Big Mouth: 5 Grossest Moments (& 5 That Touched Our Hearts)

Another season of Big Mouth has debuted on Netflix, and the third installment of the popular animated comedy series is as socially relevant and delightfully vulgar as ever. The show continues to address the unspoken realities of puberty with a diverse ensemble of characters and an unabashed narrative.

Big Mouth does not shy away from all-out gross moments in its depiction of adolescence. The show uses the worst parts of puberty and the best, as well as offering a fresh perspective that produces a modern and, at times, touching coming-of-age tale. Here are five times Big Mouth grossed us out and five times it touched our hearts.

10 Gross: Coach Steve And Jay’s Mom

The Bilzerian family has a severe lack of boundaries, something they have in common with the wacky and inept character that is Coach Steve (voiced by Nick Kroll). During the first season, Jay (Jason Mantzoukas) befriends the school’s gym teacher before setting his new best friend up with his married mother.

This leads to a hilariously uncomfortable sex scene between the child-like Coach Steve and Jay’s vacant-eyed mom. It’s a belated rite of passage for Coach Steve, who finally bids goodbye to his Hormone Monster afterward.

9 Touching: Matthew And Aiden’s First Kiss

Matthew (Andrew Rannells) had a much more prominent role in the third season of Big Mouth. This was a good decision on behalf of the show’s writers as they have broadened the scope in terms of representation and opened up more doorways to opportunities with potential storylines.

Matthew’s relationship with Aiden (Zachary Quinto) is one of the most touching plot points from Big Mouth’s third season. Their first kiss is a particularly heartwarming scene that is fully endorsed by Maurice (Nick Kroll).

8 Gross: Jay’s Relationship With His Pillow

Jay’s character has the stereotypical libido of an adolescent and a limitless imagination. This combination spawned one of Big Mouth’s hilariously grossest storylines as the young magician pursues a sexual and romantic relationship with his pillow Pam (Kristen Bell).

The odd couple is a parody of an adult relationship that culminates with Pam the Pillow ‘giving birth’ to their offspring. Jay’s relationship with his pillows continues in season two, where it is used as a plot device to explore his struggles with his newfound bisexuality.

7 Touching: Jessi Tells Her Mom She Deserves Better

Jessi’s (Jessi Klein) relationship with her mother Shannon (Jessica Chaffin) has been tumultuous since the teenager discovered her mother was having an affair with another woman. Like the majority of teenagers, Jessi rebelled against her mom after her parents’ divorce, undergoing pivotal changes in character reflecting the personal turmoil of puberty.

After Cantor Dina (Michaela Watkins) leaves Shannon in season three, Jessie comes full-circle as she realizes her mother is as human and flawed as she is. She gives her mother an abstract blessing, telling her emphatically that she deserves better.

6 Gross: Jay’s Sleepover

Jay’s sleepover in “Sleepover: A Harrowing Ordeal Of Emotional Brutality” evidences more of the Bilzerian family’s gross dysfunction. During one stomach-turning sequence, Jay’s brothers try and force Nick (Nick Kroll) and Andrew (John Mulaney) to eat semen-covered crackers following a disgusting explanation from Jay about his peculiar pillow habits.

It is hard to watch this episode and not feel both sick and sorry for Jay. The episode excels with its combination of gross humor and reflection on life’s sometimes dismal conditions.

5 Touching: Andrew’s Parents Reconnect

Andrew’s parents were presented as a caricature of traditional parents in a nuclear family in earlier seasons. Andrew’s mother Barbara (Paula Pell) is particularly presented as a dissatisfied housewife who gets swept away with the Rock Of Gibraltar craze in season one’s “Girls Are Horny Too,” but the couple reconnects in season three and share a touching scene that highlights the love the two still have for each other.

Season three of Big Mouth continues to expand the show’s narrative with its depiction of Barbara’s struggle with the menopause. It is evidence of the show’s unflinching portrayal of all of life’s realities.

4 Gross: Andrew’s Sock Pile

Jay and Andrew often compete for the position of the grossest character on Big Mouth. After Andrew breaks up with Missy (Jenny Slate), the sex-crazed teenager discovers Internet pornography and falls into the trap of addiction – with a revolting pile of socks growing in his bedroom as evidence.

It is another example of the gross reality of adolescence and the complication of emotions, something Big Mouth is not afraid to portray.

3 Touching: Nick Rescues Andrew’s Pillow

The third season of Big Mouth ended on a sour note for former best friends Nick and Andrew, who parted ways after Andrew explicitly told Nick that he didn’t think he was a good person. It is a predictable but saddening split for the two characters, who have had an increasingly turbulent relationship throughout their pubescent mishaps.

This makes Nick’s determination to rescue Andrew’s beloved safety pillow in season one’s sleepover episode all the more touching. Whilst it is completely absurd, it also highlights how good of a friend Nick can be.

2 Gross: Andrew’s Photoshoot

Season three continued Big Mouth’s trademark depiction of puberty in all of its honesty. After traveling to Florida to meet members of his extended family, Andrew engages in a sexual relationship with his cousin, sending her explicit photos after a comical photoshoot from the waist down with the help of the Hormone Monster.

This is Big Mouth at its most outrageous, with its usual dose of mature yet immature humor. A similar storyline involving a relationship between Nick and his phone is also featured in the season, though with slightly less explicit content.

1 Touching: Andrew’s Realisation

The characters of Big Mouth go on vibrant and bizarre adventures as they navigate the awkward phase between childhood and adulthood, learning from their many mistakes. During season two, Andrew has a sexual interaction with girlfriend Lola (Nick Kroll) before dumping her, which enrages and devastates Lola.

Fed up of feeling guilty, Andrew embraces being a “pimp” after his actions are praised by Jay’s father. The episode is a clever exploration of masculinity that culminates with Andrew realizing that he doesn’t want to be like Jay’s father after all.

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