Review: 'Mongrels' episode 1
Mongrels sets the tone very early on. The first scene features a pensioner falling down some stairs to her death.
Her pet cat Marion (accent unknown) tries to give her mouth-to-mouth. This proves to be of no avail as the woman has been dead for four months. So, what do Marion’s fellow felines do to their late owner? Simple - they eat her.
From this opening you can tell what kind of audience they are aiming for. Mongrels pushes the boundaries of taste and admittedly at times it is very funny.
In one of the many Family Guy style cutaways, Anne Frank gives her hiding place away to the Nazis by shouting "Yahtzee". We also see Kali the pigeon's idea for committing the ritual sacrifice of Stephen Hendry and we learn that Dr. Harold Shipman had an accomplice in his murders – a rabbit called Snowdrop who forged the wills of his victims.
Admittedly, I don't think all the cutaways worked. Near the start there were three based on Only Fools and Horses that failed to make laugh, although it is probably due to the fact that I think that Only Fools is overrated anyway.
Despite this grossness, there is tenderness. One of the main plotlines of the first episode was Nelson the metrosexual fox falling in love with a chicken after he hacked into the Facebook account of DJ Toby Anstis (no, I’ve never heard of him either). It is wonderful whirlwind romance full of failed kissing attempts and novel ways of solving that tricky problem of crossing a river with a fox, a hen and a sack of grain on a boat that can carry just two occupants.
This romance did lead to the rudest moment of all: a cockney-knees up song sung by sociopathic fox Vince called "**** Chickens". Probably the most interesting thing about this song is that if it was about anything to do with humans it would no doubt be considered racist. The fact that it is a fox making discriminatory remarks about chickens makes it funny for some reason.
Nelson is not the only one in love. It-bitch Destiny falls in love with a badly behaved dog, proving that it is not only some human women who are attracted to bastards. This includes another disturbing moment, which reveals what dogs are really saying when told to play dead.
Overall, a strong start. You know where you stand with Mongrels, and if you are the kind of person who likes their humour dark, this will be for you.
About the author
The Chained Wolf — read stories — contact (login required)a journalist and Grey Wolf from England
I have worked as a journalist formerly for The Furtean Times.
Comments
Given the amount of advertising this series was given, I thought the first episode was a slight let down.
Though episode 2 improved upon the first, and episode 3 was genuinely funny for the most part.
The writing seems to be improving and I'll defiately be keeping an eye on this series.
i love it, i keep watching it everytime it airs. admitidly, it can be a tiny bit crude, and seems to pull alot of cheap shots at comedy that five year olds like to laugh at (i thought we were past toilet jokes) although it does spin them in a way, coupled with the puppets, that makes older audiences laugh.
not a show id recommened for evreyone, but if you find it, you should watch it c:
**** off, you bunch of ****Ing *****>
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