This is another instance where I had to circle back to revisit the episode after a later episode made me realized I’d completely missed out on someone’s voiceacting. And in this case, it was actually Andrew Rannells! Matthew doesn’t appear in the episode besides a random bit of background animation, but Rannells pops up as a different character.
On this “very special episode” of Big Mouth, a female Shame Wizard takes us through four cringeworthy tales of, what else, vagina shame. We have Jessi discovering a new circle of hell after going too long without washing her leggings, Lola puzzling over society’s messaging about pubic hair, Missy discovering that getting her period does not bring on the spiritual oneness with the moon that her hippy-dippy mom said it would, and Caitlin (Jessi’s dad’s pregnant girlfriend) gets some distressing news from her OBGYN.
I’m not familiar with this Shame Wizard—Rita, per her introduction—so I’m guessing she’s probably a character from the Human Resources show. However, her opening spiel includes the matter-of-fact disclaimer, “Of course, not all women have vaginas, and not all people with vaginas are women,” so that’s nice.
This episode is up with there with the best of Big Mouth’s “theme” episodes constructed of different vignettes, a la the Planned Parenthood episode. The show does a nice job of giving each character a completely different angle through which to struggle with their relationship with their vagina. Each vignette has some terrific one-liners, and I like the way the episode ultimately resolves.
A few favorite lines from the episode:
· Jessi’s vagina, in the throes of agony – “Do me a favor: scratch me like a Powerball ticket, and I’ll make you feel like a million bucks!”
· As Missy watches other girls rummage for a tampon, painfully aware that she hasn’t gotten her first period yet, Mona awesomely calls tampons “the ultimate totem of womanhood: the blood cigar.”
· Missy, giving an absolutely stellar description of menstrual cramps – “It feels like there’s a wicked little doll in there trying to stab its way out!”
Rannells pops up in Lola’s story, in a decidedly non-Matthew role. I realize, though, it’s probably one he’s played before (I may have to go back and add to other past episode reviews.) A while back—I wanna say season 4, during the “hand stuff” theme episode—a toy castle in Lola’s bedroom was established as a metaphor for her vagina, with the castle being guarded by two “archers” who represent her pubic hair. That’s where Rannells comes in, as the pubic archer Leander.
As Lola frets that her bush doesn’t look like it’s “supposed to,” Leander and his partner Balthazar try to reassure her, with Leander explaining, “Your majesty, you realize this [online porn] is not how most women naturally look.” They also explain why people have pubes in the first place—I love how gallantly Rannells proclaims, “Sworn to protect human genitals from dirt and debris!” It’s a small role, but it’s fun.
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