Review: Dead Pixels “Big Nose”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Nicky is just going about his business when Meg announces that Big Nose is dead. Nicky can’t quite believe that Big Nose, the world’s top Kingdom Scrolls streamer, has perished in the real world. He tries to deny it, but sinks into a funk that can’t even be cured by attending Allison’s party.

Meanwhile, Meg tries to take over Big Nose’s reign by streaming herself playing Kingdom Scrolls 24/7. It doesn’t go very well, since she makes less than minimum wage and is constantly pestered with unwanted attention from weird guys. but at least she’s safe at home, unlike Usman, who’s playing the game as he flies his commercial aircraft.

Our Take:

Big Nose is a bit of a return to the usual after last week’s more unique outing. We get a storyline focused more on mining comedy than heart, and two distinct plot lines for Meg and Nicky. They stem from the same event, though, and the conclusion brings them together in a small way, showing that Dead Pixels isn’t contend to just let bygones be bygones.

Dead Pixels might be a show from 2019, but the inciting event for this episode could have been taken right from 2020: a beloved public figure dies unexpectedly, leaving behind heartbroken fans. In one of the funniest jokes this week, the Big Nose fanbase even tries to start up a Kickstarter campaign to freeze the deceased streamer cryogenically. The levels of devotion inspire Meg’s choice to try streaming on for herself.

Meg’s plot is fun at first, but quickly becomes a little trite. There’s some good gags to be found in the world of game streaming, but the show runs through most of them in the first five minutes, leaving the rest of Meg’s storyline to be filled with an odd Russell encounter where he anonymously becomes her biggest doner and is reprimanded by his mother, who claims this is a frequent occurrence from him.

Nicky’s story is less meaty, but a little funnier by the end of everything. He’s oddly fixated on the death of Big Nose, and goes around depressed afterwards. Allison invites him to her party since his crush from work will be there, and he ends up going, but runs into the bathroom and gets trapped in an awkward situation. This is the point in the episode where Usman takes center stage. At this point, he’s the far and away winner of the series, and playing Kingdom Scrolls in an airplane only seals the deal.

The fourth episode of Dead Pixels doesn’t really advance or build on last week’s events, but maybe it doesn’t need to. This is the type of show you can turn on for a laugh or catch midway through and not be mad about it. It feels a lot like a Saturday morning cartoon in this way, albeit one that’s made for adults. Big Nose was funny, but not quite as well done as the previous episodes. Hopefully it levels up next week.