Critic Reviews

The second season officially confirms that Big Mouth, co-created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett, deserves a spot in the Coming of Sexual Age Hall of Fame right next to Judy Blume books and every incarnation of Degrassi. ... The voice-work on the series also remains top notch. Everyone is so, so good that there’s no way to pick an MVP. ... This series deserves a Peabody Award.

Big Mouth Season 2 cuts uncomfortably close to the quick at times and really makes you feel like you’re reliving your own adolescence. Luckily, the show is sweet enough to take some of the sting out of the close-to-home moments, but earnest enough to make you feel a real connection with these poor unfortunate characters.

Nearly all of Big Mouth’s main characters are multi-dimensional in all ways except their animation, but season 2 reveals Jessi to be possibly the most substantive.

Big Mouth works because it’s unflinchingly honest. Whether it’s mining twisted jokes or universal human experiences, the whole concept comes together because it consistently tells the truth.

Big Mouth’s general lack of shame and its love of a good anatomical reference is likely to keep the show from getting as big as it ought to be, but it’s shown that it deserves to be included in any conversation about TV’s animated greats. And the new season demonstrates that Big Mouth is capable of growing alongside its characters.

Even more than before, Season 2 is weird and proud of it; a living embodiment of putting it all out there, despite what people might think. In a very real way, these episodes are a form of activism, and in a season focused on teaching kids how to separate shame from guilt, it’s downright powerful. A Peabody Award would not be out of order.

“Big Mouth” continues to deliver a unique blend of high-minded lessons and low-brow humor with each passing entry. Even when it’s talking about some bad old movie you’ve never heard of or barely remember, “Big Mouth” is universal.

Big Mouth’s fourth season (of a guaranteed six, with a Human Resources spin-off coming) is all about embracing who you are, how you are, where you are. It is, as Missy herself would say, “not one hundred”; it’s about a 98 with two middle fingers straight up. And, like Missy herself, it’s loving, lovable, and eager to grow.

Season 4 does require some patience for many of its payoffs to hit with the level of optimism, joy, and laugh-out-loud insights you demand from the show. ... The final moments of Season 4 are as wholesome as I’ve seen on any animated show (predicated on a guest star performance I could never spoil, but made me smile the whole time), presenting a future with possibilities as big as Kroll’s big mouth. It just takes some burning, yearning effort to grow.

A delightful second season. ... The voice cast is overflowing with performances so sharp and indelible, it makes it hard to look at the actors in other roles without thinking of them being menaced by disembodied furry penises. As Jessi’s Hormone Monstress, Maya Rudolph remains first among equals, perfectly capturing the way that puberty descends upon girls differently than boys.