Review Time: Moral Orel

I have a  love hate relationship with religion myself. I don't believe that there is a bad religion, just bad people. That it's not the fault of any religion, it's the fault of the people who use that religion to condone their own actions.  There aren't really many shows that understand that and really dive into why people turn to religion in the first place or why people use religion for their needs.  One of the only few shows that I have seen tackle this and do it in a good way is Adult swim's Morel Orel.

© 2005 Cartoon Network

I wIll give it to you straight, when I first saw this show I didn't like it. It was every joke from family guy and Southpark about why religion sucks. "It doesn't make sense" and " It contradicts itself" and  "only idiots believe in it" and every other argument people come up for why they have an issue with religion, but by the end of the show I had completely changed my mind about it. In fact it may be one of the best shows that has ever come out of the network. It all comes down to characterisation and writing.

Morel orel is about the Morel Paragon that is Orel Puppington. A good, but naive kid who just wants to do what is right and be a good christian. Unfortunately for Orel, there are almost no moral characters in his hometown of  Moralton, Statesilvanya. The show is a dark comedy for the first couple of seasons before turning into a unpleasant and harsh drama in the third. The first two seasons usually begin with Orel learning some lesson and then taking that lesson to some absurd degree like believing that his brother maybe the second coming of Jesus or that wasting his fluids will anger God and ending with him getting a spanking in his father's study learning an equally absurd wrong lesson. This all changes with the season two finale where Orel's world view comes crashing down around him after a bitter fight with his father.

The season two finale and the third seasons are what drew me into the show. The comedy is gone and all that is left is people of the town and their problems, Things like rape, abuse, racism, issues with sexuality, and loss of innocence are all explored in the show. I'm not sugar coating it when I say this show goes into some really dark and uncomfortable territory and gets a little too real. Needless to say I believe that the show is worth watching exactly for that reason, it challenges you as the audience.

It manages to give almost all of the characters in town backstory that makes sense and fits with their characterization. It takes very two dimensional characters and gives them  an extreme amount of depth in a short of amount of time. They become so much more human and  real (at least for me) by the end of the show. The first two season build these character up only to have them torn down in the third. Some of them have happy endings, some of them don't like in real life.

I don't want to spoil the show for anyone who hasn't seen it ( at least not in a major way). I suggest watching this one from the beginning because everything the first two seasons sets up pays off (for the most part) in the last season. There are a few plot threads left unexplored, but the show doesn't lose anything because of that. Like many great shows it was canceled before its time, but it feels complete unlike firefly(for example). It is an uncomfortable ride from start to finish, but a good one that I would visit again and again.

Stay nerdy my beautiful friends.