Content Warning: The shows “Big Mouth” and “Human Resources” feature a lot of graphic sexual content that may be a bit much for some readers. There will also be a few spoilers for the first season of “Big Mouth” and “Human Resources.”

“Big Mouth” is probably one of the most surprising shows I’ve ever seen. Its creators are Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flakett, whose combined credits include “The Kroll Show,” “Family Guy,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” and “Nim’s Island.” The animation is fugly, and the show’s content is often extremely graphic and crude. The pilot episode is titled “Ejaculation,” and features the main characters, all in middle school, dealing with issues that arise during puberty, all while accompanied by animated penises, sperm, and fallopian tubes. Andrew, one of the main leads, is terrorized by the Hormone Monster. This literal monster, named Maury and voiced by Nick Kroll, influences his emotions and encourages Andrew to chronically masturbate if he so much as encounters an object vaguely shaped like a woman. It’s all very funny but also incredibly gross.

I kept watching because the show had a few insightful, relatable moments. In one episode, Jessi, Andrew’s young friend, gets her period on a school field trip while wearing white shorts. Her humiliation, discomfort, and trepidation about her future are authentic. It was a far cry from the incredible joy you see other preteen girls experience once they get their first period. That’s a good thing because, for some young women, getting your first period is very scary, and its arrival means your life is completely different.

While watching “Big Mouth,” it’s clear that the creators of the show are using comedy, and metaphorical monsters, to relive and process the often traumatizing moments that come during puberty. It’s not fun to feel out of control and completely overwhelmed with massive feelings while not having the wisdom or maturity to process those feelings. Puberty is a terrible time that often leads to self-discovery and the formation of strong friendships. The creators of “Big Mouth” recognize this and have created a show to explore those feelings and give voice to other unexplored experiences that can occur during puberty.

The show hit its stride in the second season with the Shame Wizard, voiced by David Thewlis. The Shame Wizard first appears when Andrew is caught masturbating by his best friend’s older sister, and he is the insidious voice that tells Andrew what a disgusting, awful monster he is. The Shame Wizard is the monster who voices the terrible thoughts in your head that say, “You are just as bad as you always feared.”

Frankly, I can’t say enough about how much I love this character and how it not only elevated “Big Mouth” from merely a fun show to an incredible, must-watch, and one of the best shows Netflix has ever produced. The addition of the Shame Wizard opened the door so that “Big Mouth” could continue introducing insightful, relatable “monster” characters that aptly describe feelings experienced during puberty and as we continue to move forward. The characters include but are not limited to, Love Bugs/Hate Worms, Anxiety Mosquitos, Depression Kitties, and the sweetly-wholesome Grati-Toad. 

These additional monster characters are so interesting and unique that it’s understandable why Netflix would greenlight the spin-off titled “Human Resources.” It reminds me a lot of one of my other favorite shows, “Man Seeking Woman,” which similarly used surrealism and metaphor to describe the horrors of dating. In “Human Resources,” we meet a variety of monsters and learn about their different functions for their human clients. Hormone Monsters, the Shame Wizard, and Love Bugs comprise the main cast, as do Logic Rocks, Ambition Gremlins, and even anthropomorphic sweaters from the Grief Department. 

At Human Resources, the various monsters are given human clients and thus must perform their role with a team of other monsters to try and give that particular human the best life. A human “client” could have a Love Bug, a Logic Rock, an Ambition Gremlin, and a Hormone Monster working on the same team together, trying to do what they think is best for their human. Of course, these monsters constantly clash, sometimes with their team members and the monsters helping other humans. 

In the first season, we see a Lovebug and an Ambition Gremlin team up to help their human client, Nadja, lose her virginity, but then disagree over whether Nadja should attend her “safety” school with her girlfriend, or go to her dream school by herself. In Nadja’s family, we meet her father, Amir, and her grandmother, Yara, who is nearing the end of her life. Amir is a devoted father and son who wants the best for his family and who struggles to come to terms with Yara dying. 

In what is easily my favorite episode from the first season, titled “It’s Almost Over,” Amir tries to deal with Yara’s condition logically, relying heavily on his Logic Rock, Pete. Amir is less than thrilled when Keith from Grief, the anthropomorphic sweater I mentioned earlier, shows up and wants to help guide Amir through the process. Naturally, Amir and Pete are like, “Back off, we’ve got this,” and they basically tell Keith to f**k off.

But as anyone who has ever grieved would inform you, you can’t just tell grief to go away. 

Grief is like the Babadook. The more you ignore it, the greater it gets. And Keith from Grief will only become more monstrous as Amir and Pete try to push him away.

It’s only once Amir acknowledges that Yara is dying that he’s able to move forward. The poor man wants to take good care of his mother, but by the end of the episode, it’s clear that it is time for her to go. Yara is ready, but Amir, Pete, and even Yara’s Lovebug, Walter, need to rely on Keith to help them.

One of the things that makes the monsters in “Big Mouth” and “Human Resources” so interesting is that none of them are fully bad or good. There are several episodes where the Shame Wizard rightfully admonishes people for doing bad things. Sometimes, the Lovebugs act irrationally and not in the best interest of their humans. And other monsters, like Keith from Grief, may seem threatening but are really there to help.

The first season of “Human Resources” is packed with great stories. I loved getting to know Yara El-Khoury and her loving family, and I hope to see more of them in future seasons of “Big Mouth.” I also appreciated Becca’s storyline, about a new mother and ambitious lawyer who struggles with depression after the birth of her first child. 

“Human Resources” is a great show because it can tell stories about human experiences that go beyond the crappiness of puberty. I love “Big Mouth,” and I hope it gets infinite seasons because it’s hilarious and heartfelt. But “Human Resources” holds a special place in my heart because it can tell so many more stories beyond puberty. 

I was in tears by the end of “Human Resources” first season. The story about Yara getting older and dying, and how her family dealt with that loss, hit close to home. I also thought the scenes where Becca struggles to feel “motherly love” for her screaming newborn incredibly realistic, and I think that her story could give a lot of comfort to other new parents who are struggling. 

In the second season of “Human Resources,” we’re introduced to several new characters. One of those characters is Paul Krumhorn, a recent widower who doesn’t quite know how to cope or really what to do with his life. Paul has grieved for his wife and continues to miss her, but now finds himself in a new stage of life and unsure of his next steps. Several other twists and turns throughout the season shed additional light on Paul and his family, but I don’t want to spoil the story for people who haven’t watched it. As someone who has grieved a loved one, I will say that the creators demonstrated they understood complicated, messy, and selfish feelings that can arise during that process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBupl81yAEQ

I’ll leave it at this: I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the second season of “Human Resources” since I finished it a few days ago. And now that I’ve learned that the second season was also its final season, I’m devastated. I really thought “Human Resources” was the kind of show that could go on for years, telling a wide array of stories while also keeping us up to date with what our monsters are doing. “Human Resources” has sucker-punched me twice in the span of a few days, and I’m going to need some time to get over this. 

I’ve experienced “show hangovers” more times than I care to admit. I’m not necessarily proud of my ability to get emotionally attached to just about any show. Still, when I get addicted to something (like, say a terrible Disney sequel), I think it deserves a little exploration, even if it is objectively “bad.”

“Human Resources,” and “Big Mouth,” are very much well-written, insightful, heartfelt shows that suck me in. When I watch “Big Mouth,” I feel like I need to read Brené Brown or write a gratitude list. I’d say for a show featuring animated zombie penises and jokes ranging from abortion to incest, that’s pretty impressive.