Review: Animals “Episode Eleven: Rats”

RAPAPORT!!!!

Spoilers Below

Animals season two, “Episode Eleven: Rats” resumes with quirky, offbeat humor. There’s a quick pan over Pesci Testing Corp, before picking up with the rats following their experiments.

“Everyday’s the same thing. I do the button thing, I get zapped,” Mike (Mike Luciano) says. Mike and Phil (Phil Matarese) discuss the monotony of their daily life following mazes and playing button matching games. They even talk about the “cave rats,” similar to how humans might refer to cave people.

Later there’s a great segment with a pair of fleas, Erik (Michael Rapaport) and Corey (Harmony Korine) on a monkey. Oddly, the fleas are obsessed with the New York Knicks and wish to play. Their basketball talk delves into an existential crisis.

It’s really neat seeing animals acting and talking like humans. Even the rats Michael and Phil enjoy a candlelit meal. Dialogue is taut and feels quite natural. It’s witty and mimics real-world human conversation. There’s a funny segment when Lumpy (Emilia Clarke) and Mike play Twister.

There’s even a Matrix-style subplot complete with pellets that the rats take. Kind of like the “red pill, blue pill” Matrix story. I like how Animals is pretty dark in places. Additionally, the animation shines and it’s more old school, eschewing 2.5d CGI. It’s fun how the humans serve as a mere interlude between segments of different animals being tested. One of the best features microscopic algae where a stoner algae gains the ability to speak while his fellow algae merely can speak the word “algae.”

I also enjoy the juxtaposition between talking animals, traditionally a more kid-friendly feature, and the weighty complex topics. Like existentialism and captivity. It’s a bit like Plague Dogs insofar as the surprisingly dark anthropomorphic animals. One of my favorite aspects remains the pop culture references. Phil and Mike sing a 311 track, and later call back to The Wizard of Oz.

Overall, the season two opener of Animals is riddled with dry humor and a sort of anecdotal vibe. Sure, the main narrative stars Mike and Phil but Animals pans to different animals in the Pesci Lab throughout. Clever, unique, and dialogue-driven, it’s a promising beginning to season two.

SCORE
8/10