Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (TV Series) Electricity (2022) User Reviews

What about my shredder?

[jochnowicz · 10/10 · 5 October 2022]

A semi-feral duck seeks to understand what is powering his treasured personal shredder. He is sceptical as to the explanations given to him. After all, how can such a valuable item be powered solely by the plug? Surely there is more soul in this object than can be ascribed to a simple flow of electrons? It is this question he seeks to answer in the final episode...

In all seriousness, this was by far the best episode. The season greatly improves as the series goes on and we begin to get more lore and we move past the sometimes gratuitous grossness of earlier episodes. As ever, it is the rhythm of the unexpected, often enhanced by clever sound design which guides this episode. This is perhaps more than they could ever have dreamed of in the YouTube series and it is in these final episodes you see them adressing the scale of their new show appropriately.

Season One Review

[southdavid · 9/10 · 17 January 2023]

I can't say I'd ever even heard of the web series that proceeded the full run of this channel four show. But following the good reviews I've seen online, and recommendations from my friends and decided to give the series at try. I'm so glad I did, as it's just the sort of creepy, surrealist nightmare that I enjoy.

Three friends (... I guess) Red Guy, Yellow Guy and Duck are in the kitchen of their house. Each week, a guest arrives to teach them a lesson about an aspect of life.

Damn, that's the smallest and vaguest description of a show that I've ever done. To do better, "DHMIS" takes the form of a puppet show, in the manner and quality of the sort you might see on CBeebies. It's bright primary colours, it's a charming look, stop motion animation and excellent puppetry. All of that work is top notch and, had the creative team been so inclined, they could have easily made a straightforward educational show. But the show is something else and dare I say, something darker.

It begins, almost immediately to play with its own form, songs take unusual turns and catch one of the characters out, they begin to question how they arrived in a new set, and why they're just going along with things. Then some deeper horror elements arrive, dark sad individuals, unsettling character models and occasional moments of violence and gore. Then some elements of almost a mythology arrive, what is happening upstairs - and on the levels above that?

I can understand if it's a bit divisive. Because it appears so specifically to my sense of humour, I'd assume that there will be tranches of people it just doesn't connect with. But I want to catch up on the YouTube stuff and get into those ahead of a season two I hope is forthcoming.

A Marvellous Ending For An Amazing Show

[J5020 · 10/10 · 18 October 2022]

In an episode that walks the line between the style of comedy that defines this show and the unsettling horror that defined the original series, we get not only the biggest lore moments in either show but also an ending that is both worthy of endless theories but at the same time a satisfyingly haunting conclusion if this is the last time we ever see these characters.

In an episode that initially presents itself like the others, with a teacher giving a lecture this time on the theme of electricity, it then goes on to tell a story of the Yellow Guy going on a journey of trying to uncover the truth of the universe him and his friends live in. It is here we meet Lesley, an ambiguous figure with little to none information about her, but is speculated to be the puppet master of the world of the show. Lesley hands Yellow Guy a book that according to her answers everything he wants to know about his universe, however through shenanigans decides to destroy this book, seemingly trapping him and his friends in their world forever without any real way of breaking free, forced to live at the mercy of an unstable woman, being pawns in stories of her creation in what is possibly the most horrific thing in the entire series. If the show does get a second season it has given itself a place to explore Lesley and the fates of our beloved characters, but if this is where their stories end it is a beautifully dark send off to the three best friends.

A Haunting Conclusion

[svanness-74602 · 10/10 · 8 October 2022]

This show beautifully captures the feel of the original - it bottles a feeling of unease that I have never before seen.

But this episode has stuck with me more than many episodes of shows I have watched. It strays away from the gore and sudden shock of the other episodes, and instead dives into the world behind the curtain. One continuous theme that is played on heavily in this show is that the three characters are not really friends. They barely even like each other. They constantly destroy one another, and this episode is no different. We see a side of the yellow guy that we have never seen before - who he was originally meant to be. And the switching of the batteries at the end is one of the most chilling scenes of the entire series.

I was worried that one of the characters would end up in the shredder at the end, but honestly I don't think that would have stuck with me nearly as much as the actual ending. They have created something unique and brilliant with this show, and I would love to see it continue.