Mulligan – Season 1 Episode 3 “Grand Old Party” Recap & Review

Grand Old Party

As the title suggests, episode 3 of Mulligan is centred around a party at the White House for the hundred-odd survivors in America from the thousand-something survivors across the world. A lot is riding on it for our characters.

Matty wants to make Lucy jealous by being promiscuous with other women. Lucy wants to get back to normalcy and throw a great party. Simon, who rejected Braun’s advancements, is looking to capitalize on the “2 women for 1 man” crisis. But for LaMarr, the interests lie outside of the party. He is meeting with his Chinese businessman friend, Johnny Zhao.

Zhao is the person who was flashing him at the end of episode 2. It turns out that LaMarr had actually helped Zhao open up a factory in South Carolina. Zhao is officially the richest man in the world as most of the others are dead.

Mulligan instructs Scarpaccio to fetch booze from the entire city; TOD has been tasked with getting dips; and Braun has to clean out Axatrax’s humid cell. Simon tries to discourage the partying Andrew Jackson’s incident. But Matty is determined to make it happen.

LaMarr boasts in front of Zhao about how he has deregulated and minimized the size of the government. He wants to release capitalism and let it run unfettered around the world. But the attack has ensured that money is no longer valuable. The world has devolved into a barter system once again, spoiling his plans.

Jeremy has officially declared himself King of England as the last remaining Brit in the world. Matty incessantly makes fun of Simon at the party to gain favour with the invitees.

Braun and Axtarax have a surprise emotional connection in the middle of all this. She is definitely flattered with him and Cardi-B, his progressive alien land. Matty’s poor past means that he does not listen to LaMarr’s insistence on trying to “strengthen the dollar” and declares that money is insignificant from then on. Axatrax “molts,” which is equivalent to a snake shedding its skin. TOD suddenly has memories from the brain installed at its centre, but not a lot is revealed from his past.

Zhao is clearly upset with LaMarr and he has to come up with a plan. Axtarax reveals to Braun that he can “mind-meld,” which is giving her a peek into his vision and perception. She gets in his cube and sees Card-B, mesmerized by the new planet. She kisses him but it turns out to be one of his skins.

Axatrax has escaped and she pursues him with TOD. To make sure Matty is out of the way, LaMarr uses a big burly guy at the party, Rooster. He points him in the direction of Matty “fooling around” with Rooster’s girlfriend.

Simon feels targeted and bullied by Matty. He tries seeking comfort from Lucy but she is too “dumb” for it to work. Braun suddenly realizes something she saw in the vision of Cardi-B. She goes to the captive plant nearby as she knows Axatrax’s spaceship is powered by coal. And that plant is the closest source of it.

Lo and behold, the alien is caught red-handed and taken back by TOD. Rooster challenges Matty outside and the President is scared.

He talks to Simon and reveals that Matty himself was always neglected and socially ostracized. Matty gets the idea of starting a war on England from Simon, inadvertently. He orders Scarpaccio to land missiles on the country to distract the people and avoid facing Rooster.

TOD and Braun arrive with Axtarax, who convulsed being near a fire in the front yard and further molts, but this time like a newborn baby. The alien also realizes there is no way for him to get back to his planet now.

The party is over, Zhao leaves LaMarr for South Beach, and Matty doesn’t have to fight Rooster. The group takes solace in the fact that they did something different and made history in the White House.

The Episode Review

Mulligan’s teenage romance arc with Lucy was one of the few developments in the overall story for Netflix’s new animation. Tina Fey’s brand of comedy is recognizable and feels familiar, but too much at times as it turn into cliches. That ensures there aren’t any unpredictable surprises but also some solid, evergreen content.

Braun and Axatrax’s Shape of the Water romance trope could still turn out to be interesting and overall, this seems to have a lot of potential. The little musical jig was tasteful too while LaMarr’s sinister plans might be on a pause in a world where money has become useless. Now that’s an important talking point that could both embellish the show’s artistic and mass appeal.

Mulligan, the show, has thus far been uninspired. It is underachieving given the creative brilliance behind the screen.