Netflix’s Exploding Kittens is the kind of show that throws you off kilter because initially it reeks of a quick cash grab starring Tom Ellis as Godcat and Sasheer Zamata as Devilcat for some credibility. There’s also the fact that this is a very popular game that also recently got a mobile game. I was sure what kind of show this was going to be: a raunchy cartoon about God with a flat storyline that wouldn’t even get a laugh out of me. And I thought this show would just kill time. I was wrong because only in episode one I had to pause the show and try to muffle my laughter because of the out of pocket things that Ellis was saying. Simply put, I loved what I was experiencing.
I loved the way that Ellis went from being Lucifer himself in the highly popular TV show where he was trapezing across LA with his favorite human detective to then playing God trapped in a cat’s body trying to get his job back. It’s a little tongue in cheek for Exploding Kittens that Ellis has previously played the opposite of the spectrum from God. But it’s the kind of tongue in cheek that works and makes you feel like it’s a continuation of his previous work on Lucifer and like you’re part of the joke. That’s especially true because just like in Lucifer, Ellis’s character of Godcat delivers some amazing dialogue that ranges from absolutely destroying Timothee Chalamet to speaking of the creation of Florida.
Some examples include:
“Hmmm, why is my mouth filing with saliva? This trash bird is disease-ridden, yet so alluring. Like a buffet in Vegas. Or Timothee Chalamet.”
“Boo hoo. Their ponies with face boners. I did you a favor.”
“Oh you would love Florida. When I was shaping the continents, I thought it’d be funny to make America look like it had a flaccid penis. Then I filled it base to tip with human garbage.”
Godcat isn’t the only one delivering some amazing lines on this show. There’s also Devilcat who says:
“Yes, I’m here on Earth to become evil, but I didn’t intend to incinerate children using magical fireballs. Well, maybe children who cry on airplanes, but no other children.”
“Either I can enchant a porta-potty that’s been marinating in the sun for two days, or you can walk in through an Imagine Dragons concert.”
Zamata is just as talented as Ellis, having previously worked on SNL and with Marvel’s Agatha All Along coming soon. And here she is playing the offspring of Satan who is trying to get back home like God is while also being trapped as a cat. The tension between these two lead characters is chaotic, silly, and so bizarrely fitting that you can’t help but let the next episode and the next episode play out. And the fact that I couldn’t stop watching Exploding Kittens because I was laughing so hard at these two is a positive for the show. Not only because it’s surprised me at it being more than a cookie cutter adaptation. But also because everything that happened on this show was unexpectedly and masterfully delivered by its two lead actors in a way that is believable and surprisingly grounded.
Don’t get me wrong, Exploding Kittens isn’t a game changing animated show that is going to make you think twice about heaven or hell. It’s not meant to be that and it knows that. Instead it’s supposed to be a ridiculous ride that makes you wonder what kind of writer’s room would create a Voltron of cats, or meats, or sanitary items? Because this show did all of that and consistently left me going, “What the actual f*ck?!😂” So I can’t imagine the kind of creative space that must have been the writer’s room. Because this show had the ability to try out of pocket things because of the game itself and its contents. But there is still a spark in Exploding Kittens that feels like I can let go and just enjoy it without thinking too hard. And I think in our current TV landscape, this is invaluable.
It’s also the reason why I think this is probably Tom Ellis’ greatest project so far. Sure Ellis had Lucifer and studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, but I feel like Exploding Kittens was a freedom to do something different in a Hollywood space that really rewards prestige above taking a chance and doing something creatively different. And you can tell in our upcoming interview with Ellis that he had a lot of fun with the story but also the ridiculous things he got to say along the way as he enters the next phase and his career after the success of Lucifer.
Exploding Kittens season 1 is now available on Netflix.
