Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Little Demon’ On FXX, About A Teenager Who Finds Out She’s The Antichrist

We get really annoyed when animated shows just go for bodily function gags and gore at the sacrifice of character and story (see our reviews of Paradise PD and Farzar for examples). But when we come across an animated series that layers those gags in with character development and a story that’s relatable, we really take notice. FXX and Hulu has a new series like that, starring Danny and Lucy DeVito as the Devil and his daughter, a teenage Antichrist.

LITTLE DEMON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A young pregnant woman running through the woods on a dark, rainy night. She thinks a demon is about to come out of her, so she’s ready to beat it to death with a mallet. Then she gives birth to what looks like a normal baby girl.

The Gist: Thirteen years later, Chrissy Feinberg (Lucy DeVito) is being driven to her new school by her mother Laura (Aubrey Plaza). Chrissy hates that they’ve moved around so much; it’s the middle of the school year, and 7th grade is tough enough without her having to be the “new girl.” Things get off to an OK start when Chrissy meets Bennigan (Eugene Cordero), a fellow awkward kid who invites her to a rager at an abandoned taco restaurant.

But she soon runs to the bathroom; she’s having her first period. At the same time she sees Bennigan getting threatened by two bullies. On first blood, her eyes go dark, she rips a hole in the sky and all of a sudden the bullies’ bodies explode into guts and bones. Turns out she’s the Antichrist.

Laura wasn’t very discerning when it came to men when she was younger, and she ended up getting impregnated by Satan (Danny DeVito). They’ve moved around to avoid him finding Chrissy, but now that first blood has been shed, he knows exactly where she is.

Chrissy actually takes Satan up on his offer to go visit him, not in Hell, but in the Metaphysical Realm. “It’s like Port Authority with much, much, much more urine and fewer bomb treats,” Satan tells her. But she doesn’t want to take him up on his offer for them to work together to fold all the realms into a more powerful one, at least not until she gets to know him better.

In the thirteen years since she gave birth to Chrissy, Laura has learned a lot about battling Satan, and she strips down to her tattooed, buff birthday suit, stuffs some needed items up her vagina and transfers her essence to that realm, where she battles Satan much to the eye-rolling disdain of Chrissy. She ends up going to the party, where she has something else to deal with: A demon hunter (Michael Shannon), who is determined to take her out.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Little Demon feels like a combination of Devil May Care combined with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Our Take: Shows that have Satan as one of their main characters tend to be campy, mainly because they want to show the devil as a charmer who can persuade people to give up their souls. Little Demon is a little different. Created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner and Kieran Valla (Dan Harmon, Danny DeVito and Lucy DeVito are among the executive producers), Little Demon is essentially telling a really funny story about a kid who’s from a broken family who now has to deal with the weirdest co-parenting situation ever. That’s one of the biggest reasons why we enjoyed the first episode so much.

Sure Danny DeVito’s Satan is a charmer, deciding to ditch the biker body he first presents to Chrissy to look like a normal suburban dad. He definitely thinks its their time to shine, and he can’t wait to work with Chrissy to consolidate power. But Chrissy is having none of it; she’s too smart and savvy, having moved so many times in her life, to take anyone at face value. But what we like is that she’s not exactly dismissing her dad; she just wants to be able to figure out what he’s all about. And it helps that he gets taken down a notch when he comes to earth to help Chrissy in the body of the chicken that Laura sacrificed to get into the realm.

It’s also funny to see Chrissy not necessarily get upset that Laura is barreling into the Metaphysical Realm and slaying demons while stark naked; she’s just embarrassed with the fights she and Satan are having, as if they’re just two co-parents at odds with how to take care of their kid. That layering of normality on top of the oddball situation is what give Little Demon more depth than just being a jokefest where the characters get to curse and talk about bodily functions.

Layering in character and story elements that are relatable to the audience, despite the crazy circumstances, is what makes Little Demon so watchable. We’re not sure why more animated shows don’t do this, but we’re very happy when they do.

Sex and Skin: Like we said, Laura is shown in her tattooed, buff altogether in order to enter the Metaphysical Realm. Satan also talks to Chrissy about some of her mom’s drunken exploits, stuff that Chrissy knew nothing about: “You know she fucked a lamp once.”

Parting Shot: Laura talks with her pet demon Irwin about settling down. He suggests they watch Con Air. “You read my mind,” she replies.

Sleeper Star: Lennon Parham plays Darlene, Laura’s chatty neighbor who doesn’t even seem to care that she has to watch Laura’s body as Laura fights her way through the Metaphysical Realm.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I’m feeling better than better,” Chrissy says to Bennigan when she gets to the party, after giving him a litany of the woes she experienced that day. “I’m the motherfucking Antichrist!” Not sure why, but that line could have been a little sharper.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Little Demon makes sure to root most of its humor in character and situation instead of gags. Sure, there are plenty of gags, but we just love the idea of a seemingly relatable story being layered over by ridiculous circumstances.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.