Netflix's raunchy series about a bunch of middle schoolers' journey through puberty is full of hilarious anecdotes about the trials and tribulations of growing up. Big Mouth features a cast of highly memorable characters, each with a personality and outlook that both kids and adults will find instantly relatable.
One of the best characters to come out of the show is Maurice the Hormone Monster, voiced by Nick Kroll. Hormone monsters are like the "puberty angels" of the series, encouraging their prepubescent charges to get into side-splitting shenanigans revolving around their hormonal urges.
Maurice, Andrew Glouberman's hormone monster, is easily one of the best of the bunch, revealing news levels of perversity in pursuit of Andrew reaching adulthood. He's helped Andrew navigate his adolescent journey through a series of awkward moments, and while he hasn't always been the best influence, he's never failed to help Andrew find the humor in his circumstances. Here are the 5 best things he's done, and the 5 worst.
Season 3 is out now on Netflix.
BEST: HELPED ANDREW DISCOVER HIS SEXUALITY
In the first season of Big Mouth, Andrew is having difficulty figuring out his sexuality. He watched a movie trailer for a movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with his friend Nick and got aroused, which makes him think there's a possibility that he's gay.
Maurice encourages Nick to find out by immediately jumping onto Google and searching for "gay porn." After watching two guys go at it for a while, he's pretty confident Andrew will be able to determine definitively if he's gay or not. What are hormone monsters for, if not for exercising poor impulse control in the quest for pubescent knowledge?
WORST: DONE UNNATURAL THINGS TO GARRISON KEILLOR'S HEAD
Maurice has been responsible for some of the most controversial moments on the series, beginning with the very first season and a particularly insane vignette starring him and progressive radio personality Garrison Keillor's head. It's amazing it ever got past the censors.
Leading up to the singularly sanguine moment, Andrew's just gotten upset with Maurice for appearing and ruining his first kiss with Missy, and Maurice is upset with Andrew for blocking his natural urges by trying to distract himself with the dulcet tones of Keillor's voice. Maury puts them to a much more poignant use.
BEST: HOOKED UP WITH CONNIE
If there's any hormone monster as hilarious and effortlessly cool as Maurice, it's Connie, who starts off as Jessie's hormone monstress. She's a sexy, body-positive, supremely confident member of Maurice's cohort who is as comfortable in her own skin as she is telling Maury off.
Their irrefutable chemistry, which manifests in many eye-opening (and eye-gouging) ways every season, is truly one of the highlights of Maurice's appearances. From sharing spaghetti in a Tupperware container to swapping spit in a fake boardroom encounter, Maury proves when it comes to doing thick in the warm with Connie, he's the best.
WORST: ENCOURAGED ANDREW TO SMELL LEAH'S BATHING SUIT
When Leah's bathing suit is hanging in the bathroom Andrew's using, it's allure is almost overpowering to him. After all, its red spandex graced her flesh, and as Maurice points out, stuck uncomfortably close to certain aspects of its contours.
Of course, Maury's observations rarely remain just that, and soon he's encouraged Andrew to drop trouser and pleasure himself to the garment. Who should burst in on him right in the middle of the business? Leah, and she's both horrified and disgusted with what she sees.
BEST: DRESSED UP IN EPIC OUTFITS
Whether it's dressing up as a fly pimp to ward off the Shame Wizard, or showing up looking like Macho Man Randy Savage to encourage Andrew to get it on with his cousin, Maurice's costume changes are some of the best reasons to watch Big Mouth.
Most of the time, the outfits are in-dick-ative (Maury would appreciate that) of his zeal and commitment for whatever crazy, hormone-fueled idea Andrew has (hang-gliding in to announce his boner?). Or maybe, Maurice just looks for any excuse to dress up like a lawyer with a briefcase full of furry dicks. Only Maury knows.
WORST: DECIDED MISSY WASN'T PUTTING OUT ENOUGH
While Big Mouth is usually preoccupied with hormones that have to do with inciting sexual urges (or suppressing them), it occasionally delves into those aspects of hormones that aren't pleasurable. In My Furry Valentine, the Valentine's Day Special that was turned into the first episode of Season 3, we witness this unfold with Andrew and Missy.
Andrew feels that because he bought Missy flowers and candy on the most romantic day of the year that she "owes" him sexually, a point that Maurice seems to encourage. It's not that Maury is inherently sexist, he just lives to incite Andrew's unadulterated rage. So Andrew blows his top and blows it with Missy. Thanks, Maury.
BEST: Prepared FOR ANY OCCASION
When Andrew, Nick, and Connie are desperately trying to save Jessie from the Depression Kitty in Season 2, they have to choice but to turn to Maurice and his epic bag of furry members for any occasion. His collection includes one that serves as a can opener, another that resembles U2's The Edge, and of course, a laser.
Season 3 takes the concept one step further, by recreating WWI with dozens of Maury's tools. What purpose could they possibly serve, you might ask? To illustrate the trials and tribulations that Duke Ellington's Ghost was going through trying to score his first lay.
WORST: DID HARD DRUGS FROM THE SHAME WIZARD
Poor Andrew. He never intended to let things get so far out of control with Lola in Season 2, but the Shame Wizard conspired against him, and his own hormone monster helped. The Shame Wizard was a new monster unique to Season 2, encouraging feelings of shame around puberty with the main cast.
Maurice might have been able to stop Andrew from going to Lola's condo, but would he have prevented Andrew from enjoying her dry-rubbing against his legs? We'll never know as, at that moment, the Shame Wizard presented him with a giant line of white powder that was too irresistible to Maurice in his moment of weakness.
BEST: BEEN THERE FOR ANDREW
Through the rigors and perils of puberty, Maurice has been there for Andrew. From the first time the former helped the latter relieve himself, to each time he appeared after Andrew blew it with Missy, Maurice has been there to remind Andrew that he doesn't have to face puberty alone.
Maurice's presence may come at the worst possible time for Andrew and his friends, but the hormone monster reminds them all at the closing of Season 1 that they'll eventually be able to look back on this period of their lives and enjoy the humor in it. And the inherent sadness and degradation.
WORST: MADE ANDREW SEND HIS COUSIN A NAUGHTY PHOTO
Season 3 is fraught with Maurice being the ultimate disruptive force in Andrew Glouberman's life, but nowhere is he on fuller display than in the subplot involving Andrew and his cousin Cheryl (Cherry). She's grown up since the last time he saw her, and he suddenly finds himself developing a crush while visiting his relatives in Florida.
In a blazing moment of clarity, Maurice decides the best way for Andrew to get the attention of Cherry is to send her a picture of his member. In order to acquire the perfect one, Maurice and Andrew participate in a "photo shoot" of sorts that can only end one way; in total utter embarrassment and ruin (especially once Andrew is discovered).