Between hilarious Hormone Monsters like Maury and Connie, Lovebugs like Emmy and Walter, Ambition Gremlins like Petra, and all the rest of the creatures in Big Mouth spin-off, which released on Netflix on March 18, explores the offices of the creatures who help humans through biological processes and societal rights of age like puberty, marriage, and birth, using adult humor to relieve the tension of even the most awkward situations.
As they do what they can to guide their human assignments, the monsters' lives are examined through the template of a workplace sitcom, with romances, heartbreak, performance anxiety (in more ways than one), and sensitivity training. The best characters have full development, a fun sense of humor, and an overall engaging storyline throughout the show.
Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens is a new Depression Kitty in Human Resources, but unlike some other Depression Kitties, he's as chill as his namesake thanks to a wonderful performance by James III. Cat Stevens is assigned to Barry and still believes in Barry's love for his wife Becca, even though she's going through her own bout with postpartum depression.
Depression comes in many forms, and while sometimes it makes a person curl up in bed and avoid everyone and everything like Kitty Beaumont, it sometimes manifests as functional (or on medication) like Cat Stevens. As a reflection of Barry, he's still capable of seeing what's good about life; he's just operating on a much lower frequency and managing, capable of picking up the slack when Becca needs to close herself off.
Walter
As far as Lovebugs go, there is no one as hopelessly romantic as Walter, who believes that everyone has a soulmate and happy endings shouldn't be reserved for Hallmark movies. Walter isn't always dotting his i's with heart doodles, however, and is capable of intense, toxic love as well, where his ardor can turn to anger when an assignment goes wrong in the love department, changing him into a vengeful Hate Worm.
Brandon Kyle Goodman gives Walter complexity and depth as a Lovebug that doesn't always have a handle on himself, making him a more intriguing and compelling creature in an office that's already full of other Lovebugs.
Sonya
Emmy takes Sonya's job at the beginning of the series, leaving Sonya emotionally shattered. She spends most of every episode sleeping off the previous night's hangover. However, in the penultimate episode, she gets a beautiful storyline where she turned things around.
While viewers might not have picked her for a queer-coded character, Sonya initiates a touching relationship with a human midwife. Tragically, there's a reason humans and Lovebugs can't be together in the long term, but while it lasts it showcases the significance of finding the person you're meant to love but not necessarily meant to be with.
Rick
Rick often got overlooked on Big Mouth because he was old and hard to understand thanks to the geezerly vocal stylings of co-creator Nick Kroll, but in Human Resources, Rick is shown to be the wise elder statesman of the workplace whom Maury and Sonya go to for advice on life, love, and the mysteries of the universe.
Like some sort of horny Yoda, Rick expells nuggets of cosmic truth that are as uplifting as his bubblegum farts, and manages to be an endearing character that is so much more than a doddering, crusty old Hormone Monster.
Petra
Only Rosie Perez could pull off the adorable and frightening Ambition Gremlin Petra with such aplomb, making a perpetually angry character both likable and fun to watch. Just as she inspires her assignments to get up and go get 'em, she also engages in friendly competition in the workplace that makes for a lively and volatile environment.
In one episode, Petra can go from drinking margaritas with work wife Rochelle and having a spaghetti dinner with gym rat Gavin to hating them both and somehow working everything out in a way that feels human for a gremlin the size of an angry shoebox.
Lionel
Fans will have seen Human Resources' cast member David Thewlis in other shows, often as the bad guy. While Thewlis excels at playing a villain, it's his capacity for conveying humanity that really serves him well here. Whereas he's mostly terrorizing the kids over on Big Mouth, he's shown to have his own problems in Human Resources, namely with his self-absorbed mother.
That a character as unlikeable as the Shame Wizard is shown to be an obsequious brown-noser because of childhood trauma makes for a very surprising and unexpectedly touching arc.
Emmy
The incomparable Aidy Bryant, who has been part of some of SNL's best seasons, provides the voice for Emmy the Lovebug, a young creature who would much rather hook up, drink, and dance until dawn than deal with the postpartum depression brought on by her latest assignment's newborn.
Emmy has arguably the most narrative ground to cover as a party girl who learns to see the unexpected joys in a job she initially finds tedious. The only way she can teach new mother Becca to believe in herself is to find her own inner self-worth, which leads to some pretty relatable — and hilarious — situations.
Maury
Both Kroll and his beloved Hormone Monster Maury have become the faces of the Big Mouth franchise, and the impossibly horny creature becomes even more endearingly uncouth in Human Resources, where he spends most of his time between assignments.
Maury is shown to be suffering from a mid-life crisis of sorts (he's just turned 40,000 years old), and the emptiness he feels can't be filled with teaching Amish boys how to draw naughty chickens in the dirt. His concerns about his legacy translate to some hilarious and poignant storylines, culminating in him and Connie trying some roleplaying to take their relationship to the next level.
Connie
From the moment she appeared on Big Mouth to guide Jessi through puberty, Maya Rudolph put her indelible stamp on the series as Connie, the only Hormone Monster who could rival Maury. Glamorous as a pin-up model with the foul mouth of a merchant mariner, Connie continues to be a delight in Human Resources where she is shown to be a true friend who works as hard as she loves.
Watching Connie comfort Sonya, be there for Becca, or try to babysit Maury's tiny penises has taken her from cipher to well-rounded character. There's more to her personality than bubble baths.
Pete
One would think that Pete the Logic Rock would be the dullest character in the series, embodying that nagging part of our brains that tells us to organize our inbox and eat our vegetables, but thanks to a greater interpretation by Randall Park, Pete is the true rockstar of Human Resources.
His coworkers are ruled by their emotions and sexual urges all day long, and much of Pete's charm comes from being the straight man who gently reminds them all to incorporate some rationality into their lives. If he sounds like a stick in the mud, he's not — he's a sweet nerd who never feels that his methods are superior or makes anyone feel bad about who they are. He just reminds them that they all have the capacity to make positive changes every day.