I wound up skipping a post like this for season 3, but now that I’m through posting my season 4 reviews, I wanted to take the time to get a little more into spoilery thoughts on Matthew’s storyline here. In my episode review of the season finale, I mentioned that it’s Matthew’s most prominent season so far, and even though I think there’s still room for improvement in how Big Mouth handles this character, he’s definitely come a long way from the Matthew we met in season 1 (spoilers.)
First of all, this season continues the thread of Matthew’s relationship with Aiden. In season 3, this storyline mostly sees Matthew awkwardly handling early relationship hurdles, like moving their flirtations from texting into real life and having their first kiss together. In season 4, Aiden is more an established facet in Matthew’s life, and we see them doing couply things together. The biggest bit of drama within their relationship itself comes in “Four Episodes about Hand Stuff,” when Matthew gets in his head thinking Aiden expects to be getting hand jobs from him, even though Matthew doesn’t feel ready for that yet.
It’s the most explicit a Matthew plot has gotten on the show so far, and even though it took four seasons to get there, I think the storyline is handled fairly well. I’ve talked before about the show holding back on more overtly sexual stuff for Matthew – he was fretting about fairly chaste kissing at a point when Nick had touched Gina’s boobs, Andrew and Lola were “rubbing fronts,” and pretty much everybody was masturbating – and to an extent, that’s still true. He doesn’t give Aiden a hand job (which is good, since, again, he wasn’t ready for it,) although they do talk about consent and the fact that, whatever they do, it should be because they both want to do it and it’s fun. Little by little, though, the show has gotten a bit more upfront about Matthew’s sexual desires, especially through remarks that Maury makes and some of the things that Matthew and Aiden text to one another. I’d say Matthew’s now in a similar position to a lot of the kids in season 1, many of whom talked a big game but didn’t actually know/do much, so he’s a little behind his peers in that regard. Which, given that Aiden is literally the first gay boy his age that he meets, I suppose that makes sense.
(Side note: as much as Matthew is 13 going on 25, I feel like Aiden is even more so. I roll my eyes a little when Matthew goes to Aiden’s house and there’s zero indication that anyone else lives there. This isn’t a Jay or Lola situation where it’s easy for them to get up to whatever they want because their parents are so checked out—Aiden acts like he’s an adult with his own place, and when Matthew rushes over to Aiden’s house in “Four Stories about Hand Stuff,” nervously determined to give Aiden a hand job, there’s no expectation that anyone other than Aiden might be answering the door. It’s just kind of weird, especially given how heavily Matthew’s family factors into his main storyline this season.)
More so than the romance stuff is the family stuff. This is the season of Matthew’s coming-out drama. When I wrote up some spoilery thoughts on Matthew after season 1, I emphasized that my desire to see more of his vulnerabilities didn’t necessarily translate to seeing him get bullied for being gay or agonize over coming out. Season 2 gives us, not outright bullying (though it’s established that that is in Matthew’s backstory,) but it shows the other kids excluding Matthew in very gendered ways and the Shame Wizard literally calls him a “lonely little queer.” Season 3 introduces Matthew’s family, and while we only see them briefly, it’s enough to know that Matthew is closeted at home.
This past season, Matthew is accidentally outed to his mom when she sees texts between him and Aiden on his phone. Much like Matthew’s season-2 arc puts just enough of a twist on how he’s treated by the other kids at school, so does this storyline rub up against the edges of a trope while pivoting slightly to make it a little different from the ways we usually see these stories play out. Rather than confronting Matthew about his “sinful lifestyle” or throwing him out of the house or something, his mom simply starts pulling away. He’s always been her “favorite,” but now, she’s side-stepping him to spend more time with his little sister, doing the kind of things with her that she used to do with him. Suspecting the reason why she’s giving him the cold shoulder, Matthew worries about losing the close relationship they’ve always had and longs to fix it, but he can’t bear being made to feel like he has to choose between his mom and Aiden.
So it’s very much the sort of storyline that we see so often for young LGBTQ people, but it’s executed in a slightly different way. While my gut says it doesn’t quite have Big Mouth’s trademark originality, I’d still say it’s fairly well done overall. After things go so badly with his mom, I appreciate that Matthew’s coming-out to his dad goes much better, with his dad quietly acknowledging that he’s known all along (even though “super-masculine dad that son is terrified of coming out to surprises him by being immediately loving and supportive” is its own kind of trope, it’s a welcome one, and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet.) Best of all, though, are Matthew’s scenes with Maury throughout this entire arc.
We first got to see Matthew with his Hormone Monster in season 3, and while I enjoyed them a lot there, they’re really splendid here. Maury serves much the same function with Matthew as he does with Andrew – voicing Matthew’s most graphic thoughts, confusing/overwhelming him when he’s tried to be suave in his relationship, etc. – but Maury’s interactions with Matthew are so different than his interactions with Andrew, and I love it. Maury adores Matthew, constantly complimenting him and building him up. As the situation with Matthew’s mom deteriorates, Maury is 100% in Matthew’s corner, at one point holding Matthew while they both cry (very sweet) and at another flipping out on Matthew’s mom for not being more accepting of him. Even though she can’t actually hear Maury, it’s still so heartwarming so hear him shout, “Are you fucking kidding me, Kim? You got the best goddamn kid in the game! So get the fuck on board before you lose him!”— every LGBTQ kid needs a Hormone Monster like that.
Overall, a pretty strong season for Matthew. At this point, the show has definitely addressed my earlier concerns about not getting to see his vulnerabilities, but going forward, I’d like to see them get away from some of the tropier storylines for him. Also, more integration with rest of the cast – after leaning into Matthew’s friendship with Jessi in season 3, this season has him separated into his own plot, away from the other kids, most of the time. Yes, Maury’s with him, but he hardly interacts with any of the other main characters (it’s a little bit like season 5 of Girls, when Elijah gets his own ongoing story arc but barely appears in any scenes with Hannah or the rest of the main cast the entire season.) Let’s see more of Matthew with the other kids! He and Jessi are so good together, and there’s no way he’s run out of quips about Nick.
No comments:
Post a Comment