‘Big Mouth’ Season 4 Dealt With Issues Like Anxiety and Depression With the Show's Trademark Humor

Katherine Stinson - Author
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PUBLISHED Nov. 3 2021, 8:59 p.m. ET

Some of Big Mouth's best characters
Source: Netflix

What happened on Season 4 of the Netflix series Big Mouth? The series is a hilariously honest take on the awkward growing pains of puberty, told through the eyes of middle-schooler Nick Birch (Nick Kroll) and his friends. Did we mention that there are sassy Hormone Monsters that follow the main characters around like sarcastic imaginary friends?

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Yes, Big Mouth is definitely an off-kilter comedy series that still manages to be oh so relatable. (Please note this series is definitely an adult comedy and not for young kids.) Let's recap some of Season 4's major moments before the Season 5 premiere.

andrew missy and nick
Source: Netflix
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The 'Big Mouth' kids start off Season 4 at summer camp.

So one aspect of Big Mouth includes introducing funny characters that are the personification (or sometimes monster-fication) of traits or feelings like hormones, shame, guilt, and more. Nick has already met Hormone Monsters, the Shame Wizard, the ghost of Duke Ellington, and more by the time Season 4 rolls around. However, it's at camp Mohegan Sun that Nick meets Tito, the Anxiety Mosquito (Maria Bamford).

Source: Instagram
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Tito the pesky mosquito ends up plaguing several of Nick's friends throughout Season 4. Meanwhile, Big Mouth also introduced the show's first transgender character, Natalie (Josie Totah). Natalie does get to enjoy a summer camp makeout session with Seth Goldberg (Seth Rogen), but Seth admits to Natalie that he's embarrassed to kiss a transgender girl. Rather than agreeing to hide their budding relationship, Natalie breaks up with Seth instead.

Meanwhile, poor Jessi Glazer (Jessi Klein) has to experience the hassle of moving to a new middle school, where she doesn't quite make the cut, going from the top of the class to the bottom. All of the stress gets to Jessi, and she finds herself encountering the Depression Kitty (Jean Smart) again. Her new artsy boyfriend Michael Angelo (Sterling K. Brown) seems great at first — until he breaks up with Jessi after attempting to pressure her into giving him a handjob.

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Jessie and her hormone monster meet Michael Angelo
Source: Netflix

Missy learns how to embrace her identity (with a new voice actor).

Big Mouth's adorably nerdy Missy Foreman-Greenwald (Jenny Slate and Ayo Edebiri) has always been half-Jewish and half-Black on the show, but it's during Season 4 that she learns more about Black culture. And as a result, Missy learns more about how to embrace her identity so she can find her voice.

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Actress Jenny Slate also chose to step down from voicing Missy so a Black actress could voice her instead. Ayo Edebiri takes over to voice Missy in Season 4, Episodes 9 and 10. Missy also drops her signature overalls and headband look in favor of sleek braids and a more mature outfit.

Missy with one of her cousins
Source: Netflix
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Meanwhile, Jay Bilzerian (Jason Mantzoukas) and Lola Skumpy (Nick Kroll) actually end up being the cutest couple of Season 4. Matthew MacDell (Andrew Rannells), who helped Jay realize he wasn't straight earlier in the series, also had an eventful season. He finally came out to his father, who was accepting. But coming out to his mom wasn't so great.

Outwardly, Big Mouth may seem like a completely bonkers show, and in many ways, that assessment is true. However, Big Mouth does tackle a ton of relatable issues in clever ways that don't feel too preachy or forced. Season 5 premieres on Netflix on Nov. 5.

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