Season Review: Kevin Season One
Overview (Spoilers Below):
After his owners break up, a cat named Kevin (Jason Schwartzman) moves into a local pet rescue in Astoria, Queens, where he deals with a chaotic group of misfit animals.
Our Take:
Life can change when you least expect it, even to the point of rediscovering a sense of belonging. We, humans, tend to confront these changes, especially the messy ones, but as it turns out, we’re not the only ones who have to deal with this struggle occasionally. Amazon Prime’s latest addition to its adult animation lineup, Kevin, shows that even animals adjust to the new chapter of their lives, including pets. In this case, a housecat named Kevin attempts to find a new home to live after his owners separated. He eventually finds one in the form of a pet rescue facility in Queens, though it’s anything but tranquil, thanks to the wild, furry residents he’ll have to deal with.
Throughout its eight-episode season, the series highlights Kevin’s journey to regain a sense of belonging and adjust to the changes that appeared before him, mainly in the first episode. That includes him struggling to cope with his owners’ divorce, resulting in him cutting himself off from them. Amid this plot progression, Kevin is yet another adult animated series that contains the usual adult jokes, sitcom premises, and pop culture references we’ve come to expect. Think of this as a more raunchier version of Fox’s “Housebroken” if humans can communicate with every animal in existence, such as cats, dogs, and even horses. Would I consider that to be a good thing? It would depend on how much you enjoy dogs and cats engaging in raunchy activities, like us humans do. If not, then you’re probably off adopting some nicer pets. If so, then there’s plenty of naughty ones to go around, packed with enough celebrity stars to convey their feral sides, including Jason Schwartzman, Amy Sedaris, and co-creator Audrey Plaza.
There are certainly plenty of animal-related projects I watched that took advantage of the “animals behaving like humans” premise, particularly ones made for television. Among those productions, Kevin seems the most promising in terms of its themes. With Kevin’s coming-of-age journey and themes of life and belonging, this series felt like it could provide something more than just animals cursing and drinking. While it does have those moments involving its characters, including Armando confronting his abandonment issue, its first season overshadowed them with the usual elements seen in other adult animated sitcoms. Some of them worked in providing chuckles, but most fell flat in their formulaic plots to give the adult nature its wild side. While it may entertain those who enjoy these “talking animal” shows, Kevin is a surprisingly bland and unfunny journey into the big world that’ll likely be abandoned in a week or two.
