Review: The Gaslight District “Pilot”

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OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

In a world long since left to rot, a family of gangsters known as The Smiling Dead go after a big score: an Angel Egg. The only regular human in the world, Melancholy Hill, builds it up as a Human Egg to get more help, but it hatches before they can smash it.

OUR TAKE

We’ve got another new hit from Glitch Productions, who are currently still making waves with each new episode of The Amazing Digital Circus. And while the characters in that are only forsaken by god metaphorically, this time we have a cast that’s been forsaken by god LITERALLY. The Gaslight District leans much more into the grimdark horror fantasy, mixing post-apocalyptic and faux-religious aesthetics into Glitch’s house style. While the title is about a specific part of this rotting and festering world, this pilot centers on the Smiling Dead, a group of gangsters just trying to stay afloat. Among them being the only regular human left, Melancholy, who wants to be a full fledged member, despite her father figure Ken the Butcher wanting to protect her from it. That sounds like a simple enough premise on its own, though you may be hard pressed to get that out of watching the pilot itself, as it throws a LOT of lore and backstory at you right out of the gate. That’s understandable to a degree, seeing as this is a very different sort of world and it therefore needs quite a bit of explanation beforehand. But TOO MUCH can make it feel like exposition overload, which this episode most definitely borders on at least once or twice, not helped by how nearly overflowing with Glitch’s usual animation flourishes.

But all of that, ideally, is meant to introduce to the characters, on whom all of this hinges. Without a likable or at least understandable cast to follow, one might as well be just be screaming their fanfics into the void. And in the case of this pilot, it’s really just about establishing the relationship and situation of Melancholy and Ken, with Melancholy desperately wanting to join the gang her dad leads and him wanting more for her, which is communicated pretty sufficiently. There’s also their goons, Mud and Breadhead, the latter being voiced by Gianni Matragrano, who I recognize from his Youtube channel dubbing memes, so it’s nice to see him getting notable voice work even if it’s as a man with a bread loaf for a head. Overall, this episode is kind of a lot all at once, but it makes some sense considering that, like most pilots, is meant to be pitching the show to new viewers and potential investors. Personally, I think this is an okay start to the show, though not the best it could’ve been, but I do hope they get more chances to do better with future installments. As for the future of this series, that apparently depends on how well the merch on the website sells and if they can get outside funding. So, if you want to get gaslighted more, go support the show.