Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Big Mouth Season 7.
The Big Picture
- In Big Mouth Season 7, Jessi and Missy face intimidating situations as they transition to high school, making bold decisions based on what feels right to them.
- Matthew and Caleb demonstrate a caring and honest friendship, supporting each other and showcasing their increasing maturity.
- Andrew learns to apologize and be accountable for his actions, showing signs of maturity, but his friendship with Nick faces challenges in the upcoming season.
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The raunchy, often cringe-worthy, and always boundary-pushing animated series Big Mouth just celebrated its 7th season on Netflix, which proved as bold and as eye-opening as ever in its exploration of puberty. As is made clear at the start of the season, protagonists Nick (Nick Kroll), Andrew (John Mulaney), Jessi (Jessi Klein), and Missy (Ayo Edebiri) are facing the beginning of the end of their middle school chapter. By the end of the series, middle school is over, and high school has just begun, opening up a whole new world of possibilities both exciting and terrifying for the group of friends. Old problems start to become resolved, and new ones are teased, like Missy's homeschooling, or Nick's new friend that threatens Andrew's role. Season 7 of Big Mouth, therefore, refreshingly ends with a beginning - which serves to remind us of how far these characters have come, and how far they have to go when it comes to navigating the highs and lows of being a teenager.
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Big Mouth
Teenage friends find their lives upended by the wonders and horrors of puberty.
- Cast
- Nick Kroll , John Mulaney , Fred Armisen , Jordan Peele , Jason Mantzoukas , Maya Rudolph , Pamela Adlon
- Release Date
- September 29, 2017
- Main Genre
- Animation
Jessi and Missy Grapple with Change in 'Big Mouth' Season 7
As Big Mouth's theme tune states, all the characters are "going through changes" - and never more than at this moment. As Jessi and Missy prepare for high school, they must confront some intimidating situations. Jessi has made an enemy of the tough older high schooler Lulu (Stephanie Beatriz) and initially seeks refuge with Nick's older sister Leah (Chloe Fineman) and her group of girlfriends. However, she finds them increasingly difficult to relate to, and after making amends with Lulu after witnessing her working at a demeaning job in the mall's food court which requires her to sing for tips, she experiences a Freaks and Geeks type of change of heart - complete with a green army jacket - and realizes that she identifies with Lulu's "burnout" group most of all. She is asked to choose between the friendship groups and makes a bold decision based on what feels right to her.
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Meanwhile, Missy becomes increasingly terrified by the prospect of school, especially as she now has to attend without the comforting presence of her boyfriend Elijah (Brian Tyree Henry) who has been given a place at the school of his dreams. A new terrifying, towering, and tar-like monster makes an appearance, and its name is Dread, voiced by Patrick Page. In another example of Big Mouth's talent in exploring the complexities of mental health, Dread starts to take control of Missy's life, prompting her to lie to avoid her first day of school. However, after talking to her parents, she has an emotional breakthrough, which results in the temporary solution of homeschooling. This may not suit her in the long run, as is reflected at the end of the episode when she ruminates that she and the Amazon delivery guy have "zero chemistry," but at least she has opened up about her overwhelming anxiety, which is a starting point. In the end, both Jessi and Missy realize that being honest about difficult feelings can be rewarding and cathartic.
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Matthew and Caleb Form a True Friendship in Season 7
Matthew (Andrew Rannells) and Caleb (Joe Wengert) might initially seem to make an unlikely friendship duo, but running the school newscast together leads to them spending an eventful day together at the shopping mall, which paves the way for a caring and honest friendship. Their day together ultimately strengthens their bond and by taking place in the penultimate episode, their uplifting storyline is able to have its own breathing room. Caleb is presented as being neurodivergent, and a mishap with his usual schoolbag forces him to deviate from his original plan, causing Tito the Anxiety Mosquito to buzz around him in alarm. Bravely choosing to resume shopping with Matthew for a new one, he initially pushes through his discomfort in the name of friendship. However, the constant stimulation of the store becomes overwhelming, and he steps outside for a break. After explaining honestly to Matthew why the store is uncomfortable to be in, Matthew goes inside to ask the staff to make some practical changes that will make it more accessible. Caleb's trust in Matthew has paid off, and he returns the favor by giving Matthew some excellent fashion and styling advice for his new high school look. Their demonstration of a mutually trusting friendship is heartening to see and really showcases their increasing maturity on the brink of high school.
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Andrew Grows As A Character By Saying Goodbye to His Past Selves
In the meantime, Andrew is haunted by ghosts of himself both future and past, as he tries to work out how not to become irreversibly injured by an older kid at school whose girlfriend Timon (Chloe Fineman) he accidentally inappropriately touched. As he goes backward further and further into the past, he frantically tries to figure out how far back he will have to go to reverse some of his most regrettable actions. However, he finally sees the light - he can't undo any of the harm or chaos that he caused as a result of his haywire hormones, but what he does have control over is the ability to offer a genuine apology, and to be accountable for the impact of his actions. He apologizes to Timon for causing her harm, and his future self is rewarded. This is the first time we see Andrew properly starting to mature, whilst being reminded by his past selves of the hilarious and awkward journey he has been on in previous seasons, full of disgusting mishaps, poor choices, and dicey physical injury.
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Nick and Andrew's Friendship Looks Rocky for Season 8
It is the dawn of the cast's big new school - and for Nick, that means an entirely new school too. After a journey that Nick and Andrew take by stowing away in the trunk of Nick's older brother Judd's (Jon Daly) car with the aim to become a "badass" like Judd, which ends with them high and their mothers admonishing a dealer, Nick's mom Diane (Maya Rudolph) decides to intervene to prevent Nick from traveling down the same path as Judd. This entails sending him to a posh private school, which will separate him from his best friend Andrew. Breaking the news to Andrew does not go well, resulting in Andrew's remonstrations of upset and anger that Nick is leaving him.
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However, things get worse when Nick makes a friend at his new school - after breaking free of the utterly haunting sad boys club run by the librarian - with someone also called Andrew (Zach Woods). This leaves the end of the series in a hilarious stand-off between the two Andrews, who feel threatened by one another, and therefore compete over who feels most comfortable using Nick's toilet. This amusing cliffhanger of the boys' tested friendship establishes the new ventures that they are embarking upon and makes us excited for Big Mouth's eighth and final season, which will likely delve into the middle and later stages of puberty as the characters inevitably grow up.
Overall, Season 7 of Big Mouth gave us some brilliant content, including fantastical musical numbers depicting puberty around the world, changes which enabled certain characters to grow, depictions of how far they have come, new guest star appearances including Megan Thee Stallion as a hormone monster, and exciting new friendships. The lovable characters in this season of Big Mouth proved themselves to be capable of change, kindness, and maturity, whilst still making some entertaining mistakes along the way, which makes us interested to see what's next for them in their final showdown.
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Big Mouth Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S.