Drama
Squid Game
Netflix might not have banked on Squid Game being its most popular show ever. But it sure knew it wanted it bloody.
James is growing up, and boy, is it tough. Especially since they live in Dirt, a tiny desert town full of strange people and stranger experiences.
It’s hard enough having to grow up in a normal town. But in this town? Dirt is next-level adolescence. For instance, have you ever been turned into a smartphone by your scientist parents just to prove a point about how responsible you need to be to own one? Didn’t think so.
Luckily, the many scientists who dwell within town limits have made a few good things, too—like James’ best friend Max, a sentient talking alligator. Together, the two of them will face any danger together—whether that’s the living ooze-like school bully or their evil sentient toaster.
If the animation style looks familiar, that’s no coincidence. Oddballs is, indeed, the creation of James Rallison, better known as the YouTuber TheOdd1sOut. And in this 12-episode creation, Rallison tells the story of a young, marshmallow-like James as he slowly grows up.
Of course, with all the strange experiments wandering around his town of Dirt, things often quickly spiral way out of control. For instance, is it murder to kill an annoying fly when one of the residents of the town is a sentient human-fly? For another, how do you deal with an ooze bully who can literally crawl inside you and control your body?
If you’ve read our review of TheOdd1sOut or seen the YouTube channel’s videos, the type of content in this show isn’t likely to surprise you: primarily slapstick violence—and the violence sometimes feels a little extreme for a kid’s show. (A character bleeds from being impaled by flying toast, for example, or when a toaster electrocutes a lake, and a scuba diver’s body appears on the surface.)
Additionally, some jokes may go over the line, such as one character’s attempts to perform a “bully exorcism” on the “demon” ooze when it gets into James’ body.
Oddballs feels a bit like a mix between Gravity Falls and Adventure Time. The language remains quite clean (unless “heck” and “gosh darn” raise your hair), and the show will likely be a favorite among children. But like the two aforementioned shows, you may want to consider a couple things before letting your child visit Dirt.
Frustrated with their faulty toaster, James and Max create a sentient one—Toasty. But when Toasty can’t create perfect toast, the two resort to vastly different parenting styles to teach it.
James burns his hand on a toaster. Scientists electrocute baby Max in a flashback. Toasty electrocutes a lake, killing the fish and one scuba diver. Toasty destroys many homes, burning them to the ground. Max is impaled with a piece of toast and bleeds green blood.
Max quips, “So, that’s how babies are made” after a toaster comes to life. James’ rear is often seen—albeit in a cartoonish, non-sexual way. A sentient cactus eats a couple of birds and burps. “Heck” and “gosh darn” are used.
To get a smartphone, James must prove to his parents that he’s responsible to handle it. To raise the stakes, his parents turn him into a human smartphone.
James accidentally crushes a bird behind a window shutter. James is thrown about in the backseat of a car, and the car explodes. Max vomits.
As a phone, James tells a woman who is repairing him offscreen to not touch his dongle. A man and woman kiss after an experiment succeeds. “Heck” is used.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Netflix might not have banked on Squid Game being its most popular show ever. But it sure knew it wanted it bloody.
Prime Video’s ‘Secret Level’ gives a Black Mirror-esque spin to some popular video games with some “rated M for Mature” content.
This show has become a sensation on Netflix—and it’s cleaner than some. But before you walk into this small town, know that not everything is fit for families.
A violent terrorist attack uncovers a government conspiracy in Hulu’s series for mature audiences, ‘Paris Has Fallen.’
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