Review: Teenage Euthanasia “Nobody Beats the Baba”

Overview:

Pride, passion, and prizes are on the line when the Fantasy family heads off to the Annual Funeral Parlor Convention, Fun Con, with Baba determined to secure the title of “Best Fluid” at this year’s festivities. Baba’s competitive spirit carries over to the rest of her family as each of the Fantasys get caught up in Fun Con’s attractions, but while Trophy confronts a triggering presence from her past, Uncle Pete struggles with projections of the future–or a future–that leave him looking inward.

Our Take:

A well-established trope that’s frequently turned to for comedic purpose is the caricature of the huckster salesman who will do anything to manipulate his mark and make a sale. The conniving nature of this character becomes more successful depending on their craft and there’s a natural level of comedy to retrofitting sleazy negotiation tactics to morbid funereal customs. This sly consumerist slant is present in each of the stories in “Nobody Beats the Baba,” yet it’s applied to an eternally dark context due to the fatalistic nature of Fun Con. This extreme dichotomy of values erects a strong foundation on which to build this busy episode of Teenage Euthanasia. 

The first half of “Nobody Beats the Baba” properly sets everything up so that the episode’s second half can connect all of these dots in a satisfying manner. It’s a well-paced installment that doesn’t struggle with coming up with enough story to fill a full half-hour or that it’s forced to fly through so much material that nothing gets a chance to breathe. Certain sections are a little looser than they need to be since the exploratory nature of the Fun Con structure allows a lot of “Nobody Beats the Baba” to just be watching different funeral presentations play out as the audience passively takes part in demonstrations along with the Fantasy family. Nevertheless, the characters and storytelling drive all of this forward and the eccentricities of the convention never overwhelm the episode or begin to feel needless or like distractions.

The main plot of “Nobody Beats the Baba” is no slouch in the weirdness department and there’s an expected level of strange that follows these characters around. This episode still finds a few occasions to go even further to make sure that the audience never has a chance to properly regain their bearings, like with the peculiar method to weed child predators out of a crowd. The rat-based conditions of the episode’s embalming-centric finale highlight the unpredictable, surreal way in which Teenage Euthanasia can resolve its broader storylines. The open-surgery movie date also feels like the perfect distillation of Teenage Euthanasia’s grim sense of humor and how it mixes the dark with the light.

Teenage Euthanasia’s look doesn’t stray far from Augenblick Studios’ standard style, but the contrasting color palette that’s full of harsh neons feels appropriate for the animated series’ Florida locale. “Nobody Beats the Baba” gives the animation plenty of opportunities to show off through the different Fun Con booths, which manages to give a good idea of how the show looks and the type of animation to expect from it. The heights of the show’s animation aren’t breathtaking, but there’s still an attractive look to it all that should bring people back for more. There’s a lot of variety present in this episode and “Nobody Beats the Baba” isn’t just restricted to the typical funeral home sights, which pushes the characters out of their usual comfy environments in a helpful manner.

Teenage Euthanasia doesn’t formally premiere on Adult Swim until September 19th and “Nobody Beats the Baba” is actually the season’s fourth episode rather than their pilot. This puts a little more weight on the decision to advertise the new series with this installment and it works out in Teenage Euthanasia’s favor. It’s unclear if the production team thought that this was their strongest episode or an entry that would pair particularly well with Rick and Morty’s finale, but it effectively showcases what Teenage Euthanasia has to offer. “Nobody Beats the Baba” functions as a decent introduction to the series’ characters, but also the weird world that it occupies. The advent of Fun Con highlights many of the odd corners of the funeral home scene.

“Nobody Beats the Baba” is also a strong episode to spotlight Trophy’s chaotic impulses and how she catapults between emotional extremes (and Maria Bamford’s vocal performance at Trophy truly excels in this regard). She’s ready to engage in poltergeist madness at a moment’s notice and is literally itching to wield waves of crotch beetles, but the character still exhibits a softer, tender nature that’s easy to love and to want to be around. This sneak preview also effectively establishes the toxic nature of the Fantasy family and how their love can taint the characters’ happiness and infect everything, even if there’s still an inherent sweetness that does bind these weird people together. 

“Nobody Beats the Baba” makes for an entertaining introduction to the universe of Teenage Euthanasia and it’s appreciated that this is such a busy installment where each of the stories feel distinct and connect. However, there’s a frantic energy that’s hard for the series to maintain during certain moments. It amounts to a series that’s far from perfect, but one that shows off a ton of promise with a rich, weird landscape that isn’t afraid to get silly or sick in the name of comedy. Whether audiences return for more doses of Teenage Euthanasia or it becomes a one-off fever dream, there’s a lot to to be drawn to in Adult Swim’s latest animated subversion.

Oh, and the Fantasy family loses the fluid finals. Those things are all politics, anyway.