Review: Indolent Allen “Student From Hell”

Overview:

College life isn’t easy… unless you don’t care. Allen is that one kid in class that could care less about grades, pleasing the teacher, or even making friends. Good luck getting Allen to pay attention; never mind sharing his thoughts on Italian neorealism. With break coming up, Allen negotiates his project for cinema studies with his teacher. However, in all honestly, he is not going to do it, whatever it is. And still, despite his terrible attitude and nonchalant demeanour, Allen gets invited to his first college party.

Our Take:

We have all known an Indolent Allen at one point in our scholarly careers. He is the kid in the back row that ignores the lessons, doesn’t do homework, and ruins group projects by association. As frustrating as an Indolent Allen is to study with, there is something about their indifferent, impassive energy that is humorous and entertaining to the rest of us.

That concept of laughing with/at the lazy kid is enough to launch an entire television series. Or at least that is what up-and-coming animator Cliff Benfield is hoping with this new project. Indolent Allen is the latest series of shorts to be premiering on Adult Swim Smalls (the network’s own digital collection of animated shorts). With a collection of three shorts, Benfield and company are hoping Indolent Allen hits close to home for all of us and spawns the next hit animated series.

Honestly, there is reason to be optimistic. Indolent Allen has the makings of a series that is familiar yet distinct enough to compete with the heavy hitters. The animation style closely resembles Family Guy and American Dad, with enough detailed differences to make it unique. More importantly, from what we’ve seen from the two-minute first episode, Indolent Allen is relatable in its humour but in a way that is fresh to television and approachable to rising audiences.

Is Indolent Allen ground-breaking? No, far from it. But there is something comforting about familiarity that has equalled success for more than one animated series. It will be most interesting to see how well this series develops a plot with an indolent main character who doesn’t seem to want anything out of life. The writers have painted themselves into a proverbial corner centring the series around a privileged white male in his 20-somethings with zero ambition, drive, or competency. Although, that too has worked for other shows in the same realm. Alternatively, the premise could get old without some conceptually loaded plots and interesting side characters to fill the world out.

At the very least, the three-episode collection will be loaded with laughable moments. Which is more than other animated shorts can offer viewers. With only two minutes of content released, Indolent Allen is already deserving of its spot on the Adult Swim Smalls collection, which features some brilliant shorts all the way through. So, regardless of the future of Indolent Allen, we look forward to watching the next two episodes set to release over the next two weeks.