Season Review: Human Resources Season One

Overview:

The world isn’t just a big and scary place, but it’s full of powerful emotions that dictate every single thing that people do in life. It can sometimes feel like life is full of chaos and is too much to bear, but that’s exactly why there’s a robust economy of monsters in place to make sure that humanity doesn’t veer off course. Human Resources narrows in on the many types of fantastical monsters that look after humans, but with a workplace comedy twist. Humans would be hopeless without the intervention of these creatures, but it looks as if the life of a monster is just as tricky to navigate. Emmy, a Lovebug who’s new at the Human Resources department, makes waves at work as she wrestles with her new responsibilities. Fortunately, there’s an extensive lineup of monsters to help her, and mankind, out along the way.

Our Take:

This decade has been a true Renaissance for adult, subversive animated series. Plenty of programs have redefined norms and one of the most successful series to come out of this movement is Netflix’s Big Mouth, which tackles awkward adolescence through a mature and hyperbolized filter. Big Mouth’s supremacy has become a mixed bag and after 50 episodes it’s reasonable to question whether these ideas have properly run their course. Human Resources, a spin-off of Big Mouth, risks further diluting this world and its mere existence feels like it’s tempting fate. The biggest question that surrounds Human Resources is if it even needs to exist in the first place. Human Resources’ tongue-in-cheek opening minutes immediately compare the animated spin-off to “Big Mouth meets The Office,” but thankfully it’s a lot more than that. There are shades of Monsters, Inc., Ugly Americans, and Inside Out that are present here, but Human Resources still amounts to a series that’s distinct from all of these similar ideas as it gets to the bottom of the human condition.

Audiences will be quick to reduce Human Resources to “Big Mouth, but with adults,” but the storytelling is dramatically taught and not so simplistic. For instance, the first few episodes of Human Resources look at a possible miscarriage and post-partum depression, advanced dementia, and addiction, all as reference points for the more mature scenarios that Human Resources unpacks. Some episodes are actually scary, in their own way, as these monsters help humans confront the harsh realities of life. This examination is all in service of the larger message that everyone–whether monster or man–is scared and unsure of themselves, but that’s okay. The acceptance of this natural vulnerability is a healthy, normal part of living. Life is scary, but everyone is scared and that’s what connects us as people. All we can do is keep on trying, which in itself can be a huge comfort.

Human Resources treats its wide array of monsters as its greatest asset, which mostly works in the series’ favor. The growing roster of specific creatures that have invaded Big Mouth’s universe are fun, but have felt more redundant and like they’re reaching diminishing returns. Human Resources goes for broke in this department, but there’s a lot more thought put into the series’ new creations (who also benefit from an exceptional voice cast that includes Aidy Bryant, Randall Park, Bobby Cannavale, Hugh Jackman, and Heather Mirren). The Logic Rock is an entertaining stand-out character who works a lot better than he should. Need Demons, Ambition Gremlins, and Addiction Angels are also in good company here. Human Resources effectively conveys that all of these monsters are important, special, and necessary to each other as well as the greater ecosystem that governs the world. 

Of course, Human Resources is also rich in the established creatures that first made their marks in Big Mouth. Human Resources demonstrates restraint with these characters and doesn’t depend on them to do the heavy lifting. The most satisfying aspect of these returning characters is that individuals like Maury actually gain depth. Human Resources explores the personal lives and woes of its monsters, which might not be something that anyone was asking for in Big Mouth, but it helps turn these sex-driven caricatures into real characters. There’s a poignant runner throughout the season where Maury and Connie negotiate the growing pains of their relationship as they maturely consider the next stage of their love that feels like it would be tonally impossible in Big Mouth.

Episodes of Human Resources are neatly structured to deal with unique grounded human problems, as well as the more heightened, absurdist creature conundrums that occur within the wild workplace of the Human Resources headquarters. This formula works well enough for the series and allows each episode to show off a wide range that fluctuates between emotional and ridiculous. Hopefully Human Resources will evolve beyond this formula in the future, but it works well enough for the show’s freshman season. Ideally a second season will take greater risks and explore more of the corners of this universe rather than holding on so tightly to its core concept like a security blanket.

It’s satisfying to watch these monsters troubleshoot through human hurdles, but some of the most rewarding material involves their own ambivalence over their jobs and if they even care about any of this. It’s a level of malaise that wasn’t previously seen in Big Mouth and it’s an appreciated shift in perspective to worry about the monsters’ peace of mind rather than how they can assuage humanity’s woes. There’s pressure over whether these monsters, especially Emmy the new Lovebug, are truly qualified to guide people through important milestones. Human Resources pushes its fantastical, broad characters to confront realistic vulnerabilities. 

So much of Big Mouth obsesses over the fears and doubts that consume its hormonal adolescents, which isn’t without impact, but the worries in Human Resources feel more serious and substantial. These supernatural creatures are just as insecure and flawed as the humans that they strive to guide and protect. There’s a charming nostalgia to the crises in Big Mouth, but there’s an immediacy to Human Resources that finds a powerful universality through these odd creatures. If Big Mouth is the training wheels of life, then Human Resources is an elaborate Penny Farthing.

A series like Human Resources is only able to exist in the first place because of the effective world building that was present within Big Mouth. Human Resources carefully expands upon those boundaries and there’s some creative lore that has a lot of room to grow in the show’s future. Fascinating developments are teased, like the Department of Magical Thinking and other esoteric destinations, of which this season only scratches the surface. There are also some truly unique creature designs, but the most random and exciting of the lot are relegated to the background. Hopefully the show’s future will embrace these less-defined figures or the holiday stereotypes that exist in this world, like the Grinch or Easter Bunny, rather than monsters that are purely focused on emotions.

It’d be very easy for a series like Human Resources to go off the rails and so it’s encouraging that each episode features a very smart script with inspired wordplay that goes beyond simple sex-based puns. There’s a deeper interest in humanity than there is in puerile jokes. Human Resources slowly embraces deeper storytelling and there are some very satisfying story arcs and character developments that play out across the season. As silly and frivolous as this all often feels, most of these characters have genuinely grown in some way by the end of the season. 

It’s easy to picture future seasons of Human Resources that further refine the show’s balance between monsters and humans, leaning more into the former. However, not all of these creative flourishes cohesively connect. There are a number of songs featured throughout the season, none of which are necessarily bad, but they also don’t ever feel essential. They’re one of the more extraneous aspects of the series even though there’s clearly a lot of work that’s gone into each musical number. 

Human Resources is an entertaining juggling act that occasionally feels like it’s about to drop all of its balls, but it manages to keep everything up in the air and finish this act with style and class. Human Resources is filthy and crass, but it’s also deeply empathetic and dedicated to helping people overcome trauma. Unique characters negotiate through silly scripts, none of which ever feel too preachy or melodramatic, which is a death sentence in a show like this. Human Resources finds its rhythm very quickly into its pilot and while some episodes break down comparable ideas, they never feel derivative of each other. Big Mouth may be gradually running out of steam, but it’s not hard to picture Human Resources lasting for just as many seasons, if not even longer, due to the more extensive leash that it’s on.

That is, if it doesn’t decide to auto-erotically asphyxiate itself with that leash first, of course.

Season one of ‘Human Resources’ is available to stream on March 18th, only on Netflix