The Midnight Gospel (8 Eps)
In the conversation of modern animation, there is no ignoring the impact that Adventure Time had on the industry arguably saving the industry at least in the west. Without Adventure Time, the modern animation renaissance of shows like Gravity Falls, Over the Garden Wall, We Bare Bears, and others would fail to exist. Behind Adventure Time stood Pendleton Ward who 10 years after releasing the first season of Adventure Time, Ward finally has released a new original animated series this time leaving Cartoon Network for Netflix and taking a much more mature and adult focus with The Midnight Gospel. Following a young man named Clancy Gilroy (Duncan Trussell) who travels to a different simulated world every episode interviewing various individuals for his podcast, The Midnight Gospel is part fictional insane tripped-out sci-fi and part grounded philosophical conversations on meditation and death.
Breaking the show down keeping these two sides separate, the sci-fi visuals and world-building is perfectly mind-bending and intriguing creating a world that simultaneously feels disorienting and drug-induced while also being creative enough to suck you in wanting to know more about how everything works. Similar to the earlier seasons of Adventure Time, The Midnight Gospel slowly begins to reveal information regarding its world and characters that both is rewarding but not distracting. At no point does the series feel disappointing for not further exploring this fantasy world (one issue within early Adventure Time) but rather it feels like a bonus little piece of engagement complimenting the major discussions within the show. The animation is also pretty impressive. Where there are some scenes where it can come off as choppy, the show constantly has fun with creating some insane worlds and character designs again really complementing the philosophical discussions that really give the show its purpose and substance. The voice acting also goes a long way in selling the comedy and fun of the show, Duncan Trussell and the rest of the cast gives extremely personable performances partly due to them often speaking from their own real-world perspectives and partly from having a lot of freedom in their performances. Without having to create really well-rounded characters that will be staying in the world for more than 20ish minutes, these characters and the performance behind them are allowed to play more into the bizarre than normal becoming one of the biggest highlights of the show.
Where the show has fun as a trippy sci-fi adventure show, it almost feels like a trojan horse for deeper explorations on purpose and the human condition. For the vast majority of each episode, the characters and dialogue pay little attention to whatever craziness is taking place in the animated world even often breaking character giving little to no concern about keeping the illusion of the show alive. One would think that these diametrically opposed sides of the show would make it feel incoherent and messy but it works shocking well. Sure it is near impossible to fully grasp both the deep conversations and insane sci-fi action at the same time almost mandating multiple viewings of the show to truly appreciate everything it has to offer, but each side is so effective that no matter what single side catches the audiences attention is a worthy experience. There are legitimately incredible conversations within this show that express emotions and human truths that nearly no other piece of art has the ability to capture. Specifically, when the focus of the show turns from meditation to the acceptance of death (not that those two conversations are completely independent), the emotions become painful and incredibly impactful accumulating in the show's finale "Mouse of Silver" where Duncan Trussell's real mom Deneen Fendi who is dying of cancer comes onto the show giving a raw emotional look at her acceptance of what is to come in a conversation with her son who also clearly is hurting. Where The Midnight Gospel might paint itself as a fantasy show, the emotional toll it has on audiences is painfully real.
Where The Midnight Gospel might not be as well built as some other hard-hitting adult animated series such as Bojack Horseman, it still is a raw look at emotions and life that is bound to leave an impact on most audience members. The Midnight Gospel is available right now on Netflix and with only 8 episodes each running for 30 minutes, it is an easy binge-watch that will have audiences both laughing and crying from start to finish.
Where The Midnight Gospel might not be as well built as some other hard-hitting adult animated series such as Bojack Horseman, it still is a raw look at emotions and life that is bound to leave an impact on most audience members. The Midnight Gospel is available right now on Netflix and with only 8 episodes each running for 30 minutes, it is an easy binge-watch that will have audiences both laughing and crying from start to finish.