Big Mouth returned on Friday, December 3 for its fourth season and introduced a new monster for the kids to face.
For the first few seasons, it was all about the Hormone Monsters, taking these kids through the horrors and thrills of puberty. However, in Big Mouth Season 4, things are bad for the kids – especially Nick and Andrew.
This introduces a brand-new horror for the kids to face.
Anxiety.
Big Mouth Season 4 review
Big Mouth Season 4 opened where the last season ended, with Nick and Andrew no longer friends after Nick dated Missy, knowing that Andrew liked her.
The two then end up at camp together and that is where new monsters showed up.
For Nick, he was usually popular at camp and even had a special best friend there in Seth Goldberg (Seth Rogen), who is the “camp version of Andrew.”
What sucks is that Seth and Andrew hit it off great, and when Nick gets angry, they both turn on him and become new best friends.
Nick then meets Tito the Anxiety Mosquito, who makes him scared to do anything. He ends up having panic attacks and this makes the other kids in camp bully him even more.
Meanwhile, Andrew is becoming more and more vindictive, trying to humiliate Nick every step of the way. Sadly, this results in Andrew not pooping for months and ending up with his own monster plugging his butt, which is all part of his anger building up within.
Jessi is also at camp and has her first major period and has to learn how to use tampons, which are all voiced by different actors. She also has to deal with a former bully who has come out as transgender since the last camp and is having trouble fitting in.
Just when it seems they are getting things under control, they return to school to start eighth grade and that is when Tito the Anxiety Mosquito returns with a vengeance.
Luckily, there is help coming in the form of the Gratitoad (Zach Galifianakis).
It also has to be mentioned that Ayo Edebiri replaced Jenny Slate as Missy. This was not just a passing of the torch so a Black actress could portray a Black character, but it was done in the story as well.
Missy goes to visit her dad’s family and learns that her parents are really dorks and raised her to be more like her white mother than her dad’s relatives. When she meets her cousins, her own Hormone Monster Mona (Thandie Newton) pushes her to explore her heritage, which puts her on the outs with her prim and proper parents.
The season, as expected from Big Mouth, is as raunchy and vulgar as ever. However, fans know to expect it, and that is part of its charms. There are still horribly off-color jokes, but through all the disgusting and profane moments, this is still a show that has an important story to tell.
These are real problems that real kids face and this is a show that has no qualms about showing them in the most terrible ways possible. That is a good thing.
Puberty is not pretty, and anxiety is even worse. This show knows that and pulls no punches showing what young teens are going through when they have no idea what their bodies and minds are trying to tell them.
Big Mouth Season 4 wrap-up
It is easy to recommend Big Mouth Season 4 to anyone who loved the first three seasons.
The show continues to push boundaries and attacked new issues in this season, proving why it is one of the smartest shows on television, although it is also one of the raunchiest.
The anxiety bugs, the Gratitoad, and even more hormone monsters help lead these kids through the most difficult years of childhood in fantastic ways.
Adding in the transgender storyline and then moving further into the problems young girls face when trying to find themselves allows the new season of Big Mouth to approach more than just the boys’ hormones and keeps it fresh.
It was also a solid story showing Missy as she explored her heritage, especially concerning the change in voice actors for the role. Missy came a long way this season, but that is something that can be said for all the kids as they try to make it through middle school.
Big Mouth Season 4 is more of what fans have come to expect and if you loved the first three seasons, you should love everything about this new one as well. It keeps upping the stakes and putting these kids through hell – and fans wouldn’t want it any other way.
Here is hoping for more monsters in the future, tormenting these kids’ lives.
Big Mouth Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.