Bridgeton Middle School is back in session, people! The beloved, raunchy adult animated series Big Mouth is all set to return with its Season 5. The Emmy-winning Netflix series explores the weird and hilarious journey that is puberty, with a lovable cast of characters and some zany jokes. Created by Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett, the show’s previous seasons have explored a wide range of topics from the proper way to kiss someone to depression and anxiety.
Big Mouth Season 4 was… something, alright. By “something,” we do mean a crazy ride with Anxiety Mosquitos, Nick’s evil future alter ego “Nick Starr”, and some serious themes of mental health. Now, with Season 5 just around the corner, expectations are quite high. So we’ve put together this guide compiling everything we know so far about the show’s upcoming fifth season. Let’s dig in, shall we?
How Many Episodes Are There in Big Mouth Season 5?
We’re yet to get an official announcement on this but fans can expect Big Mouth season 5 to have ten episodes. This has been the case with all the previous seasons except season 3, which also had a Valentine’s Day special. So you can (probably) look forward to the same 10 half-hour episode format with Season 5.
Big Mouth Season 5 Trailer
Netflix released a Big Mouth season 5 trailer on October 15th. You can check that out above.
What Is Big Mouth Season 5’s Release Date?
Big Mouth Season 5 is currently scheduled to be released on November 5, 2021. The date was announced with teaser art showing Rick the Hormone Monster sporting knuckle tattoos on each hand spelling out “Love” and “Hate”. Netflix is almost certainly going to be dropping all the episodes in one go so you can mark your calendars for a hilarious binging session.
Who Does the Big Mouth Season 5 Cast Include?
Fans can expect all the main stars of Big Mouth to be back in Season 5. The cast of Big Mouth includes the vocal talents of series co-creator Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, Jordan Peele, Andrew Rannells, and Richard Kind, among others.
Season 4 also added Maria Bamford, Zach Galifinakis, and Seth Rogen to the cast. Additionally, the previous season also brought in Ayo Edebiri as the new voice of Missy, taking over from Jenny Slate. Edebiri will be returning for Season 5 but we don’t know yet if the other cast members who joined the show in the previous season will be coming back. That said, we could all use a bit more of Gratitoad in our lives so maybe they’ll at least bring Galifinakis back to brighten up the kids’ (and our) lives.
Who Are the New Monsters Appearing in Big Mouth Season 5?
Brandon Kyle Goodman, Keke Palmer, and Pamela Adlon have been confirmed as guest stars for Big Mouth Season 5 and they will be playing a brand new kind of metaphorical monster. So far, the show has introduced Hormone Monsters, the Shame Wizard, the Depression Kitty, and many more characters who represent human emotions and stages of development. According to Deadline, Season 5 will bring a new kind of monster into the mix: lovebugs/hate worms.
These creatures have the ability to switch between their love and hate forms, depending on the emotions of their assigned human. Goodman will be voicing Walter, Nick’s lovebug/hate worm, while Adlon voices Jessi’s lovebug Sonya, and Palmer voices Rochelle, Missy’s hate worm.
Goodman and Palmer are going to be series regulars on the show’s upcoming spinoff series Human Resources while Adlon is also set to be a guest star in the same. So chances are that the upcoming appearances of these three actors could lead into the new show.
Who Are the Major Characters in Big Mouth Season 5?
Fans of Big Mouth will obviously be familiar with all the main characters of the show, all of whom are expected to be back in Season 5. However, just in case you’re new to this, these are the major characters of Big Mouth:
Kroll voices Nick Birch, a late-bloomer who is constantly insecure about his physical development. He is best friends with Andrew. Nick and Andrew are loosely based on series creators Kroll and Goldberg’s younger selves.
Andrew Glouberman( Mulaney) is the other male lead of the show. He spends a very large amount of his time masturbating and getting harassed by his Hormone Monster, Maurice/”Maury” (also voiced by Kroll).
Jessi Glaser is the “main girl” of the series and she is voiced by Jessi Klein. Jessi is smart, sarcastic, and more mature than most of her peers. Her Hormone Monstress is Connie, voiced by Maya Rudolph.
Jay Bilzerian (Mantzoukas) is an Armenian American boy who is mostly obsessed with two things: sex and magic. Despite his brash personality, Jay has a pretty bad home life and wants to have a loving family. He comes out as bisexual in Season 3.
Missy Foreman-Greenwald is a kind, shy, and nerdy girl who initially struggles with her late development, just like Nick. She and Andrew are often paired together. Missy is biracial and in Season 4, she begins to properly embrace her African-American heritage.
Will There Be a Big Mouth Season 6?
Since its inception, Big Mouth has been a hugely popular series for Netflix. So it’s no surprise that the show has already been renewed for a sixth season, ahead of the release of Season 5. Assuming everything in the production side of things stays on track, fans can probably expect to see Season 6 arrive sometime in late 2022.
The spinoff series Human Resources, which will take a closer look at the monsters who aid and obstruct human development, is also expected to arrive in 2022. In the meantime, prepare yourself for Season 5 because it’s shaping up to be a gut-punching story.
What Is Big Mouth Season 5’s Story?
Over the course of Season 4, the show’s protagonists struggled with and eventually overcame anxiety, as personified by Tito the Anxiety Mosquito. But as we all know, anxiety and depression aren’t things that are so easily wiped away. There’s always the chance that these could come back but at least now, the kids have some coping mechanisms to help them.
Does that mean Big Mouth Season 5 will see our beloved characters becoming more well-rounded human beings? Yes, and no. The primary theme of Big Mouth Season 5 is going to be Love and Hate with the newly introduced lovebugs and hate worms, serving as the metaphors for these emotional states. And it’s not just about romantic or sexual feelings either.
Season 5 will see Nik express his feelings for Jessi, with some help from his lovebug, Walter. Unfortunately, Jessi publicly rejects Nick, causing Walter to transform into a hate worm. Nick’s hatred is going to lead him down a dark and dangerous path. It looks like we’ll be getting some more commentary on toxic masculinity, a topic that the show has dealt with before. According to a New York Times article, revenge porn is one of the topics that the writers discussed, alongside cystic acne and female friendship, among others. Of course, we don’t know which of these topics actually ended up in the script but that is as hateful and dark as it gets so fair warning, you might hate Nick this season.
Meanwhile, Jessi will be getting closer to Ali (Ali Wong), to the point where she starts to wonder if she loves Ali more than as a friend. She will be motivated and aided in this by her own lovebug, Sonya. But as Jessi and Ali get close and begin to co-opt Missy’s affinity group, Missy gets a visit from the hate worm Rochelle, sending her on her own dark spiral.
Besides these plotlines of love and jealousy, Big Mouth Season 5 will also have a political angle, marking a new milestone in the characters’ development. Co-creator and EP Mark Levin said during the USC Comedy Festival in April that Season 5 will “explore a little bit more about kids advocating and becoming political.” However, Levin’s fellow co-creator Flackett also noted that doing topical humor on the show is pretty difficult.
“It takes us a long time to make a season, so topical humor is really, really hard,” she said. “You can do something about political identity, like ‘I’m a Republican, I’m a Democrat, I’m a whatever,’ but I don’t think we could do anything [more specific]. Because we want the world to feel somewhat timeless, anyway.”
It does look like the characters are going to be far more mature in Season 5 than ever before, though that’s unlikely to cut into the show’s raunchy and juvenile humor that’s made it so likable. Big Mouth Season 5 shows a lot of promise and we can’t wait to see what happens!