This is a series that I reviewed generally after I watched season 1 the first time, but after I started The Book of Rannells, I went back to review each of Andrew Rannells’s episodes individually. What a boldly irreverent and stunningly, uncomfortably real series.
7th graders Nick and Andrew find their best friendship a little shaken after Nick accidentally sees Andrew’s penis. Andrew is developing faster than Nick (he’s visited on the regular by a lusty Hormone Monster,) and Nick’s insecurities make things awkward between them. It all comes to a head at the school dance.
As I’ve said, this is a hilarious, unflinching, preposterously dirty show that could only work as an animated series with adults voicing all the young characters. Right from this first episode, we get into the crudeness of puberty but also the vulnerability that comes with it – I love the scene where Nick and Andrew both posture that they totally know how tongue-kissing works, and I like that, while Andrew’s Hormone Monster chiefly makes Andrew horny, he also pushes Andrew’s emotions into overdrive.
The episode is packed with one-liners and fantastically-funny bits. The Hormone Monster predictably gets the most outrageous lines – I especially like him crooning, “‘Fallopian tube,’ what a savory word,” and trying to watch the sex scene from Dallas Buyers Club without thinking about AIDS – but everyone gets in some good ones. Another of my favorites is Nick’s wildly-unfiltered mother telling Nick, “Your father’s penis is my glass slipper.”
Rannells, as I’ve said before, plays Matthew, one of Nick and Andrew’s classmates. A minor character, Matthew is there mainly to comment on the lives of the other middle schoolers. He’ll slide into a scene to toss off a devastating remark – by turns witty, catty, and downright venomous – then slide right out again. For a collection of kids who are such a mess as they try to figure out puberty, Matthew seems entirely put together. He’s every inch the stereotype of a bitchy gay man (albeit one who’s only 13,) is neatly dressed and perfectly coiffed, and is completely over everything, freely sharing his disdain for kids and teachers alike.
While, of the characters Rannells has played, Matthew seems to be the one that adheres most closely to stereotype, he’s still entertaining. Here, I like him blithely announcing that he and Jessi (the female lead) are friends after hearing her make a sly comment, and in a previous post, I already mentioned my love for his summation of the state of affairs at the dance: “Nick and Andrew. You’re friends again. Nick’s pants are gone. The teachers look poor. What the fuck is going on?” It’s all in Rannells’s delivery, and it’s amazing.
Initial reactions (not quite, since I’m writing this having already watched the whole first season, but this is how these reviews go, and I’m too set in my ways veer off now!)
Recommend?
In General – Yes, as long as you don’t mind it being really dirty. Smart, funny, and, while obviously heightened, very true to the tribulations of middle school.
Andrew Rannells – Very little to see so far, and most of what we get is very “been there, done that,” but the strength of the delivery on that one line was enough to make me want to see more.
Warnings
Tons of sexual content (including cartoon nudity,) language, and thematic elements.
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