Pretty good episode on the whole, pretty great episode for Andrew Rannells! Matthew is featured nicely today, in a major story that offers up both laughs and drama.
Nick, jealous of how Leah’s friends treat his older brother Judd, wants to prove himself as a badass. So when Leah asks Judd to get mushrooms for her and her friends, Nick convinces Andrew to stow away with him to the city, hoping to score some drugs of their own. Jay is agitated to discover that Lola is dating his older brother Kurt, convinced that she’s only doing it to make him jealous. And Jessi spends the day at Matthew’s house, where she unexpectedly steps into a minefield while playing with his little sister.
Only a few plots today, focused on a relatively small number of characters, but each of them features some really good stuff. Across seven seasons of Big Mouth reviews, I don’t think I’ve actually mentioned Judd that much, but he does always make me laugh. Nick first attempts to get him to let them accompany him to the city, but Judd is having none of that. Why? "Because you’re a whiny little bitch,” he says. “Under no circumstances will I help you come of age.” And when Nick and Andrew sneak into the back of Judd’s car, I love Andrew bemoaning, “Why are there so many wrenches back here? There are just dozens of loose wrenches!”
I found Matthew/Jay fascinating in a “what is going on here?” kind of way, but there’s no denying that Jay and Lola bring the hilarity together. It kills me stone dead when Lola sneers, “We absolutely despise each other,” and Jay replies, “Just like Elmer Fudd and that hot slut rabbit.” Another spectacular line is Lola’s, “Oh my god, how did you know my love language is ‘do crimes for me?’” As far as storylines go, it’s fairly simple, but the sheer chaos that these two create is always fun—and here, with Kurt in the middle, both of them are peak unhinged.
Okay, onto the Jessi-Matthew plot! Right out of the gate, Matthew cracks me up as Jessi comes over to indulge in bitchy gossip together and he immediately greets her with, “Okay, I like Gina and she is my friend. But who takes a whole week off when their grandma dies?” Rannells’ delivery is absolutely golden. But their friend hang-out takes a turn when Britney, one of Matthew’s many younger siblings, wants to stay at home with Matthew and Jessi while the rest of the family goes on an outing.
So there they are, playing a rousing game of cutlery with little Britney (“Oh yeah, she loves silverware,” Matthew explains. “It’s a whole thing.”) But as it happens, Britney’s silverware-based play is extra heteronormative, facilitating weddings between girl spoons and boy forks, and when Jessi tries to gently teach her about queerness, it comes out that Matthew’s parents have their own unofficial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. “Wait, do your siblings not know you’re gay?” Jessi asks. “Have they spent literally one second with you?”
Side note: throughout this storyline, there’s a running thread of Maury and Connie bonding over their mutual hatred of Britney. She’s probably six or seven at most, and their bitchy shade over her is hilarious. When Britney tells Jessi that forks can only marry spoons, Maury grouses, “Of course Britney is homophobic.” In response, Connie exclaims, “Westboro Baptist-ass bitch!” And I laughed so hard at Maury saying, “And did you know she’s never had a job before? Her parents pay for, like, everything!”
I feel for Matthew as he urgently orders Jessi not to tell Britney that “a fork can marry another fork.” It’s not about him being ashamed or not wanting her to know, and it’s certainly not about him agreeing with his parents’ policy—rather, he’s afraid that his parents will think he’s trying to “recruit” her. As the story goes on, it zeroes in on the hypocrisy of the claim that anything LGBTQ is inherently “inappropriate” for kids. This line goes so hard: “My point is, it’s not S-E-X you’re uncomfortable with. It’s G-A-Y.” Rannells plays all of this so well, from Matthew’s nervousness to his frustration to his despondency over this issue.
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