Metal Cinema: Mr. Pickles

  

Due to too many posts waiting in the queue, I decided to release them this week in the global language only - Polscy czytelnicy wybaczcie!

This time I am cheating a little, as this is not a cinema, but an edgy cartoon that was aired on Adult Swim. Don't expect me to review Dethklok, as I greatly dislike it (for numerous reasons).

First, let's have some facts behind. Created by Will Carsola (who previously directed a video for "Black Label" by Lamb of God) and Dave Stewart. The series was known mostly for the over-the-top violence and gore, and extreme disgust for the humankind as a whole.

The series follows the story of Goodman family (with mom of said family being voiced by none other but Brooke Shields), who have a pet dog, the titular "Mr. Pickles" (because he likes pickles, duh), who turns out to be a satanic kind-of dog, the fact to which the whole town is oblivious. The only person being aware of it, is the grampa, whose attempts at revealing the truth is part of the series numerous gags.

From the Metalhead point of view, the series has a rather cliche Brutal Death Metal opening song, and the series also received an additional special release, namely, "Mr Pickles Trashtacular", a split release between Exodus and Municipal Waste:

 

So you can obviously see that this was not a skin-deep only fascination. The series ran for 3 seasons, with the 4th season actually being a finale episode leading to a (superior) spin-off series "Momma Named Me Sheriff", which lasted only 2 seasons. Will Carsola, whose artstyle is the main imprint of the series, currently seems to be working on "The Adventures Of Murder Man", who is also a mascot to controversial Liquid Death water, which also spawned a Hate Metal band under the same name, obviously sponsored by the company. Sigh.

At first, I kinda hated this series (just like Dethklok), for it's over-the-top edginess and rather stale humor, but I was captivated by the gross Carsola's drawings, and over time I slowly was warming up to the recurring characters of the series. Another thing that I noticed is that Mr. Pickles victims are not lolrandumb characters, but rather people who kinda deserve punishment, which I've found peculiar, as it seemed to imply that the evil devours its own in the first place. Welp, deep.

As with many series, it improved over seasons, and slowly put the main character in the background, giving more focus on character development of the secondary characters. I would say that the show as a whole was constantly trying to subvert expectations, but rather in the mocking-the-viewer kind of way, as for example, the secret behind Mr. Pickles origin. While definitely having a clear backstory, it was on purpose being obfuscated by the creators in the finale, as if it wasn't really that important from their point of view.

As I mentioned before, the show has a very clear disdain for humanity. You can tell by the creators spotlighting the vices, flaws, but also our culture in general, whether it's corporate culture, smalltown culture, liberal culture, or simply consumerism. Everyone receives a punch in the face not necessarily for being stupid, but rather, for being an ignorant asshole.

The spin-off sequel "Momma Named Me Sheriff" that followed immediatelly afterwards was much better in my opinion, as it continued the character development part, a deeper examination of the way people communicate their problems or ills, with even having some consequences to the actions at the end. Alas obviously, it wasn't as popular as gory Mr. Pickles. But, to each their own.

Do I recommend it? Kinda, but keep in mind that before you get to the goods, you will have to go through some imaginative scenes of torture, murder, death, slaughter, massacre, kill. But let me reiterate it again - I started with reservations, I finished with awe.

And that's it.