Review: Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters- Episode 3 "Devil in the Blue Jeans"

Bobcat Goldthwait's Misfits & Monsters- Episode 3 "Devil in the Blue Jeans"

Guest Star(s): Bryce Johnson, Michael Ian Black, Jill Talley, Ross Bryant

Written and Directed: by Bobcat Goldthwait

Episode 3 is done as a Behind the Music style documentary about a musician, Caleb Faustini (Ross Bryant) who sold his soul to the devil (Michael Ian Black).  Bryce Johnson plays a documentary film maker who disappears before the footage is ever seen.

Of the episodes I watched so far, this was probably the oddest.  It starts off very Blair Witch style, and as the episodes goes, it just get quirkier and quirkier.  We find out that the devil is getting desperate because it is getting harder and harder to find a pure soul.  Where the second episode was a little too heavy handed, in DEVIL IN THE BLUE JEANS, Bobcat manages to keep things light and entertaining.  It could have been real easy for this episode to drift a little too far cynical (we meet a Make A Wish kid and the kid’s dream is to become a reality TV star), but the episode leans more towards funny.

Michael Ian Black was perfect as a worn-out Satan.  It is always rough when the world is so messed up that even Satan has become jaded, but Michael Ian Black still manages to play a pretty light-hearted version of Satan.  I also loved Ross Bryant as clueless rock star Caleb Faustini.  He was so vapid that he pushed the devil so much that the devil decided to break their deal.   The supporting cast was also great, adding a lot to this episode.

I also thought the ending had a real creative take on the”this footage was found with no sign of the filmmaker” trope.  When we got the answer at the end, it is so sudden and unexpected I actually burst out laughing.  It seemed to come completely out of nowhere, but it fit the insanity of the rest of the episode.  We even get a bizarre group therapy session where people have the opportunity to tell Satan and Caleb how they hurt them.

If I had to have one complaint about this episode, it did seem like it could have been a little dated.  Behind the Music and found footage parodies have been done to death.  But, I think this episode still managed to find plenty here to put a fresh spin on things anyway.  There also wasn’t a lot of real horror in this one, but the next episode more than makes up for that.  More on that tomorrow.

While the first two episodes had some entertaining moments, BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT’S MISFITS AND MONSTERS really started to pick up steam here in this third episode.  The humor was a little more subtle, and everything felt like it fit together perfectly.  Hopefully the quality continues to go up as the season progresses.  The next episode, THE GOATMAN COMETH was my favorite episode so far…and I am still looking forward to finding out what’s up with the racist mermaid in episode 5.