Review: Bigfoot “GungaMu”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

On a day he’s feeling most down about his situation, Bigfoot comes across the slowly growing cult of GungaMu run by Orion, whose voice is EERILY close to Paul F Tompkins and is clearly using his founder status to get let laid. Initially Bigfoot is pretty dismissive, but that soon changes when Orion crowns him as the newest incarnation GungaMu, especially after a dip in the lake reveals his own glowing golden fur. In fact, he usurps Orion as leader, being willing to take the journey behind the sun seriously enough to try! But sadly, this only results in massive destruction, killing everyone except Bigfoot in the show’s most impressively animated sequence yet. Still, it finally gives Bigfoot reason to like himself! And if you can’t love yourself in a cult about yourself, then you are truly lost.

OUR TAKE
Bigfoot hasn’t exactly made the biggest splash for me as a series, and this week isn’t much of an exception, but I do think we’ve hit what might be my personal favorite so far. The “definitely not Scientology” cult plotline idea is definitely something that fits well for the show’s remote mountain setting, especially in regards to something such as Bigfoot. It also cuts directly to Bigfoot’s insecurities about a loss of fame and power which he has been quite eager to regain. He’s often talked about once being the King of the Forest, so what better way to be that again than by leading people desperate for guidance to a spaceship beyond the sun? Seems only fitting that he would wrestle power away from its leader if he was placed at the center of the worship (though I have to admit I did not really foresee his fur to actually turn out to be blond after just one rinse. Maybe something in the water?).

One of the big things I enjoy about this plot is how it takes advantage of Bigfoot’s insecurity and need for attention and turns that into both good comedy and using a major character flaw to explore said character. As said, one of the main that really sticks in this version of Bigfoot’s craw is his loss of identity and control over his life, which joining a cult (even one that outright admits it is one) can be appealing as a means of taking back that control, albeit based on an oversimplification or outright denial of reality. However, Bigfoot has also been known so far to have quite a bit of his own brand of charisma, partly due to his oddly mystical nature AND imposing figure. Because of that, it’s no wonder why or how he would be able to grab the reins, while also using his worst aspects to create good storytelling.

This is also probably the show’s sharpest batch of jokes to date so far, with a pretty rapid fire of zingers. Not quite any that made me legitimately laugh, which is what keeps me from giving this a higher score, but plenty that were clever and snappy enough to give me hope that this series is really starting to find its big footing. We’ve got to be at least halfway through with this season at this point, so this episode is a good sign that things should be pretty smooth sailing quality wise from here on out.