Comedy
Only Murders in the Building
It’s fun, but the show is guilty of lack of restraint in the second degree—a senseless crime if ever there was one.
Chad is a loser. He knows it. His school knows it. Even his best friend, Peter, knows it.
Fortunately for Chad, he and Peter are going into high school. That means a new beginning and a chance to change that reputation, and become one of the popular kids—or, at least, an average one.
Unlike Chad and his ambitious dreams, however, Peter doesn’t really mind filling that “loser” role. So it’s up to Chad to go about achieving stardom all by himself. Even if that means spreading lies, abandoning his friends and making a fool of himself—over … and over … and over again.
Yeesh. It’s going to be a long four years until graduation.
There’s a line-up of TV shows and films making their way down to the principal’s office for inappropriate behavior—including Good Boys, Pen15 and Big Mouth. Joining that ever-growing genre of stories of grade-school students discussing or engaged in R-rated scenarios is Chad.
Chad (the character) is as unlikeable as they come. He’s on a quest to become popular no matter what it takes, but his lack of social skills often sets him further back than if he had just kept his mouth shut. He abandons, uses and mistreats his family on a whim, only returning to them when he needs something. He’s the kind of kid who’d put a booger in your sandwich as a joke and wonder why you didn’t find it funny.
In his pursuit of popularity, Chad encounters a lot of things that’ll make many Plugged In readers pause: an encouragement of underaged drinking, drug use, frequent talk of sex and more. In a single scene, Chad breaks a car window, slices himself with a sword and is tackled to the ground. That’s not to mention the vomit gags and frequent swearing.
Additionally, similar to Pen15, Chad’s protagonist is played by an adult pretending to be a child. Saturday Night Live’s Nasim Pedrad is both the creator of Chad as well as the actress playing the 14-year-old boy Chad. And whereas Pen15 found a bit of merit by its two actresses satirizing themselves by playing two younger versions of themselves, none of that ideal is found in Pedrad’s portrayal of a young boy.
Chad ultimately falls flat as an unneeded and cringy-without-the-humor TV show, currently garnering a 2.8 rating on IMDb as of publishing, making it the 8th worst-rated show of all listed shows with more than five thousand votes. The series’ protagonist is too rude to be likeable, and, like Pen15, Chad reminds us of all the reasons we chose to forget grade school—let alone have to relive it onscreen.
With high school starting, Chad wants to fit in and become popular. So he spreads a lie that he had sex over the summer, causing him to get into a predicament.
The episode’s plot and dialogue revolve around that deception. Chad tells other uncomfortable students that he had sex. And the growing story requires Chad to describe how it happened (although it’s clear Chad has little idea what he is talking about). Another underaged girl, Marjorie, talks to Chad about her own experiences with sex. The two of them meet at her house to have sex, and Marjorie straddles Chad and kisses his face before Chad passes out.
Chad makes kissing gestures at a girl in the school hallway. His mother passionately kisses a man and references her bra. Chad also pulls a bra from bedsheets. His sister, Niki, talks about sex. Chad’s receives a note scrawled on a feminine hygiene product. One character is called a “whore,” and another is called a “pimp.”
Elsewhere, Chad tells his sister to die, and he tells his mother that he will kill her. His mouth is visibly bloody following the removal of his braces. Marjorie is seen burning a soccer ball. Chad’s friend is voted “most likely to be kidnapped.” A student slams Chad into a locker. A girl is intentionally hit by tennis balls thrown by other students.
Chad pretends to vape by using a USB drive. He drinks absinthe and actually vapes, too, and he vomits after he eats marijuana-laced gummy worms. Marjorie also vapes and drinks absinthe. A student says that he “trips balls” when he uses marijuana.
Chad comments that being Persian isn’t “as cool as being Black.” He’s also frequently embarrassed that his family is Muslim.
The s-word is used twice. We also hear “d–n” used frequently. “A–,” “d-ck,” “h—” and “p-ss” are also heard. God’s name is misused six times. In other episodes, Jesus’ name is misused.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
It’s fun, but the show is guilty of lack of restraint in the second degree—a senseless crime if ever there was one.
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