Going in with high expectations of an extremely trippy and surreal animated collaboration between Duncan Trussell and Pendleton Ward, I sat down to watch The Midnight Gospel as a personal recommendation. Upon watching the first episode, I realised in real time that the entire show was built off Duncan Trussell's podcast, something not explained at all in the show's marketing, and it gave me a truly visceral reaction of confusion and disappointment. Really? After all the hype, it's a glorified animated podcast? That's what we're doing? However, with firm encouragement from my friend, I persevered, and while I didn't enjoy everything that came after, the experience of watching the show is unique. Going in with an open mind, you'll find it to be challenging, thought-provoking, even enlightening in places. Each of Trussell's interviewees is given a uniquely animated microcosm to help illustrate and explore their ideas and perspectives through Ward's complex metaphorical visuals. Undoubtedly, Ward's animation talents are the real show-stealers, and the way his cartoons interplay and synergise with the conversations is breathtaking at the best of times. Some episodes may rely too much on his typical style of cutesy visuals, but for the most part, the marriage of dialogue and animation works well.
Something that catches everyone off-guard about this show is the fact that the show makes little effort to integrate the setting of the cartoon and the context of the conversations in any logical, concordant sense. While there is this elaborate framing device of Trussell's character, Clancy, diving into advanced digitally-simulated worlds at the end of their timelines, the show trusts the viewer to understand that this is all a smokescreen. Clancy is just a cipher for Duncan. Behind all the colourful, bizarre Mix-and-Match Critters are real humans with real perspectives on life, death, and whatever comes in between. There is no delusion that the animations are reflecting any sort of reality even within the fictional setting of the show, they are simply there to provide thematic pomp to whatever is being discussed.
The issue with The Midnight Gospel is that, because it's so inextricably tied to Trussell's podcast and the audio from it, all the flaws inherent to that source material become an albatross round this show's neck. Trussell himself is not always the most engaging host, and his interactions with his guests often lack any form of conflict — he seems to blindly accept any and all ideas that get thrown at him, almost never interrogating some of the more outlandish drivel his opposites may come out with. When it would be more dignified to admit ignorance, his claims of understanding are not always the most convincing. Although admirable in his open-mindedness, Trussell's easy-going style of podcast hosting doesn't always make for good television. The first episode is perhaps the worst in how it devolves into a stereotypical stoner conversation without substance, and frankly sets a terrible first impression for the rest of the show. Since the show is fairly episodic, I'd actually recommend just skipping the pilot entirely and going straight for the better, meatier, more existentially profound stories that follow.
The guests themselves are a mixed bag. I dislike how authoritatively many of them speak on certain subjects that they aren't the most informed about (Damien Echols definitely springs to mind) and I much prefer the less know-it-ally guests who provide insightful questions to chew on rather than definitive answers to choke on. Without spoiling anything, the final episode — ever, since the show has surprisingly not been renewed for a second season — is a beautifully intimate and intensely morbid emotional gut-punch that will make you question life. For better or worse, I now follow in my mate's footsteps to give The Midnight Gospel a hearty recommend to anyone willing to listen.
Life and death
Going in with high expectations of an extremely trippy and surreal animated collaboration between Duncan Trussell and Pendleton Ward, I sat down to watch The Midnight Gospel as a personal recommendation. Upon watching the first episode, I realised in real time that the entire show was built off Duncan Trussell's podcast, something not explained at all in the show's marketing, and it gave me a truly visceral reaction of confusion and disappointment. Really? After all the hype, it's a glorified animated podcast? That's what we're doing? However, with firm encouragement from my friend, I persevered, and while I didn't enjoy everything that came after, the experience of watching the show is unique. Going in with an open mind, you'll find it to be challenging, thought-provoking, even enlightening in places. Each of Trussell's interviewees is given a uniquely animated microcosm to help illustrate and explore their ideas and perspectives through Ward's complex metaphorical visuals. Undoubtedly, Ward's animation talents are the real show-stealers, and the way his cartoons interplay and synergise with the conversations is breathtaking at the best of times. Some episodes may rely too much on his typical style of cutesy visuals, but for the most part, the marriage of dialogue and animation works well.
Something that catches everyone off-guard about this show is the fact that the show makes little effort to integrate the setting of the cartoon and the context of the conversations in any logical, concordant sense. While there is this elaborate framing device of Trussell's character, Clancy, diving into advanced digitally-simulated worlds at the end of their timelines, the show trusts the viewer to understand that this is all a smokescreen. Clancy is just a cipher for Duncan. Behind all the colourful, bizarre Mix-and-Match Critters are real humans with real perspectives on life, death, and whatever comes in between. There is no delusion that the animations are reflecting any sort of reality even within the fictional setting of the show, they are simply there to provide thematic pomp to whatever is being discussed.
The issue with The Midnight Gospel is that, because it's so inextricably tied to Trussell's podcast and the audio from it, all the flaws inherent to that source material become an albatross round this show's neck. Trussell himself is not always the most engaging host, and his interactions with his guests often lack any form of conflict — he seems to blindly accept any and all ideas that get thrown at him, almost never interrogating some of the more outlandish drivel his opposites may come out with. When it would be more dignified to admit ignorance, his claims of understanding are not always the most convincing. Although admirable in his open-mindedness, Trussell's easy-going style of podcast hosting doesn't always make for good television. The first episode is perhaps the worst in how it devolves into a stereotypical stoner conversation without substance, and frankly sets a terrible first impression for the rest of the show. Since the show is fairly episodic, I'd actually recommend just skipping the pilot entirely and going straight for the better, meatier, more existentially profound stories that follow.
The guests themselves are a mixed bag. I dislike how authoritatively many of them speak on certain subjects that they aren't the most informed about (Damien Echols definitely springs to mind) and I much prefer the less know-it-ally guests who provide insightful questions to chew on rather than definitive answers to choke on. Without spoiling anything, the final episode — ever, since the show has surprisingly not been renewed for a second season — is a beautifully intimate and intensely morbid emotional gut-punch that will make you question life. For better or worse, I now follow in my mate's footsteps to give The Midnight Gospel a hearty recommend to anyone willing to listen.