Last February, I interviewed Hamish Steele, the creator of the comics that Dead End is based on. It was lovely and I could not wait for the show to drop. Sadly, it dropped right as all the summer work here at Multiversity was kicking into high gear. I may be a bit late on this first episode but that won’t stop me from singing “Dead End’s” praises. Or screaming it, as the case may be.
As always, spoilers ahead.
1. That’s Not How I Heard It In My Head
So I’ve now seen this opening scene, and episode really, in different configurations four different times. Once during the original webcomics serialization, once when that was self-published, once when it was re-done and re-published by Nobrow, and now as an animated show; the short Cartoon Hangover did doesn’t count. It’s been really cool to see Hamish grow as a storyteller and how he has grown. It’s especially fun in seeing how he’s tailored the presentation of the same events to the medium and form he’s working in; webcomics work differently from graphic novels which work differently from animated TV shows, after all.
I couldn’t help mentally compare it all and I think that did a disservice to “The Job” for me. Jokes didn’t land as hard, scenes weren’t as suspenseful, and all I kept waiting for was to find out if Pugsly would sound like Kevin Michael Richardson or not. I was also thrown by the pronunciation of Temeluchus. I thought it was pronounced like “tumultuous” not Tehmuh-Lucas. That’s gonna take some getting used to.
But I still found myself having a blast and the 24ish minutes went by in the blink of an eye. It’s got the right amount of spooky for younger kids to trigger interest without overloading them with fright and enough mystery and wonderful characters for all ages.
2. Feed Me, Courtney
Can we stop to appreciate how terrible Courtney’s bosses are? No appreciation for all the work she did in making flyers to bring unsuspecting teens to the park. No appreciation for getting not one, but TWO potential vessels as well as a third unexpected Pug. Not even a small bump in pay for successfully placing him in a new body. What an absolute jerk hole Temeluchus is.
Sure, Courtney ends up getting him trapped in a photo thanks to bringing these two goofuses to Dead End and sure, she got him put in a dog’s body, but what has Temeluchus done to earn his place on that throne, eating haunches and lording it over the peons? Nothing! That’s what.
I look forward to when the residents of Dead End unionize and demand better conditions from their strange green spirit bosses.
3. Land Land
I’ve never been to Dolly Land but I have to assume it’s something like this – or like this but less unsettlingly empty and slightly decrepit. I’m curious to see how Dead End will end up portraying the park. Right now we’ve only seen it at dusk and devoid of all employees. I guess I’m wondering if it’ll be more Rye Playland or like the portable fold-up carnivals that show up at the Garden State Plaza as if summoned from another plane of existence full of death traps, dubious food stalls, and a soundtrack that’s always just a little bit off.
Ooooh maybe there will be deep fried oreos.
4. Home is Where the Log Is
One of the nice additions to the show is getting to see Norma & Barney’s home life. I don’t want to do too many comparisons between the comic versions and this – like how Barney is more introverted and how they aren’t friends at the start, which is a change I love storytelling wise – but I feel it’s appropriate here since, well, we don’t really get any of this in the original. It’s a smart move to quickly establish the character’s personalities and contrast their relationship to their families. Or their mothers since we don’t meet anyone else yet, the mention of a Grandmother aside.
Norma has an overbearing but doting mother whom she loves but is clearly annoyed with while Barney has a mother who cares but is confused at best and unsupportive at worst. From the outset, Barney’s pre-show transition is positioned as a source of tension in his family, sowing the seeds for the episode’s ending sequence where Barney decides to stay at Dead End for the night. It’s not necessarily that he feels unsafe at home but he feels unwelcome, be it intentional or not, and that often hurts more.
Continued belowWithout that small scene at home, we would not grasp the nuances of Barney’s situation nor would his choice hit so hard at the end. It is both a moment of profound tragedy and a deep sigh of relief as he prioritizes himself over his family’s expectations for who he is. Barney is a good egg and deserves all the best. Sadly I think his new job is going to keep putting him in spooky, log-flumey, potential murder ghost haunty situations.
5. Ongoing Shenanigans
What can we expect from the rest of the season? Well, we’ve got the mystery of what happened to all the Polly impersonators that got eaten by the house. We need to know what the deal is with the elevator. We need to know what the other employees at the park will be like. And we need MORE GORM. Oh, Gorm is the weird red worm creature. I love his design.
And I guess we’ll need to see what’s up with Pugsly who can now talk thanks to the tiny bit of Temeluchus stuck in him. Whoops!
That about does it for now! Thank you for joining me for the premiere of a show I think I will enjoy very much love. Next time you can join me over at Boomb Tube where I’ll be covering the rest of the series ‘till the finale. See you there! And stay spooky y’all.
Best Line of the Night:
Courtney: “What makes you think you’d be a good flesh vessel?”
Barney: “Um…Flesh?”
