Jameson Bast

[7.4/10] A nice start to the series.There’s things I catch now that definitely flew over my head when I saw this as a teenager. For one, it’s cruder in a way that I don’t think I really took stock of at the time. There was a period of semi-edgy cartoons that were en vogue around this time, and gags about masturbating or overhearing neighbors arguing about condoms or checking out your girlfriends' butt feel much more in the vein of “look at the stuff we can get away with!” than anything that comes off as essential to a joke.

All that said, the art style stands out to me in a way it didn’t before. The color palette her is outstanding, with a unique set of twilight hues that give the characters a distinctive look and color their world. They move with expressive gestures, and while the Frenches’ big heads take some getting used to, there’s a distinctiveness to this world which I appreciate.

The same goes for the setting. I don’t think I fully got the “kid from the suburbs goes to the inner city” part of the idea when this aired. Not every depiction is great, but there’s something to the idea that Andy lives in a more diverse and rough-around-the-edges world than his little brother does, which naive Kevin has to get used to.

This is all an odd way of saying you can detect the senses in which series creators Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein aimed to distinguish the show from The Simpsons. The humor goes blue in ways their former show rarely did. Its art style would never be mistaken for the yellow-washed confines of its counterpart. And there’s a kind of hardscrabble city life vibe to the setting that feels a long way from Springfield.

As much as I love The Simpsons, that's a good thing! We already have a Simpsons! Seeing Oakley & Weinstein branch out and do a different kind of show in a different sort of setting is something to appreciate.

So is their choice of protagonists. If there’s a gap among the hundreds and hundreds of cast members on The Simpsons, it’s in the representation of teenagers and young adults. You have kids, grown-ups, and old people, but outside of the occasional Squeaky-Voiced Teen, adolescents and twenty-somethings are all but absent. So focusing on a twenty-four-year old adult and his high school aged brother makes for a nice alternative and avenue to tell stories we hadn't seen Oakley & Weinstein tell before.

The show establishes the different characters’ personalities nicely. Andy is lazy but sly, living among friends but a long way away from his dreams. Kevin is a nerdy teen who’s never been outside of his bubble. They go together like oil and water, with Andy bristling at his younger brother’s moralizing and brighter future, and Kevin balking at his older brother’s lifestyle and general rudeness. The conflict is natural and makes for a good engine for the series. (Even if the cartoon violence roughhousing is a little much.)

There’s something relatable to Kevin putting a halt to his status as a goodie two-shoes when he realizes his parents aren’t around to restrict him, only to go overboard. And there’s something relatable about Andy unexpectedly having to look after a family member he doesn't jive with and getting frustrated at the situation.

But there’s something heartening about Kevin genuinely thinking his brother is cool, and trying to be like him, no matter how disastrous the results. And there’s something equally wholesome, in an appropriately slanted way, about Andy having a chance to sleep with his crush, and instead looking after the sibling who’s in a bad way after trying to be like him. It ends the pilot on a note of hope and filial sweetness that gives the audience something to latch onto between these siblings at odds.

I wish Mission Hill had more time to hone its voice and grow into the show it had the potential to become. But even so, the series kicks off with an encouraging introduction to its characters and their world, showing the inevitable friction between the French brothers, but also a bond that helps sustain them, and the show.