Review: Finance Family Bunker “Mr. Finance’s Will”

 

Overview:

It is time for the family to wear their cloaks and proceed through the annual ritual of writing Mr. Finance’s will. Performed like a game of Mad Libs, the executor of the estate could be any name thrown into the hat. Unfortunately for Aidan, the family once again teams up to make his life miserable. And while Howie offers a fresh idea, things quickly go off script.

 

Our Take:

Much to the joy of animation fans, Finance Family Bunker has been a fresh addition to the Comedy Central collection of shorts on YouTube. Created by the comedy group Simple Town, the five-episode series has offered something unique to the traditionally animated sitcom. While some of these episodes have been more side-splitting than others, things go off the rails in this fourth edition.

Finance Family Bunker features a family of entitled rich Americans hunkering down in their bunker after the world has faced an apocalypse. With nothing to do, the family spends their days entertaining themselves, mostly by making each other’s lives miserable.

This latest episode, “Mr. Finance’s Will”, is a shining opportunity to make the family sweat as they decide where all the money will go after the patriarch passes away. That is despite the fact that Mr. Finance is in cryogenic stasis and will likely never die. Regardless, Drone Nurse capitalizes on another opportunity to make Aidan’s life hell by making her the sole beneficiary of the estate. And while it is funny enough to listen to Aidan squeal, the remainder of the short takes a much different turn.

When Howie begins to make his proposal to turn the bunker into a hospital for orphan children, he turns himself in to the target of mockery. However, having fun in the recording studio, the Simple Town comedy group get out of hand.

For no explainable reason, the characters begin jacking off. Not only that, but they are also describing it in disturbing detail. Meanwhile, Howie makes it explicitly clear that “my character is not jacking off”. As the whole cast breaks out in laughter, the episode never gathers its bearings, ending in a chaotic ruckus.

While this off-script, fourth-wall-breaking humour would be the downfall of most animated programs, it works effectively for Finance Family Bunker. The fun that this cast has poured on the screen, and it is hard not to be entertained and laugh alongside them. Truthfully, this improvised freedom is best at squeezing at natural laughs as you are brought into the joke. Adding the animation around this kind of breakdown is almost better than anything that could have been scripted.

Regardless of what happens to this potential series in the future, these shorts are absolutely worth watching if you want a quick laugh. It is near-impossible not to giggle alongside the cast as they have their fun. Reckless and raw, this episode is the best of the series thus far and makes you want to dive deeper into Simple Town content.