by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
As a parent, our family watches a lot of animated television shows. It’s typically geared towards a younger audience, and there are so many different options for outstanding animated television for kids. Sometimes, as an adult, animated television shows are a change of pace, needed to break up the monotony of sitcoms, shared universes, and spinoffs. Animation on television doesn’t always get its time in the sun. There are a bunch of great animated television shows on right now, spread out across a variety of different services. If you’re in the mood for the old highlights of animation, The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park,and Bob’s Burgers are all still on TV. If you’re looking for a more adult-oriented animated television show, there’s Harley Quinn, Archer,and Rick and Morty. Shows like Central Park, Solar Opposites, Monsters at Work, and BoJack Horsemen have great followings. FXX recently debuted an adult animation show right on time for Halloween.
Little Demon, created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner, and Kieran Valla, is about teenager Chrissy (Lucy DeVito) living with her mom Laura (Aubrey Plaza) in Delaware. Chrissy’s life is turned upside down when she learns her father is Satan (Danny DeVito), and that she is the child that is promised to bring about Hell on Earth. Her parents soon wage a war to see who can control Chrissy’s soul, even though she’s a teenager with a mind of her own now. Little Demon is 10 episodes and is on FXX and Hulu.
The first thing that stands out to me was how violent and gory the show is. It caught me off guard, and I was not prepared for that aspect. I’m not just talking about violence for an animated show. I’m talking violent for a general TV show. Sure, it can get away with more because it’s animated. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I was caught off guard. It’s also not like it’s just one episode that is violent. It’s relentless and feels a little too over-the-top.
Both Lucy and Danny DeVito are solid in their roles, but Danny as Satan worked for me. At times, it does feel like he is losing interest in the role and doesn’t care about his dialogue much. For the majority of the season, though, Satan is a funny and engaging character for the audience. I like Aubrey Plaza, but at times I feel like she is doing her best April Ludgate impression from Parks and Recreation.
The best part of Little Demon is the relationship that Chrissy has with both her parents. She has different relationships with each of them, but we see glimpses of her evolving relationship with her dad. Satan’s parenting style is more laissez-faire, and it comes back to bite him on multiple occasions. Since Laura has all the history with Chrissy, being a teenager is a different ballgame. The ninth episode focuses on a fight that the two of them have. It begins like any other mother-daughter fight, over a small disagreement. Then it begins to balloon out of control. This is where Little Demon is at its best, both comedically and emotionally. Since there’s a lot of history between Laura and Chrissy, seeing some of that explored through things like fights and disagreements gives us a chance to see how they handle crises. It’s an opening to their relationship, and is a unique way to showcase what they mean to one another.
When the show leans into these emotional themes, it does become enjoyable. There’s an episode that is dedicated to dogs that tug on your heartstrings, especially if you’ve ever had a dog pass away. It is an interesting episode about learning to let go, but remembering all the great times you can have with other people. Between this and the episode where Laura and Chrissy have a huge argument, the more emotion Little Demon shows, the better it is. It’s too bad that these are the only real times that it did this.
There is no overarching story for the most part. Most of the episodes are standalone, with exception of two. The nice thing about that is you can plop in and out whenever and wherever you want to keep the show going. The bad thing, though, is that if you are looking for any type of substance to the plot, you most definitely will not find it here. Not only does the story not exist, but it just feels too sitcom-like at times. The humor grosses people out with jokes that cross the line and are mainly used as shock value.
The final episode of the season had me for a moment with what could have been an interesting storyline about family. The big reveal at the end of episode nine is significant, and it could have changed the trajectory of how I felt about the show. But it squanders away any good graces it could have had, and reverts to its jokes and violence. I wanted to see where they would have taken this plot point, but they decided it didn’t matter enough to proceed forward.
Little Demon is not a show I particularly enjoyed. I understand there is an audience out there who will enjoy the gross-out humor, violence, and performances. Unfortunately, I found myself uninterested in a good chunk of the series, and it never really captivated my attention. I was hoping to enjoy this because I like the performers and the creative team behind it. I just didn’t get what I wanted out of it. Even if this gets renewed for season two (and that’s a big if), this show lost me after episode two. It’s best to invest your time in other shows out there, especially when it comes to animation.
Score: 4/10
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