“Midnight Gospel” is both personal and surreal

“Adventure Time” co-creator Pendleton Ward and comedian Duncan Trussell make a vibrant, creative masterpiece in the form of the Netflix show “The Midnight Gospel!”

The main character, Clancy, is a purple humanoid who goes into virtual worlds and interviews a new subject each episode for his “spacecast” (space-podcast). The charm of “The Midnight Gospel” comes from the realistic conversations between Clancy and interviewee, while the animated visuals build a colorful world for them and the viewer to explore.

For example, during the first episode, Clancy interviews the president on his thoughts on recreational drugs and meditation while they run away from a zombie apocalypse.

“The Midnight Gospel’s” dialogue is realistic because it’s based on conversations during Trussell’s own podcast, Duncan Trussell Family Hour. Ward first approached Trussell with the concept for the show, saying that he could even make talking about meditation funny and interesting. This prompted Ward, with his animation directing experience, to create a pitch to Netflix.

Soon after, they achieved their first season with eight episodes.

Although each episode talks about a different topic, the series does contain a coherent narrative throughout the series; themes on the circle of life, death, and rebirth are present and culminate in a heart-pulling season finale, where Clancy talks to his mother as they go through the stages of life on screen.

That episode’s audio is sourced from an interview Trussell had with his own now-deceased mother, who died around three weeks after recording. Trussell was amazed to see the final product, with his mother in animated form.

“The whole time I spent working on “Midnight Gospel,” I was gradually realizing what an incredible medium animation was. But that hit it home, when I realized that there’s a resurrective quality to it that I don’t think exists in any other form I’m aware of,” Trussell said in an interview with Deadline.

“The Midnight Gospel” is an amazing, surreal experience, and definitely worth watching.

Rating: 5/5