Mr. Pickles

Mr. Pickles is not a despicable product of sick minds, but rather a meritorious creation whose aim is nothing else than to bring the world back into balance. It is the thoroughly dark yin to the blinding yang of the television classic Lassie. The latter show’s essential kitschiness, lobotomising insipidness and propagandistic positivity are countered by the Satanic Mr. Pickles with its monstrous perversions, deviant humour and malicious thymoline smile. However, the narrative adheres to the style of the prototype, including the convulsively maintained façade of conformity and the unshakable naïveté of the characters, to such a degree that it could be said that it bridges the apparent gap between the ideological virtual reality of 1950s America and the sitcom surrealism of the current crop of mediocre series. This stylish superstructure and its combination with a geyser of bizarrely twisted ideas and extreme brutality are not only the main attractions of the series, but also the creative concept, which distinguishes Mr. Pickles from other hits on the Adult Swim channel. In fact, it can be said that the series represents the intertwining of Adult Swim’s dominant tendencies, as it combines knowingly sophisticated reflection and meta-genre agitation along the lines of Rick and Morty with ingenious genre parodies (from Minoriteam to Assy McGee) and exuberant bursts of creatively linked primary attractions in the style of Superjail! A very clever pup indeed. (23.09.2014)