Big Mouth is another project from the brilliant mind of Nick Kroll, and season after season he and the other creators prove they’ve tapped into a brilliant concept. The fourth season of the show is arguably the most progressive yet, taking a look into its own flaws while still bringing concepts to further teach and relate to the physical and mental struggles of young people going through puberty. Here’s how the episodes rank, from worst to best:
10. “The Hugest Period Ever”
All of the episodes in season four are fast paced and packed with the usual hilarity. However, this episode falls just flat of what Big Mouth’s charm usually amounts to. Jessi (Jessi Klein) gets her period while the crew is staying at summer camp and is too afraid to put in a tampon.
As a result, she wears a pad in the water while she’s swimming and sucks up all of the water. Meanwhile, Nick (Kroll) is avoiding showering at the camp because he’s shy about the size of his penis, and Missy (Jenny Slate) is getting a makeover and learning more about what it means to be a black woman. The episode covers some interesting topics, including tampons, penis insecurities and learning what it means to be a black woman in today’s society, but it’s not as quippy and entertaining as the rest of this season’s content.
9. “The New Me”
The season premiere is certainly a strong start. We see Nick and Andrew (John Mulaney) in the heat of their fight headed to summer camp, and we meet one of the first transgender characters on the show. The episode is a strong opener, but the storyline between Jay (Jason Mantzoukas) and Lola (Kroll) seems quite forced.
I will admit, however, that their storyline does become one of the best of the season. The audience is also blessed with an appearance from Seth Rogen as Seth Goldberg, Nick’s camp best friend.
8. “Poop Madness”
The final episode of the crew at summer camp has Andrew suffering poop delusions from being too uncomfortable to poop for the past four weeks. He and Nick finally make up, and order is restored to the show.
We get a great scene from Tito the anxiety mosquito (Maria Bamford) as she terrorizes Nick, and we see a hilarious song from a small bunny about poop madness. It has quite a lot of funny stereotypes and truths about summer camp and the relationships that come from them.
7. “Nick Starr”
In an anxiety-induced episode that’s unlike any we’ve seen before, Nick has a vision of his future self. He’s a talk show host who has alienated everyone in his life for fame and money. In light of the death of Missy and the end of the world, he decides to go back to his hometown and tell Jessi how he’s always felt about her. The episode is a nice change of pace in the middle of the season, and the dystopia is fitting for the world vibes right now.
6. “The Funeral”
The audience sees the return of David Thewlis as The Shame Wizard in this episode. Andrew is wracked with guilt as he believes it’s his fault his grandfather died because he deviated from his masturbation routine. He decides to try and embrace his deviation and ends up getting caught masturbating at his grandfather’s funeral.
At the same time, we see Matthew (Andrew Rannells) being iced out by his mom after she found dirty texts between him and his boyfriend, Aiden (Zachary Quinto). Jessi deals with the Depression Kitty (Jean Smart), and the hormone monsters Maury (Kroll) and Connie (Maya Rudolph) defend their kids with all of their might. The episode is filled with secondhand embarrassment and frankly, any episode where Rannells gets to sing is a great episode.
5. “Four Stories About Hand Stuff”
This episode is one of the most interesting in the entire series. The topics deal with enthusiastic consent, coercion, feminine pleasure and more. We see Jay and Lola trying to find a balance with Lola’s pleasure, Matthew and Aiden having an honest conversation about how far they should or should not be taking their sex life right now, Andrew learning to deviate from his masturbation routine and Jessi feeling uncomfortable giving her boyfriend a handjob. The episode is poignant, funny and very good for young people to watch.
4. “What Are You Gonna Do?”
The season finale of season four brings the return of Nick’s alter ego, Nick Starr. As he tries to take over Nick’s body, Nick is forced to face his largest insecurities with the help of his closest friends. Jay and Lola break up, Matthew comes out to his dad and a lot of great plotlines are set up for next season.
However, the best part about this episode is the implementation of a new voice for Missy with Ayo Edebiri. There was a lot of controversy over the fact that the black character was voiced by a white actress, and that was rectified by the creators. It was great to see, even though Jenny Slate’s portrayal is iconic. It’s exciting to see what Edebiri will do with the character.
3. “Horrority House”
In this Halloween episode, the kids head to a haunted house, where they are drugged and each of their experiences is horror-tailored specifically to them. Missy deals with her identity crisis, Nick deals with his alter ego, Jessi is stuck in a mental institution and Andrew faces all of his greatest fears and anxieties like being on a plane when it crashes. The whole episode is hilarious and very engaging, and the audience isn’t able to look away the whole time.
2. “A Very Special 9/11 Episode”
As far as mocking scenarios around 9/11 go, Big Mouth is one of the best examples of how to approach it with careful tact. The students take a field trip to New York City to see the 9/11 memorial. At the same time, Coach Steve (Kroll) is trying to celebrate his birthday and instead learns the truth about what happened on 9/11 from Matthew. Feeling bad about ruining his birthday, Matthew tries to make it up to him.
Meanwhile, Nick and Andrew sneak off to meet Jessi’s new boyfriend, Michael Angelo (Sterling K. Brown). At the same time, Missy hangs out with DeVon (Jak Knight), the only other Black kid at school.
The episode tackles an interesting topic of “code-switching” for Black people and the different personas they present to different groups of people to stay safe in the world. It deviates from the typical health and wellness topics the creators tackle, but it’s very important. Also, who can resist laughing at Brown’s hipster British accent?
1. “Cafeteria Girls”
This is arguably one of the funniest episodes in the show’s history. This meta episode shows Nick and Andrew trying to get girlfriends who are a year below them so they don’t strike out with the girls their own age.
The audience finds out that the girls have their own show called “Cafeteria Girls” that rivals the boys’ “Big Mouth.” The two treat the girls like they’re objects and try to swap who they’re dating, but they become fed up with their misogynistic behavior and break up with them. It’s hilarious and the vocal performances are brilliant in this episode.
