Review: The Awesomes ‘Hotwire’s Funeral’

Spoilers Below:

The Awesomes made a triumphant return to Hulu last night with two new episodes, the first of which was “Hotwire’s Funeral.”

Although Hotwire’s funeral did take place, the episode focused more on the after-effects of Malocchio’s death and the transformation of Malocchio Jr. – with a little help from Prock. You see, while drunk at the funeral (“Note to self: Stop drinking mudslides”) Prock unintentionally pushed Dr. Malocchio’s weak, pushover-of-a-son into using his father’s serum to turn himself evil. Now a villain (named “The Auditor” or “CPA”), Junior used his powerful girl scream to wreak havoc on the city and overpower The Awesomes & Metal Fella, who is a new vigilante superhero (and an Iron Man rip-off) and irritant to Prock.

By the end, Prock warms to Metal Fella, after he saves Prock and helps The Awesomes fight off Malocchio Jr. by basically wearing him down. At the very end of the episode it is revealed that the new superhero is really Hotwire in disguise, although this isn’t known by Prock.

In Case You Missed It:

1) Dan Mintz, the episode’s writer, will apparently fill random voice roles. In this one, he was spotted as one of Malocchio Jr.’s co-workers, as well as the “English isn’t my first language” guy.

2) While attempting to get Metal Fella’s attention, Prock storms into a business while telling his cohorts, “Let’s run into this store and wave guns around.”

3) Malocchio Jr.’s superhero name unintentionally became “Purseman.” I hope it sticks.

Although this episode didn’t contain as many jokes as a typical season one installment, it managed to set up the new year with several plot reveals and even a bit of a twist with Metal Fella’s identity. Still, there were enough laughs, featuring the show’s typical subtle but quick humor, and a good debut by Maya Rudloph.

Of course Will Forte should also get a mention as the voice of Malocchio Jr., establishing both his new character’s insecurities as well as his aspirations of accomplishment and attention in his father’s wake (no pun intended.) Forte once again excels as a voice actor.

This episode may have ranked lower if it came in the middle of the season, but as a debut, it was a solid kick-off for the show’s sophomore year. Which, if it’s anything like college, means the show has now moved off campus, knows the bars and liquor stores that don’t card, and which sorority is the slutty one.