This review was made possible by advance screeners of all episodes of Exploding Kittens. All episodes of Exploding Kittens release on Netflix on July 12, 2024.
It’s not odd to see a card game venture into the animation industry; we’ve seen it happen with the popular Yu-Gi-Oh series and other card games such as Shadowverse but this seems to be the first time a western card game has received an animated series and, if I were to place a bet on which would be the first one, it would’ve never been Exploding Kittens. But I’m glad it was, and I’m happy with how it turned out.
‘Exploding Kittens’ Is Based On A Card Game, But Nothing Like The Card Game
Exploding Kittens is a card game where players draw cards from the deck until someone draws an Exploding Kitten. Once that happens, the person explodes and is out of the game. All the other cards in the game give you powerful tools to help you avoid exploding, such as a defuse card. This process is repeated until there’s only one person left. Now, how do you take the rules of this game and turn it into a show? Well, you don’t take any aspects of it.
You create an original story that involves God, voiced by the actor widely known for his role as the polar opposite character Lucifer, Tom Ellis. With God showing no care for his creations and causing chaos in heaven, he gets sent down to Earth to answer the prayers of the Higgins family by helping them grow closer together as a family. The twist is that God must do this while he’s a cat and is limited to his powers. It wouldn’t be a show about God if the Devil wasn’t somehow involved, but instead, they get sent down to learn how to be better at being evil. Godcat and Devilcat come across each other’s paths numerous times, sometimes assisting each other and sometimes causing havoc for each other.
All Praise GodCat and DevilCat
From the second God came onto the screen, I was sold on Tom Ellis voicing him. I was already sold when I found out this information, thanks to me being a huge fan of Lucifer, but Episode 1 locked me in. The show is outright hilarious and is what you can expect from an adult animated show. It makes meta-jokes about real life, and has a few sex jokes here and there, but what makes Exploding Kittens feel unique is that it’s playing around with the idea of God and the Devil.
Devilcat isn’t just Lord Satan, she is also Beelzebub, the daughter of the previous Satan. Unlike God, who has been there since the creation of everything, it seems like being CEO in Hell is a family job that gets passed down the lineage. This was a concept that I was very fond of, as there’s an episode later on where Godcat and Devilcat must attend Devilcat’s cousin’s wedding, and we get to meet a lot of Devilcat’s relatives. It felt like a tame version of The Bear Season 2 Episode 6 and, just like that episode, it causes repercussions for the future.
A lot of media perceive God as this all-mighty being who can do no wrong, and Exploding Kittens flips that idea of him. They continue to make it a battle between good and evil by asking how good is Godcat really? We’re made aware that he has been sent to live with humans because he shows no care for them; he uses them as playthings, and the final episode reveals something sinister about him even though he doesn’t act on the thought. These are all relevant to our world because these are questions that we’ve asked ourselves. When we’re put through so much pain and suffering, we always question why such things would be taking place if God were real; why would he let us live a painful life?
Exploding Kittens gives the best hypothetical way in the funniest way possible, and that’s simply because he doesn’t give two shits. Beyond this, obvious jokes are made about religion, such as rushing with the human body as he only had six days, the Bible being written by ghostwriters, and so much more, but each one feels refreshing and relatable. One of the funniest jokes comes from how Godcat and Devilcat, respectively, arrive on Earth. While Godcat falls from heaven and crashes into Earth like a meteor, or, even better, a fall from grace, which is what it is for Godcat, Devilcat gets shot out of the ass of a Karen, and it’s not a pleasant sight to look at.
I’ve given enough praise to Godcat, his writing, and Tom Ellis’s performance as the respective characters. While I have a love for Godcat, Devilcat steals the show as she’s given more interesting storylines to work with, such as the wedding episode and the episodes that follow. Sasheer Zamata also does a wonderful job at voicing Devilcat, providing a lot of range for the character who can switch from this sarcastic demonic tone to a more welcoming soft tone; it’s truly impressive.
Meet the Higgins… And Karen
As mentioned previously, the sole purpose of Godcat and Devilcat being sent to Earth is to complete their goals, which involve humans. Devilcat finds herself with one of the most evil beings on the planet—Karen. This Karen doesn’t have that big of a role in Exploding Kittens, unlike the humans that Godcat must deal with, but we do get an episode that focuses on her and ultimately makes fun of all Karen types around the world, which always makes for a good laugh. Devilcat doesn’t only spend time with Karen but also with Godcat’s human family, the Higgins family.
Godcat’s one job was to answer a prayer, and that prayer belonged to the Higgins family. The Higgins family consists of Greta Higgins (Ally Maki), Marv Higgins (Mark Proksch), Abbie Higgins (Suzy Nakamura), and Travis Higgins (Kevin Yates). Now, like most families that appear in adult animated series, they’re dysfunctional and don’t get along with each other. Greta enjoys hunting wild animals in cold blood as it reminds her of the past, and all she wants is for her family to join in with her; Marv enjoys playing Tabletop RPG and just wants his family to get involved; Abbie is a (self-proclaimed) genius and only wants her family to take an interest in the ideas and experiments she comes up with; and finally, Travis just wants to be internet famous but has his past haunting him and believes that his family doesn’t understand him. They all have conflicting ideologies of what makes up a good time, and though Greta doesn’t pray, saying “Dear God” before a sentence counts as a prayer.
The Higgins family is troublesome, not only for Godcat but for us as the audience. They each have their own storyline that spans the length of the season, and it can take a few episodes to become invested with these characters, as initially, they feel bland with Godcat around, but after a few episodes, that quickly changes, and now some of the episodes where they go on their mini-adventures, such as travelling back in time to their biggest regrets or going on the hunt for Travis’s troll, are some of my favourite episodes out of this season. There’s a scene involving Travis and Abbie where they’re using a mystery board, and for the first time in Netflix history, the Stranger Things theme song plays while they’re piecing together their mystery, and I’ve never let out a bigger laugh than in that moment. It felt so random but was well placed; it was one instance where Netflix synergy worked perfectly.
‘Exploding Kittens’ – Final Thoughts
Exploding Kittens is another well-made animated show for Netflix that holds a lot of resemblance to Inside Job when it comes to the type of jokes that are made and the subjects they explore in their stories. The cast of characters is a colourful and wide bunch of nutjobs that you’ll fall in love with, and the voice casting is stupendous and cast perfectly. While the show has nothing to do with how you play the card game, Exploding Kittens does a good job of making you want to buy a deck just so you can be even more involved with the IP.
The animation is fantastic; it’s humorous, full of references, and has a dramatic climax that sets up a very different direction for the programme going forward. Exploding Kittens needs a second season renewal.
Exploding Kittens releases on Netflix on July 12, 2024. Check out the trailer below.
