The Review: The Midnight Gospel

The Midnight Gospel 10/10

I watched the series The Midnight Gospel on Netflix over a three day period and my mind melted in a good way. I had heard a few weeks back that this was a thing that existed so I had to check it out. Listening to other people describe it you would think that this was their first exposure to hearing a deep conversation that isn't about politics. This is about a “spacecaster” named Clancy that lives in a trailer in this weird dimension called The Chromatic Ribbon. He uses a computer that allows him to enter simulations of other universes. He has a tendency to get shoes from each one he visits. His computer makes planetary suggestions for him as well as designs an avatar to use. He sticks his head in the cheeks and blasts off.

Each episode has him land on a planet that appears to be doomed soon. Hell, the choices he has mostly have X's on them as they no longer exist. He shows up and asks the subject if he can interview them for his show. On one planet he speaks to a president during a zombie apocalypse about drug use. Another he talks to a man that spent years in prison and discovered “magic” while on death row. On the way to a paradise planet he gets knocked off course and lands on a planet helping a knight revenge her dead lover who was devoured by a creature that fights with its ass teeth. He uploads the conversations he has and turns them into music as well at the end of the episode.

The topics discussed during the series are from podcasts and feel as such but mixed in with insane looking animation. I don't know how they did it but it manages to blend perfectly. The episodes are less than half an hour, except for the last one, but somehow fly by and don't at the same time. There were quite a few times I rewound what someone said to absorb it better. People say some real profound shit on here that you can lose when dazzled by watching things like deer-dogs being turned into meat to create a giant meat creature while baby clowns dance and sing while discussing a cancer diagnosis.

The last episode is the gut punch one. In it Clancy interviews his mother just as he is leaving for another planet while simultaneously being raided by police. I had heard some of this interview before where the host interviewed his mother weeks before she passed away from cancer. She talks about how she is handling it and gives advice on how others should and how they should look at life while also talking about how Clancy was born. As the episode goes on he ages as she does and then she dies and is reborn from him. Damn onion ninjas almost got me at one point. If you are a fan of great conversations, learning to look at things in new ways, or think you have zero desire to see this show I would suggest you watch this. I loved this series and could have watched ten more episodes.

Duncan Trussell as Clancy Gilroy

Phil Hendrie as Universe Simulator and various characters

Stephen Root as Bill Taft and various characters

Maria Bamford as Butt Demon and various characters

Doug Lussenhop as Daniel Hoops and various characters

Joey “Coco” Diaz as Chuck Charles and various characters

Christina P. as Bobua and various characters

Steve Little as Captain Bryce and various characters

Johnny Pemberton as Cornelius and various characters

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