy textbook to process, let alone a 30-minute animated comedy, but Animals. makes good use of its constantly dying protagonists, simultaneously confronting death while using the threat of it to appreciate life. By the way, this is hardly one writer projecting her own insecurities onto a cartoon. The first episode features an algae particle whose life is permanently altered once he smokes some algae pot. The sketch follows him as he has a mental breakdown over the fact everything in his world is made of algae until he meets a girl. Only then does his questioning of life itself come to a halt. This short sketch seems to highlight one of the show’s central themes: the vastness of life is impossible to comprehend, especially since we are just animals built for reproduction. More life is the point of life, and that will keep you sane.
Despite its bleak themes, Animals. still remains funny in its own too-close-to-home way. The series still does a great job blending slacker chatter, animal jokes, and the ridiculous plots that give Animals. its New York flavor with its own existential brand of humor. Also, much like Season 1, this new season is packed with even more big names, including Whoopi Goldberg, Usher, Ice-T, Emilia Clarke, and RuPaul. This is a show worth watching with an IMDB page open because you never know who’s voicing the too-perfect angelic pigeon.
Animals. certainly isn’t for everyone. The show’s animation style is choppy, and its dialogue can be too inflated while its sight gags can veer toward gross. However, it’s this combination of so many elements that shouldn’t work together but ultimately do that speaks to the scrappy unexpectedness of life. If all this depressingly funny messiness speaks to you, then welcome to Animals. Season 2. Things are about to get weird.
