WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Human Resources.
The Big Mouth spinoff series Human Resources is a parody of the original series and that makes the show better. Big Mouth made a sensation on the adult animation scene in late 2017 on Netflix, with season 1 achieving a coveted 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Human Resources focuses on the workplace of the Hormone Monsters, Depression Kitties, Love Bugs, Shame Wizards, and more, with many familiar voices returning: show creator Nick Kroll, Maya Rudolph, David Thewlis, and Thandiwe Newton, just to name a few.
Human Resources puts humans in the background and brings their creatures to the forefront. Love Bugs are slacking off work, Logic Rocks have feelings, and Shame Wizards have mommy issues (with Dame Helen Mirren voicing the Shame Wizard/Witch mother of David Thewlis' Oedipus-complexed Shame Wizard). One of the few central humans in this show is Becca (Ali Wong), a litigator and very recent mom suffering from postpartum depression. Through Becca, the viewers can observe the very complicated process behind humans' thoughts and decisions, a process created entirely by the Human Resources creatures. In many ways, Human Resources continues Big Mouth's premise, but the spinoff also takes these up a notch.
One of Big Mouth’s trademarks is its constant breaking of the fourth wall, addressing Netflix, the viewers, and the voice actors, often at random times. Human Resources takes this to the next level, announcing it from the very first moments of its first episode: when one of the characters wants to clarify, “The show’s going to be like Big Mouth?” the assistant answers: “Well, Big Mouth meets the Office is how we sold it.” Moreover, Human Resources spoofs Big Mouth's meta-humor: in episode 3, Emmy the Love Bug comments on Becca’s “unflinching look at motherhood” with “Ladies and gentlemen, Ali Wong" when Becca (voiced by Ali Wong) says “I’m in no mood to go meta right now.” By becoming a parody of Big Mouth, Human Resources is a parody of itself (since the shows share the creators), and this makes Human Resources even better (and even more meta).
Big Mouth season 5 came up with its most meta joke yet, introducing Nick Birch (Nick Kroll) to an adult, unanimated Nick Kroll. When animated Nick ends up in Monster World's complaints department, he demands to speak to whoever was in charge and is taken straight to the show's creator, adult Nick. Nick Kroll even comments that the fourth-wall-breaking joke is a “big swing,” before explaining that what matters is how everyone deals with the monsters they have. Big Mouth thus reached a peak when it comes to meta jokes, so Human Resources, as a spinoff to the self-referential Big Mouth, had to address this one way or another in order to stay in the same league.
Human Resources is more than a spinoff: it's a parody, and this is what makes it great. From the awareness of the obscene and absurd humor to the sarcastic denial of the exaggerated meta-humor, Human Resources is a great show which makes sense alongside its original series Big Mouth. And with the accent on the monsters (not the humans), it's a delightful parallel world that can carry on for a few more seasons.