Summary
Mulligan is a dull time when it becomes apparent what the creator’s view of society is.
It’s a strange time to release an animated series that revolves around a Great Reset, especially with conspiracies going haywire since the Pandemic and the War in Ukraine (and let’s not even talk about the increased evidence of UFOs).
Animated series involving societies collapsing and starting again are not new. Time Traveller Matt Groening is renowned for predicting the future (or telling us what will happen) by placing his characters in world-defining moments. However, you must ponder if we are merely manifesting our destiny through colorful, easy-to-digest media.
Netflix packaged Mulligan follows Earth from an Alien Invasion. The aliens bring society down to a pulp, but then they are quickly destroyed by low-intelligent Matty Mulligan (voiced by Nat Faxon), who throws a grenade into the Mother Alien Ship. Matty, who has immediately presumed the President of the USA, has to work with survivors to rebuild society around the now disheveled Washington D.C.
Mulligan loves to play with societal ironies. In the first episode, the series enjoys watching Jeff Bezos fly into space to escape the invasion and be immediately destroyed by an asteroid, highlighting how, culturally, we show little importance to getting off this planet due to Twitter opinions on Billionaires.
This series includes many references to Western Culture that reflect the world today and the many contradictions that result from our perceived systems.
But Mulligan has an issue that many comedies have today. There’s a substantial difference between making jokes purely to make audiences laugh and trying to joke around a political statement. When you have to fudge political ideas into gags, it feels shoehorned, diluting the story’s legitimacy.
Mulligan is dull when it becomes apparent what the creator’s view of society is. This is the exact reason why Velma did not work—it took everything that made Scooby-Doo funny and enticing and made it a statement no one asked for. Mulligan has not had the chance to be funny yet.
Audiences, for the most part, require Film and TV to be fun.
Netflix has not acquired its next Big Mouth or Groening’s Disenchantment. We’ve reached a point in art where the status quo of what a product should look like has become innately boring, and Mulligan is one of them.
This is no slight at the voice cast; they are absolutely fine, but the story and the jokes that entwine it make it an entirely dull experience.
Despite the plenty of promos, Mulligan is a disappointment.
