June 10, 2017

Moral Orel: Season 2


In my recent Aqua Teen post I commented on how utterly pointless that show is, and how it represents Adult Swim at large so well. Turns out, Moral Orel has to be one of the most specifically focused, brutal satires on the network. Holy hell, this show - and this season in particular - was relentless in its outright animosity toward religious Middle America. Admittedly, we've come a long way since 2006-2007... or at least we had, before 2016 came and... suffice it to say, the "problem with America" is really no longer the ultra-conservative Christians. (For now, I guess.)

Feels like I'm stepping in something. My point, I think, is that the staunchly religious feel like a very "dated" target. And holy hell, this is vicious in a way it seems like you can't even be toward Christian fundamentalists anymore. This whole dumb town is just loaded with assholes excusing their terrible behavior by being pious. Orel's father is easily the worst of them all - drunk, abusive, and unable to take any guff or backtalk from his kids or his wife.

The first season of this show felt very formulaic and a bit lighter, with Orel learning a lesson (almost always the wrong one) from church or school or his father or something, making a mess out of things, and then taking away the wrong lesson a second time about why what he did in the first place was bad. Here in the second season, there's just a lot more anger and bullshit and apparent emptiness. It ends on a dark, sad two-parter in which Orel finally, finally begins to realize that his father is a piece of shit.

Anyway, I'm far too late to this one to be enjoying it to the fullest, but it's still an enjoyable watch. Consider it, if you never have!

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