Review: Housebroken “Who’s Getting Cold Feet?”

 

 

Overview:

The big day is approaching, Shel is about to get married to the love of his life, Lindsay the shoe. But before that, the soon-to-be-newly weds get to enjoy a night of partying.

Racoon has a big night planned for the boys. But between licking some toad, a snake stripper, and some existential star gazing, Shel begins to have some doubts.  

Meanwhile, Honey struggles with accepting the wedding and tries her best to find ways to end it before it starts. But as the event arrives a couple of miracles may change everything.

 

Our Take:

Over five episodes, Housebroken has established itself as much more than a show about talking animals. The original series takes on larger topics like mental health, relationship troubles, and how scary fireworks can be. But the intelligence of the series has proven to be the ongoing development of larger storylines.

While some larger plots are arching the series, all of the individual characters have had their own growing stories. One that has been played off as a joke has finally reached its head with this episode when Shel the tortoise finalizes his wedding plans to a croc he found in the backyard.

Thankfully, this is anything but a corny wedding episode that we have come to expect from sitcom television. There is much more focus put on the bachelor party and showing how these animals can let loose. And nobody could pull it off better than the wild and unapologetic Racoon.

Hilariously, this episode parodies the traditional bachelor party in a couple of innovative ways. The inclusion of the Cane toad made this one of the most entertaining episodes of the season thus far. But a snake shedding her skin was also a clever twist on the required stripper. And the random appearances of Nicholas Cage were an added little bonus. Though it is how each of the individual characters handles the evening’s events that took the fun over the top. Especially, when we get to see a completely different side of Chief.

The wedding itself is full of its own craziness. Enough that a shoe walking down the aisle is the least of the surprises. Things take a significant turn when Shel’s old flame arrives out of the blue. And the manner in how Will Forte delivers the voice over for this performance is incomparable to any other comedian.

Although the premise and execution of the episode are filled with silliness, there is much more going on. Shel has had intimacy issues since first being introduced. His eventual marriage to a shoe is a signal of Honey’s failing capabilities as a therapist. Certainly, she is a dog, and the group therapy is more of a get-together of friends, but the disappointment is real for her.

Hands down this was the most ridiculous episode of Housebroken that we have seen yet. Though it does set a vibe that they are only getting started. It is extra exciting when a new series continues to get better episode after episode, and this series exceeds expectations weekly. Though this piece may be a tough one to top, Housebroken is becoming a safer and safer bet.