Review: Trap Universe “Pilot”

It’s a trap!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Meet Eddie G, an all-around nice guy who has to go run errands for his scumbag of a boss. This week’s episode sees him having to kill of a Barney-looking mascot named “Cuddles” though the cute dinosaur is a lot more difficult and evil to kill than first thought. Fortunately, Eddie G. gets some help, but we learn that the Trap Lord is a corrupt businessman and Eddie G is more or less his bitch.

Our Take

Take Uncle Grandpa and throw in some JJ Villard, and you’ve got an idea of what Trap Universe is all about. It’s just as violent as anything JJ has ever done, but what Trap Universe lacks in a discernible plot, it more than makes up for in the visuals department. The entire 12-minutes features subliminal messages, gruesome action, and a Looney Tunes-type pace.

The cast is rather concise. JJ voices a few characters, and the always reliable Rachel Butera voices a litany of characters that should be more than recognizable from the illustrious voice actor’s past stops at say Golan or The Howard Stern Show. Lastly, Walt Dohrn checks in as a few voices, clearly, JJ calling in a favor to one of his former Dreamworks connections from back in the day.

The visual elements of the series is what sets this one. Constant dismemberment, super creative backgrounds, and character designs that certainly look to make this series look like it should be on Cartoon Network, in fact, you Apple & Onion fans will notice some similarities in character designs for some of our characters. Unfortunately, the dialogue needs a lot of work and I really don’t know Rachel’s talents were truly exhibited for the pilot episode of Trap Universe. Granted, it’s just a pilot today, but I’m hoping moving forward we get more of her.

Last, but not least, the premise of the show feels very reminiscent to pretty much any plot from Squidbillies involving Dan Halen and Early, in that the boss is forcing his employee to do all sorts of crazy jobs for what seems like no real personal gain. It’s funny,  but I would’ve liked to have seen more of Eddie’s work in kids television to really set up the characters better and thereby present us with a stark contrast when we get into the real world of Trap Universe.