First Impressions: Out There ‘The Great Escape’ – Gravity’s Little Bitch

In a world where high school shows are mostly about undercooked, repetitive drama, Out There‘s low key brand of comedy and odd visual style are a welcome addition to the television landscape. Created and written by longtime South Park animator/producer Ryan Quincy, Out There is a surprisingly level-headed little show about small-town kids dealing with the uncomfortable life of public school teenagers. The first episode – which oddly, isn’t the pilot, but a episode plucked from mid season – might leave some wanting for more laughs, but there’s no doubting the poignancy in Quincy’s script in the smaller moments that capture the emotional cluster fuck of high school.

‘The Great Escape’ isn’t really about its protagonist Chad (the yellow fur-headed fellow from the promos) – its about his friend Chris, who’s dealing with the high school equivalent of an identity crisis: the unwanted nickname. It’s a story many of us can relate, including myself: in high school, I had the nickname Rabbi, for no other reason then I had a big nose and was good at math. In ‘The Great Escape’, bullies give Chris the nickname Mommy, which spreads around school, antagonizing him everywhere he went.

Hijinks ensue, and when Chad abandons Chris to go hang out with Sharla (Linda Cardellini, of Freaks and Game fame) with the cool kids (who ironically, hang out in a freezer – it’s my favorite little touch in the script), they get into an argument and Chad drops the Mommy bomb on Chris. Angered and looking for a solution, he attempts to gain his credibility back by eating a live rat on stage at the Give Peace a Dance, organized by Sharla.

Underlying all this is the idea of identity in high school: what does a nickname mean, really? When Chris eventually impresses the crowd, he throws out suggestions for new nicknames. He’s greeting with chants of “Mommy!” – and he realizes that it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, shitty nicknames stick, but it’s never anything that can define you, no matter how embarrassing it may seem. That moment of clarity for Chad watching Chris (who exclaims to the crowd “Who’s your mommy now?” with joy) is something you don’t see very often on high school shows (outside of Freaks and Geeks of course… but it’s not fair to compare anything to that), where a teenager steps outside himself for an instant, and realizes how silly all this shit is.

In the closing voice over, Chad watches Chris celebrate over the lines: “There’s a fine line between social ostracization and admiration. A dodgy, delicate balance.” It brings the episode – which at times, tries too hard with unfunny jokes like Chris’s father and the hipster cool kid – to a poignant close with genuine character moments (including Sharla’s “Go eat a turd” line) from a televised high schooler, animated or not. Despite its swings and misses with some jokes, I’m looking forward to returning to Holton when the series makes it true debut February 22nd (which I assume, will be the real pilot, about Chad and Chris becoming friends).

Grade: B

Other thoughts/observations:

– such a weird art style: from the bear claw hands to a few furry people, and a lot of abstract humanoid-looking characters, it’s has some odd aesthetics. The animation is fairly minimal, however, which I think pairs well with the show’s tone.

– like any high school show, this show has quirky parents, who appear to be odd just for the sake of oddness.

– “Why are you so afraid of branching out?” Chad asks Chris, which eventually spurns a comment from Chris about ‘a social Paul Bunyon’, a hilarious turn of phrase.

– the school bully is quite hideous looking.

– I love how Chad charges his brother a toll and puts him on a timer to enter his room and ask Chris questions.