On the heels of a successful second season, the creators of the hit Netflix show Big Mouth have gifted viewing audiences with the treat of a Valentine’s Special, “My Furry Valentine.” The 42-minute special doubles the typical the length of a regular episode, allowing plenty of room for the show to cover the wide-range of clichés and absurdities of Valentine’s Day. At the same time, the special served to introduce new avenues and paths for the show to take as it moves towards its third season.
Co-creator and voice actor of Big Mouth, Nick Kroll, spoke about the special and how the idea for it came about on the days leading up to its release. According to Kroll, there’s no day more fitting with the show’s themes of middle school awkwardness than a day centered around love and crushes.
“…it then became very clear very quickly that Valentine’s Day was kind of perfect because it felt like it was between the two seasons,” said Kroll. “And also, just Valentine’s Day is such a rich area for middle school and for the kids because it deals with so many of the issues that kids are dealing with. You know, who’s your crush? Are you heartbroken? Are you alone? All those things that you really, all of a sudden in middle school, start to think about. And it felt like the perfect area for a special.”
The special was expectedly musical and surprisingly heartfelt. Several musical numbers were placed throughout that highlighted the classic Big Mouth style of exaggeration and precision that moved the special through acts. While the show always has an underlying soft spot in dealing with the emotionality of being young and going through changes, this special felt particularly warm.
The kids in the show are each going through their own journeys in this special. Andrew deals with the repercussions of being overzealous and jealous towards a crush, Jessie and Matthew spend the day together upset over being without dates, Nick reaches a breaking point with his over-affectionate parents and Jay grapples with a sexual self-discovery. While each character goes on their own individual path throughout the special, the thread running through their stories was a touching one: the relationship and love between friends.
There were references to several romance movies, like Casablanca, but particularly to When Harry Met Sally…; parodying the interview of the couples about how they first met (in this case the kids and their respective Hormone Monsters). One particularly amusing bit was the focus on Walgreens and all of the junky gifts and candies that it hosts. That was just great. The tropes and tribulations of Valentine’s Day for grown-ups and children make themselves clear, and the growing pains make themselves most apparent on a day of romance where no one knows what they are doing.
The special itself is excellent and is a perfect segue from the second season to the forthcoming third season. It can be enjoyed as a standalone episode but also serves well to bridge the gap and introduce new plot lines. Every character of the show makes an appearance, and their stories are furthered along with the shenanigans of the special propelling them into new situations down the line. With all the self-discovery and realizations, it’s no doubt that there is a hilarious season down the road in the fall. But for now, it’s nothing but love in the air for “My Furry Valentine,” available for streaming on Netflix now.
All images courtesy of Netflix.