Strange Planet Review – Family, Fandom, Footorb, Feels
“Hey there, sounds like a frustrating day. Can I lift your spirits with some jitter liquid?”
A server in a cafe asks two young customers in ‘Strange Planet,’ the 2023 animated series based on Nathan Pyle’s webcomic. Inhabited by gender-fluid blue beings, the animated version is set on a planet where its beings are quite similar to humans but kinder. They have many unique words and phrases, and in this world, ‘jitter liquid’ refers to coffee, probably my favorite word from their lexicon. Or well, ‘limbshake’ was a pretty fun word for prom.
Titled “The Flying Machine,” the first episode of ‘Strange Planet’ follows a popular band that breaks up, sending their ardent fans into a tizzy. Meanwhile, a flight attendant struggles to fit in with her colleagues after a promotion alienates her from her friends. The episode serves as a slow parody of human life and is arguably the weakest of the ten episodes in the first season. It might be wise to watch at least the second edition before deciding to commit to the entire series.
Considering that the original characters from Nathan Pyle’s webcomic are simple blue alien beings, the animation stays faithful to the source illustrations. So, the animation is dominated by blue and pink shades too, although, the colors have nothing to do with gender, in-fact, the show is refreshingly gender fluid. It’s probably a great show for people to see first hand how “they/them” pronouns aren’t all that confusing and work just fine.
“Strange Planet” is laden with parallels to the human world, complete with pop culture references. The beings love to watch a TV series called “Hot beings do hot things” (an obvious dig at “Baywatch”), and the youngsters prefer a show called “Dampires” (this one needs no explanation). The beings on the planet love playing or watching ‘footorb’ (football), feel the same kind of pressure from their caregivers (parents) about marriage, procreation and must have a job to be independent.
In many ways, the series is both a tribute to human life and a subtle mockery of cultural things and phenomena that make little sense yet are taken too seriously by people. Each episode tackles a different aspect of life on ‘Strange Planet,’ from the challenges of romance, new jobs, and heartbreak to helicopter parents, sports obsession, and existential crises (the beings get quarter-life crisis at age 25 too!). Viewers get an alien yet familiar slice of life in each chapter.
While the series may not be very funny, fast-paced, or exciting, it’s the kind of show you can watch at your own pace, with a meandering storyline that makes for enjoyable leisure viewing.
Rating: 7 on 10. You can stream the series on Apple TV+
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