Comedy
A Man on the Inside
The crudities in A Man on the Inside probably won’t make your sky fall, but to say you should ignore them would force me to tell true lies.
You might not have heard of the Luxon Beacon. But in the land of the Kryn, it’s a pretty big deal.
The Beacon looks like a cross between a massive gem and an inky-black terrarium. But when anyone in its vicinity dies, the Beacon hoovers up that person’s soul and stores it—ready to be reincarnated.
But some say the Beacon is more than just a sacred hunk o’ magic. It just might be a weapon—the most awesome, world-splitting weapon imaginable. In order to learn its secrets, nefarious forces hailing from the Dwendalian Empire have taken the relic. And the Bright Queen of Kryn is about to go to war to get it back.
However, there are a few people standing in the way of that war: a bunch of nobodies who didn’t even know each other before this Prime Video series began.
Beauregard Lionette is one of the only folks in this party of nobodies with reason to look for the Beacon. She’s a monk/detective from the Dwendalian Empire, and she learns that the Beacon wasn’t nabbed by random thieves. Forces within the Empirical bureaucracy itself are apparently behind the theft—her own supervisor is part of the plot—and the conspiracy goes to the very top.
‘Course, toppling a shadow government like this is hard work. And while it’ll take a bit for Beau to gather some pals to help her, help is indeed on the way—though they’re all pursuing their own quests, too.
Scruffy Caleb Widogast wants to become a full-fledged mage again—and punish those who knocked him off his wizarding roost. He’s traveling with Nott the Brave (no comma), a thieving goblin with a drinking problem. The shipwrecked sailor Fjord is carrying an enchanted sword with a mind of its own. And he’s supposed to be safeguarding Jester Lavorre, a tricksy cleric who worships an equally mischievous god known as the Traveler. Molly Tealeaf was a fortune teller and ringmaster for a traveling carnival.
And then there’s the massive mercenary Yasha Nydoorin: She’s been paid handsomely by the Kryn to retrieve the Beacon. (Given the bloody swathe she cuts through those who stand in her way, you’d think that she was paid by the gallon.)
Can this mischievous crew recover the beacon and stop a war? And will it even matter, given that they might kill everyone in Dwendal before they’re done?
Back in 2015, a bunch of voice actors started playing Dungeons & Dragons together for a podcast called Critical Role. The group’s first campaign inspired Prime Video’s The Legend of Vox Machina, which ran for three seasons. The second campaign? Well, it’s right here.
The Mighty Nein feels darker and a bit more lugubrious than its frenetic forebear. But like Vox Machina, it comes with some mighty big problems.
Let’s begin with the show’s ever so murky spirituality. As mentioned, Jester follows a “god” known as the Traveler. The Traveler’s status as an actual deity may be called into question later, but early on, Jester’s all in—down to the point of creating her own evangelical tracts for the guy. (“Have you heard of our Lord and Savior the Traveler?” they read.)
Meanwhile, Fjord seems to be the unwitting servant of a Lovecraftian god-like creature called Uk’otoa, who powers that mysterious sword of Fjord’s and may want to shake free of his own undersea bonds. Add to that the worship of the Beacon, reincarnation, and, well, all the show’s unending magical spells, and you’ve got enough spiritual issues to warrant a separate review.
You might say the same for the show’s sexual content, which is both incredibly fluid and awfully omnipresent. There is some animated nudity throughout. Sex toys make a few appearances. And it would seem that in these fictional lands, LGBT relationships are more common than heteronormative ones. (While we’ve not seen a lot of sexual activity from our main characters this early in the show, several had same-sex or bisexual leanings in the originating podcast.)
We see plenty of blood, bone and organs splayed out for the viewer’s questionable pleasure. The Mighty Nein thinks nothing of hewing off heads or limbs, and at least one character takes sadistic glee in making his victims suffer. And while foul language is not pervasive, exactly, it’s certainly R-rated when it does show up.
None of that has caused secular critics to turn away from this show. It, like Vox Machina before it, boasts a perfect 100% “freshness” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Plugged In begs to differ. While the light animation style blunts the impact of all the content somewhat, this just might be one of the most problematic shows streaming today.
The Mighty Nein doesn’t refer to the number of adventurers, but rather Caleb Widogast’s native German language. We hear him say nein (the German word for “no”) plenty in the series. And when it comes to the show itself, it might be wise for us to do the same.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
The Luxon Beacon is stolen by a trio of powerful magic users. A Dwendalian outpost is obliterated in the process. Enterprising investigator Beau is one of the detectives sent in to figure out what happened, but her supervisor dismisses her theory. When Beau follows him, though, she discovers that he himself is up to no good—and she’s attacked by a very nimble magic user for her troubles.
Meanwhile, down-on-his-luck magic user Caleb tangles a goblin thief named Nott. But after their differences are sorted out, Nott agrees to help Caleb break into a store in exchange for a bit of booze.
We hear about the Beacon’s critical role in Kryn religion and see it suck a soul into its inky confines. (The soul, incidentally, comes from a male, whose same-sex partner mourns his passing.) Caleb casts spells, chants magic words and, for a minute, apparently conjures up his dead cat. Other people use magic frequently. A tarot card figures prominently in the opening credits.
An evil mage lectures his students on the connection between fear and dying, using a living subject as a visual aid. The mage literally cuts into the fear center of the subject’s brain, making him passive. Even when the mage slices open the victim’s abdomen and exposes his ribs and organs, he remains stoic. But when the mage’s students leave, the mage repairs that fear center, and the subject begins screaming.
Plenty of people die in equally horrific (though quicker) ways. Most are stabbed; some are cut in half. A foot crushes someone’s skull. People cough up and spit out blood. The Beacon apparently has the ability to mess with time, and the people and horses killed by it exhibit rapid decay. (We see several horse carcasses that look as if they’ve been there for weeks, rather than the day they’ve actually been dead.) One victim still lives, even as half of his body is dead and decomposed. A live butterfly is skewered. Someone is dragged into a store by a tentacle, apparently to his doom.
Nott is an alcoholic, and we see him suffer from withdrawal symptoms when he’s not had a drink for a while. A facility manufacturing magic-amplifying materials looks a lot like a stereotypical drug operation. Someone is knocked into a pile of manure.
Characters use the f-word about 11 times and the s-word more than a dozen. We also hear “a–,” “b–tard,” “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is misused once, and we hear a crude term used to describe testicles.
Fjord’s ship is sabotaged and explodes, leaving Fjord as its only apparent survivor. He staggers to the nearest city and runs into Jester, daughter of one of the city’s most prominent (ahem) entertainers who has angered the mayor. Meanwhile, in the land of Kryn, we’re introduced to the young noble Essek, whose mother is suffering from a serious and apparently embarrassing disease. (Essek insists that his mother stay hidden.)
That disease may be related to the number of times that the woman has been reincarnated. She suffers from a flashback and asks her son, “When am I?” We hear more about the nature of the Beacon. We’re told it “is rooted in the cosmos that created the world itself,” and it knows both your past and every possible permeation of your future. Because the Beacon is no longer in Kyrn, everyone who dies there will die a permanent death. (Gasp.) The Beacon is apparently connected to the “Lord of Light,” whom Essek doesn’t believe in but his mother most certainly does. (She slaps him when she feels like he’s being blasphemous.)
We’re also told about the Traveler. “He’s my best friend,” Jester tells Fjord. “But he’s also a god. Technically. You should totally worship him and stuff. He’s super cool.” Jester shows Fjord the pamphlets she’s made for the Traveler (which appear to mock traditional evangelical tracts and include a crude drawing of male genitals), and she often talks—or tries to talk—to the Traveler. Only she, apparently, can hear what the Traveler says. But he does apparently grant Jester the ability to conjure impish-like entities that perform a variety of tasks.
We also see and hear from Uk’otoa, the gigantic leviathan “helping” Fjord. Magic is used. A politician does his best to demonize Kryn, calling it land of “eternal darkness, both physical and spiritual.” Also worth noting: Jester and others are tieflings—humanoids akin to elves or dwarves in Dungeons & Dragons, but who look like stereotypical devils, right down to the horns and tails.
Jester’s mother is a famous entertainer and prostitute. Her public performances harken back to lewd burlesque shows. She’s joined on stage by very skimpily dressed female tieflings, and she sings a sultry song inviting both women and men to partake in her pleasures. (We hear about “appointments” she’s made with both, and one client shows up with what appear to be sadomasochism-style sex toys.) She herself wears outfits that expose most of her body, with special emphasis placed on her cleavage. Her home is adorned with erotic paintings: Most of the tieflings in these paintings are nude, many feature exposed breasts, and some appear to be having sex.
Jester places a sex toy on a tray of drinks as a joke, conjures up another toy and scrawls pictures of those toys elsewhere. She creates a couple of large pictures depicting a naked man in embarrassing poses: In one, he’s apparently using a latrine; in another, a king rides on his back like a horse. We hear about an erotic bookstore.
In flashback, Essek’s mother recalls the night her same-sex partner died. The two women meet at a gala, but one is shot in the back by several arrows. A bloody swipe of the sword injures or kills the other. (Essek’s mother, has been reincarnated several times, as you’ll remember, and this could be a past life.) Fjord is stabbed in the gut and nearly dies from his wounds (though they soon miraculously heal). After his ship explodes, Fjord discovers the dead body of one of his crewmates, and a crab crawls out of its eye socket.
A minotaur is stabbed in the shoulder. Bullies kick and abuse a helpless victim. Caleb is punched in his privates and falls to the ground, retching. Characters practice their combat techniques with partners. We hear sounds of violence off camera.
Someone vomits in a pot, then spills its vile contents. Characters steal horses. Characters say the f-word five times and the s-word six. “B–ch,” “g-dd–n” and “p-ss” are also heard.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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